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Motion induced interplay effects for VMAT radiotherapy

Edvardsson, Anneli LU ; Nordström, Fredrik LU ; Ceberg, Crister LU orcid and Ceberg, Sofie LU (2018) In Physics in Medicine and Biology 63(8).
Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a method to simulate breathing motion induced interplay effects for volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), to verify the proposed method with measurements, and to use the method to investigate how interplay effects vary with different patient- and machine specific parameters. VMAT treatment plans were created on a virtual phantom in a treatment planning system (TPS). Interplay effects were simulated by dividing each plan into smaller sub-arcs using an in-house developed software and shifting the isocenter for each sub-arc to simulate a sin6 breathing motion in the superior-inferior direction. The simulations were performed for both flattening-filter (FF) and flattening-filter free... (More)

The purpose of this study was to develop a method to simulate breathing motion induced interplay effects for volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), to verify the proposed method with measurements, and to use the method to investigate how interplay effects vary with different patient- and machine specific parameters. VMAT treatment plans were created on a virtual phantom in a treatment planning system (TPS). Interplay effects were simulated by dividing each plan into smaller sub-arcs using an in-house developed software and shifting the isocenter for each sub-arc to simulate a sin6 breathing motion in the superior-inferior direction. The simulations were performed for both flattening-filter (FF) and flattening-filter free (FFF) plans and for different breathing amplitudes, period times, initial breathing phases, dose levels, plan complexities, CTV sizes, and collimator angles. The resulting sub-arcs were calculated in the TPS, generating a dose distribution including the effects of motion. The interplay effects were separated from dose blurring and the relative dose differences to 2% and 98% of the CTV volume (ΔD98% and ΔD2%) were calculated. To verify the simulation method, measurements were carried out, both static and during motion, using a quasi-3D phantom and a motion platform. The results of the verification measurements during motion were comparable to the results of the static measurements. Considerable interplay effects were observed for individual fractions, with the minimum ΔD98% and maximum ΔD2% being -16.7% and 16.2%, respectively. The extent of interplay effects was larger for FFF compared to FF and generally increased for higher breathing amplitudes, larger period times, lower dose levels, and more complex treatment plans. Also, the interplay effects varied considerably with the initial breathing phase, and larger variations were observed for smaller CTV sizes. In conclusion, a method to simulate motion induced interplay effects was developed and verified with measurements, which allowed for a large number of treatment scenarios to be investigated. The simulations showed large interplay effects for individual fractions and that the extent of interplay effects varied with the breathing pattern, FFF/FF, dose level, CTV size, collimator angle, and the complexity of the treatment plan.

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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
breathing motion, interplay effects, intrafractional motion, radiotherapy, RapidArc, VMAT
in
Physics in Medicine and Biology
volume
63
issue
8
article number
085012
publisher
IOP Publishing
external identifiers
  • scopus:85046464003
  • pmid:29671410
ISSN
0031-9155
DOI
10.1088/1361-6560/aab957
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ed9b62f2-9581-4fc3-8e44-1f1c816ee363
date added to LUP
2018-05-18 13:16:04
date last changed
2024-04-01 05:43:14
@article{ed9b62f2-9581-4fc3-8e44-1f1c816ee363,
  abstract     = {{<p>The purpose of this study was to develop a method to simulate breathing motion induced interplay effects for volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), to verify the proposed method with measurements, and to use the method to investigate how interplay effects vary with different patient- and machine specific parameters. VMAT treatment plans were created on a virtual phantom in a treatment planning system (TPS). Interplay effects were simulated by dividing each plan into smaller sub-arcs using an in-house developed software and shifting the isocenter for each sub-arc to simulate a sin<sup>6</sup> breathing motion in the superior-inferior direction. The simulations were performed for both flattening-filter (FF) and flattening-filter free (FFF) plans and for different breathing amplitudes, period times, initial breathing phases, dose levels, plan complexities, CTV sizes, and collimator angles. The resulting sub-arcs were calculated in the TPS, generating a dose distribution including the effects of motion. The interplay effects were separated from dose blurring and the relative dose differences to 2% and 98% of the CTV volume (ΔD<sub>98%</sub> and ΔD<sub>2%</sub>) were calculated. To verify the simulation method, measurements were carried out, both static and during motion, using a quasi-3D phantom and a motion platform. The results of the verification measurements during motion were comparable to the results of the static measurements. Considerable interplay effects were observed for individual fractions, with the minimum ΔD<sub>98%</sub> and maximum ΔD<sub>2%</sub> being -16.7% and 16.2%, respectively. The extent of interplay effects was larger for FFF compared to FF and generally increased for higher breathing amplitudes, larger period times, lower dose levels, and more complex treatment plans. Also, the interplay effects varied considerably with the initial breathing phase, and larger variations were observed for smaller CTV sizes. In conclusion, a method to simulate motion induced interplay effects was developed and verified with measurements, which allowed for a large number of treatment scenarios to be investigated. The simulations showed large interplay effects for individual fractions and that the extent of interplay effects varied with the breathing pattern, FFF/FF, dose level, CTV size, collimator angle, and the complexity of the treatment plan.</p>}},
  author       = {{Edvardsson, Anneli and Nordström, Fredrik and Ceberg, Crister and Ceberg, Sofie}},
  issn         = {{0031-9155}},
  keywords     = {{breathing motion; interplay effects; intrafractional motion; radiotherapy; RapidArc; VMAT}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{04}},
  number       = {{8}},
  publisher    = {{IOP Publishing}},
  series       = {{Physics in Medicine and Biology}},
  title        = {{Motion induced interplay effects for VMAT radiotherapy}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1361-6560/aab957}},
  doi          = {{10.1088/1361-6560/aab957}},
  volume       = {{63}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}