PURPOSE In this work a spreadsheet based program is presented that to a large extent independently verifies the calculations of individual plans of brachytherapy treatment planning systems for low dose rate, high dose rate and pulsed dose rate techniques. MATERIAL AND METHODS The verification program has been developed based on workbooks/spreadsheets. The treatment planning system output text...

The ability of the analytic anisotropic algorithm (AAA), a superposition- convolution algorithm implemented in the Eclipse (Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, CA) treatment planning system (TPS), to accurately account for the presence of inhomogeneities in simple geometries is examined. The goal of 2% accuracy, as set out by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine Task Group 65, serv...

Pulsed low-dose-rate radiotherapy (PLDR) has been proven to be a valid method of reirradiation. Previous studies of recurrent cancer radiotherapy were mainly based on conventional 3D CRT and VMAT delivery techniques. There are difficulties in IMRT planning using existing commercial treatment planning systems (TPS) to meet the PLDR protocol. This work focuses on PLDR using ten-field IMRT and a c...

PURPOSE Exit 2D detectors are widely used in clinics as a tool for pre- treatment field verification. It is desired to have accurate modeling of the detector dose for each IMRT plan with patient geometry for in-vivo delivery verification. We propose a novel hybrid of model and measurement based methods to estimate the detector dose using the information from TPS and plan/verification CT. METH...

This study quantifies the dosimetric accuracy of a commercial treatment planning system as functions of treatment depth, air gap, and range shifter thickness for superficial pencil beam scanning proton therapy treatments. The RayStation 6 pencil beam and Monte Carlo dose engines were each used to calculate the dose distributions for a single treatment plan with varying range shifter air gaps. C...

PURPOSE We investigate the impact of a treatment couch and its modeling in a treatment planning system on accurate dose delivery in Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT). METHODS A cone-beam CT of a Varian couch on a Varian Clinac 21EX unit, consisting of a carbon-fiber imaging couch top and supporting rails, was acquired, and a couch model was created in Philips Pinnacle 9.0 TPS based on t...

The physics modeling, dose calculation accuracy and plan quality assessment of the RayStation (v3.5) treatment planning system (TPS) is presented in this study, with appropriate comparisons to the more established Pinnacle (v9.2) TPS. Modeling and validation for the Elekta MLCi and Agility beam models resulted in a good match to treatment machine-measured data based on tolerances of 3% for in-f...

This work illustrates a procedure to assess the overall accuracy associated with Gamma Knife treatment planning using plugging. The main role of source plugging or blocking is to create dose falloff in the junction between a target and a critical structure. We report the use of MAGAT gel dosimeter for verification of an experimental treatment plan based on plugging. The polymer gel contained in...

introduction: multiple fields and presence of heterogeneities create complex dose distributions that need three dimensional dosimetry. in this work, we investigated mr-based magic gel dosimetry as a three-dimensional dosimetry technique to measure the delivered dose to bladder and rectum in prostate radiation therapy. materials and methods: a heterogeneous slab phantom including bones was made....

The potential suite of decision support system (DSS) applications deployed by organizations is dynamic and change with advances in computer technology. An understanding of DSS applications is important in planning organization strategy or creating a roadmap that encompasses these changes. This research effort examines the definition of DSS, the assimilation of information technology in organiza...