Ehsan Ullah Khan

Volumetric modulated arc therapy with dynamic collimator rotation for improved multileaf collimator tracking of the prostate

PURPOSE To improve MLC tracking of prostate VMAT plans by dynamic rotation of the collimator to align the MLC leaves with the dominant prostate motion direction. METHODS For 22 prostate cancer patients, two dual arc VMAT plans were made with (1) fixed collimators (45° and 315°) and (2) a rotating collimator that aligned the MLC leaves with the dominant prostate motion direction (population-based first principal component). The fixed and rotating collimator plan quality was compared using selected dose-volume indices. Next, MLC tracking treatments were simulated with 695 patient-measured prostate traces. The MLC exposure error (under- and overexposed MLC area in beams eye view) was calculated as a surrogate for the MLC tracking error. Finally, motion including dose reconstruction was performed for 35 motion traces for one patient, and the root-mean-square dose error was compared with the MLC exposure error. RESULTS Rotating collimator VMAT plans were of similar quality as the fixed collimator plans, but significantly improved MLC tracking with 33% lower MLC exposure errors (p≪0.0001). The reductions in MLC exposure error correlated significantly with dose error reductions. CONCLUSION Prostate VMAT plans with rotating collimator were of similar quality as fixed collimator plans, but more suitable for MLC tracking with significantly better agreement between planned and delivered dose distributions. MLC tracking for prostate cancer patients can therefore be improved without the requirement of additional efforts or hardware changes.

Optical Screening of Female Breast Cancer from Whole Blood Using Raman Spectroscopy.

This study is intended to develop a screening method for female breast cancer (BRC) from whole blood using Raman spectroscopy. A multivariate partial least squares (PLS) regression model is developed which is based upon Raman spectra of BRC-positive and healthy participants. It yields coefficients of regression at the corresponding Raman shifts. These coefficients represent the changes in molecular structures which are associated with the progress of disease. The present study pointed out some specific molecules which differentiated BRC-positive and healthy groups. In the BRC-positive group, a rising trend of calcium oxalate, calcium hydroxyapatite, phosphatidylserine and qunoid ring, and a lowering trend of tryptophan, tyrosine, and proline were observed in PLS-based coefficients of regression. The R-square value of the model was found to be 0.987, which is accepted clinically. The model was tested for the prediction of 50 randomly collected samples at a cutoff value of 0.5 with the gray region defined in the range of 0.4–0.6. Goodness of fit was estimated using accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and area under ROC curve. All of these parameters were found to be very promising.

Validation of the relative insensitivity of volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plan quality to gantry space resolution

Abstract Volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) is an efficient form of radiotherapy used to deliver intensity-modulated radiotherapy beams. The aim of this study was to investigate the relative insensitivity of VMAT plan quality to gantry angle spacing (GS). Most previous VMAT planning and dosimetric work for GS resolution has been conducted for single arc VMAT. In this work, a quantitative comparison of dose–volume indices (DIs) was made for partial-, single- and double-arc VMAT plans optimized at 2°, 3° and 4° GS, representing a large variation in deliverable multileaf collimator segments. VMAT plans of six prostate cancer and six head-and-neck cancer patients were simulated for an Elekta SynergyS® Linac (Elekta Ltd, Crawley, UK), using the SmartArc™ module of Pinnacle³ TPS, (version 9.2, Philips Healthcare). All optimization techniques generated clinically acceptable VMAT plans, except for the single-arc for the head-and-neck cancer patients. Plan quality was assessed by comparing the DIs for the planning target volume, organs at risk and normal tissue. A GS of 2°, with finest resolution and consequently highest intensity modulation, was considered to be the reference, and this was compared with GS 3° and 4°. The differences between the majority of reference DIs and compared DIs were <2%. The metrics, such as treatment plan optimization time and pretreatment (phantom) dosimetric calculation time, supported the use of a GS of 4°. The ArcCHECK™ phantom–measured dosimetric agreement verifications resulted in a >95.0% passing rate, using the criteria for γ (3%, 3 mm). In conclusion, a GS of 4° is an optimal choice for minimal usage of planning resources without compromise of plan quality.