Mark Hastenteufel

Transfer of methods from radiotherapy planning to ablation planning with focus on uncertainties and robustness

Recently, tumor ablation has been introduced as an additional modality in cancer treatment. Computer-based ablation planning is not yet established and could improve treatment outcome. Here a quite strong analogy to radiotherapy (RT) planning exists. Objective is to reuse and transfer computer-based methods from RT to ablation planning. Methods: An RT planning system is converted into an ablation planning system. The concept of robust planning, which is to determine the impact of uncertainty, is mapped to ablation planning. Results: A fully functional ablation planning prototype was implemented. The potential of robust planning could be demonstrated in an exemplary case using the new concept of probability-volume histograms (PVH). Conclusion: An ablation planning system based on an RT planning system confirms the close relation of RT and ablation planning. The new concept of robust ablation planning has been introduced.