Inclusion of organ movements in IMRT treatment planning via inverse planning based on probability distributions

Phys Med Biol. 2004 Sep 7;49(17):4005-29. doi: 10.1088/0031-9155/49/17/013.

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate an off-line strategy to incorporate inter-fraction organ motion in IMRT treatment planning. It was suggested that inverse planning could be based on a probability distribution of patient geometries instead of a single snap shot. However, this concept is connected to two intrinsic problems: first, this probability distribution has to be estimated from only a few images; and second, the distribution is only sparsely sampled over the treatment course due to a finite number of fractions. In the current work, we develop new concepts of inverse planning which account for these two problems.

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Models, Statistical
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Movement*
  • Probability
  • Radiotherapy Dosage
  • Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted / methods*
  • Radiotherapy, Computer-Assisted
  • Radiotherapy, Conformal / methods*
  • Time Factors
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed