A study on quantitative analysis of field size and dose by using gating system in 4D conformal radiation treatment

This study evaluated the gating-based 4-D conformal radiation therapy (4D-CT) treatment planning by a comparison with the common 3-D conformal radiation therapy (3D-CT) treatment planning and examined the change in treatment field size and dose to the tumors and adjacent normal tissues because an unnecessary dose is also included in the 3-D treatment planning for the radiation treatment of tumors in the chest and abdomen. The 3D-CT and gating-based 4D-CT images were obtained from patients who had undergone radiation treatment for chest and abdomen tumors in the oncology department. After establishing a treatment plan, the CT treatment and planning system were used to measure the change in field size for analysis. A dose volume histogram (DVH) was used to calculate the appropriate dose to planning target volume (PTV) tumors and adjacent normal tissue. The difference in the treatment volume of the chest was 0.6 and 0.83 cm on the X- and Y-axis, respectively, for the gross tumor volume (GTV). Accordingly, the values in the 4D-CT treatment planning were smaller and the dose was more concentrated by 2.7% and 0.9% on the GTV and clinical target volume (CTV), respectively. The normal tissues in the surrounding normal tissues were reduced by 3.0%, 7.2%, 0.4%, 1.7%, 2.6% and 0.2% in the bronchus, chest wall, esophagus, heart, lung and spinal cord, respectively. The difference in the treatment volume of the abdomen was 0.72 cm on the X-axis and 0.51 cm on the Y-axis for the GTV; and 1.06 cm on the X-axis and 1.85 cm on the Y-axis for the PTV. Therefore, the values in the 4D-CT treatment planning were smaller. The dose was concentrated by 6.8% and 4.3% on the GTV and PTV, respectively, whereas the adjacent normal tissues in the cord, Lt. kidney, Rt. kidney, small bowels and whole liver were reduced by 3.2%, 4.2%, 1.5%, 6.2% and 12.7%, respectively. The treatment field size was smaller in volume in the case of the 4D-CT treatment planning. In the DVH, the 4D-CT treatment planning showed a higher dose concentration on the part to be treated than the 3D-CT treatment planning with a lower dose to the adjacent normal tissues. Overall, the gating-based 4D-CT treatment planning is believed to be more helpful than the 3D-CT treatment planning.     

Discussion on the usefulness of dose dynamic multi-leaf collimator-based plan to overcome dose limit of spinal cord in high-dose radiotherapy

In this study, the conventional plan was compared with the plan that was based on a dose dynamic multi-leaf collimator (MLC), and a dose dynamic MLC was used to evaluate its usefulness. Then, this study examined if it was possible to perform a high-dose radiation therapy by adjusting the dose limit of the spinal cord when the dose dynamic MLC-based plan was used. First of all, linear accelerator was used to compare the conventional plan with the dose dynamic MLC-based plan. Then, the study was conducted in two methods in order to examine the proper range of the shield for the spinal cord when the dose dynamic MLC was used to adjust the dose of the spinal cord. In the first method, X-omat film was used to perform film dosimetry. In the second method, radiation treatment planning (RTP) system was used to find out the proper range among 0, 3, 6, and 9 mm. When film scan was performed in the each range, respectively, from the spinal cord and under the same conditions, it was confirmed to be appropriate to use the range of 3 mm. When the RTP system was used to perform planning in the shield range of each range, respectively, from the spinal cord, dose-volume histogram (DVH) was a slight difference could be found in the region from 25% to 35%. On the contrary, no radiation exposure was found in the region of 35% or higher for all of the each range. Consequently, if MLC is selected in consideration of the planning target volume (PTV), the most proper value can be obtained by selecting the range of 3 mm. Next, the DVH was compared to examine the relationship in PTV when the each range was used for planning. All of the ranges showed the same pattern up to the point of 90%. However, the results were different in the region of higher than 90% because the dose was low for the spinal cord, and a relatively useful dose was used for PTV when the range was 3 mm.