Radiation Medicine Commons^™

Evaluation Of An End-To-End Radiotherapy Treatment Planning Pipeline For Prostate Cancer, Mohammad Daniel El Basha, Court Laurence, Carlos Eduardo Cardenas, Julianne Pollard-Larkin, Steven Frank, David T. Fuentes, Falk Poenisch, Zhiqian H. Yu

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Radiation treatment planning is a crucial and time-intensive process in radiation therapy. This planning involves carefully designing a treatment regimen tailored to a patient’s specific condition, including the type, location, and size of the tumor with reference to surrounding healthy tissues. For prostate cancer, this tumor may be either local, locally advanced with extracapsular involvement, or extend into the pelvic lymph node chain. Automating essential parts of this process would allow for the rapid development of effective treatment plans and better plan optimization to enhance tumor control for better outcomes.

The first objective of this work, to automate the treatment …

Proof-Of-Concept For Converging Beam Small Animal Irradiator, Benjamin Insley

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

The Monte Carlo particle simulator TOPAS, the multiphysics solver COMSOL., and

several analytical radiation transport methods were employed to perform an in-depth proof-ofconcept

for a high dose rate, high precision converging beam small animal irradiation platform.

In the first aim of this work, a novel carbon nanotube-based compact X-ray tube optimized for

high output and high directionality was designed and characterized. In the second aim, an

optimization algorithm was developed to customize a collimator geometry for this unique Xray

source to simultaneously maximize the irradiator’s intensity and precision. Then, a full

converging beam irradiator apparatus was fit with a multitude …

The Safe And Effective Clinical Deployment Of Artificial Intelligence Tools, Kelly Nealon

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

18 million new cancer cases are diagnosed each year. Roughly half of these patients will be treated with radiation therapy, a complex technique that requires an interdisciplinary team of clinical staff and expensive equipment to be delivered safely. Cancer centers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC) have an especially difficult time meeting the demands of radiation therapy as the complexity of treatment techniques increase, with only 37% of patients in these regions having access to the care they need. Artificial Intelligence (AI) based tools are being developed to simplify the treatment planning and quality assurance processes to increase the number …

Analysis Of Biologically Effective Dose For Retroactive Yttrium-90 Trans-Arterial Radioembolization Treatment Optimization, Mj Lindsey

CMC Senior Theses

Trans-arterial radioembolization (TARE) is a protracted modality of radiation therapy where radionuclides labeled with Yttrium-90 (⁹⁰Y) are inserted inside a patient's hepatic artery to treat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). While TARE has been shown to be a clinically effective and safe treatment, there is little understanding of the radiobiological relationship between absorbed dose and tissue response, and thus there is no dosimetric standard for treatment planning. The Biologically Effective Dose (BED) formalism, derived from the Linear-Quadratic model of radiobiology, is used to weigh the absorbed dose by the time pattern of delivery. BED is a virtual dose that can …

Quantifying The Magnitude Of Total Dose Deviation Caused By Various Sources Of Error Among Iroc Phantom Irradiation Results, Sharbacha S. Edward

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

The Imaging and Radiation Oncology Core (IROC) phantoms are used as an end-to-end test of an institution’s radiotherapy processes, and for clinical trial credentialing. Phantoms are treated like patients, and evaluation of the doses received by the thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) inside the phantom, reflects the accuracy with which an institution can image, plan and irradiate a phantom or patient. Recent phantom results show that among the hundreds of various IROC phantoms irradiated annually, 8-17% of institutions fail this test. The purpose of this work was to investigate the various types of errors that may occur during the treatment process and …

In-Phantom Film Measurements Of Two Treatment Planning Systems For Single-Fraction Spine Sbrt, Michael J. Taylor

LSU Master's Theses

Purpose: Treatment planning accuracy for spine stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) varies depending on the dose calculation algorithm utilized in the treatment planning system (TPS). This project compared the end-to-end accuracy between spine SBRT plans calculated in a convolution-superposition based TPS (TPS_CS) and Monte Carlo based TPS (TPS_MC) with radiochromic film measurements. The hypothesis was that TPS_MC would calculate the dose gradient in the critical region between the vertebral body and the spinal cord more accurately than TPS_CS.

Methods: Single-fraction spine SBRT treatments following RTOG 0631 and local institutional guidelines were planned in …

Investigating The Uncertainties In Ct Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Radiomics, Gary Ge

Theses and Dissertations--Radiation Medicine

Radiomics is a technique that extracts quantitative features, termed radiomic features, from medical images using data-characterization algorithms. These radiomic features can be used to identify tissue characteristics and radiologic phenotyping that are not observable by clinicians in a non-invasive, low-cost manner, potentially generating image biomarkers for clinical decision. To date, there are still many uncertainties involved in radiomics which limit its clinical implementation. Herein, we propose to explore the impact of each component in the radiomics pipeline on predicting clinical outcomes. In Chapter II, we conduct a thorough review of CT lung cancer radiomics studies to examine the typical feature …

Advancement Of A 3d Computational Phantom And Its Age Scaling Methodologies For Retrospective Dose Reconstruction Studies, Aashish Gupta

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

We have used a 3D age-scalable computational phantom for over two decades for retrospective dose reconstruction studies of childhood cancer survivors (CCS) treated with 2D historic radiotherapy (RT). However, our phantom and its age scaling functions (ASF) must be updated so that it can be used in studies that include survivors treated with contemporary RT. We aimed to implement our phantom and its age scaling functions in DICOM format and determine the feasibility of applying our ASFs to accurately scale the whole-body CT-based anatomies.

In the implementation study, we developed Python scripts that model the phantom and ASFs in a …

Structural Shielding Considerations For Vmat, Ana Lucia Dieguez

LSU Master's Theses

Introduction: As noted in National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) Report 151, the medical physicist or other qualified expert has the responsibility to keep abreast of any new technology or treatment method that could potentially impact structural shielding design. Volumetric arc therapy (VMAT) became prevalent after the publication of Report 151 and thus was not explicitly addressed in Report 151. If the shielding-related characteristics of VMAT differ enough from the expectations of Report 151, especially in the circumstance of a vault utilized exclusively for VMAT, a shielding design based on Report 151 could potentially be inadequate. The …

A Direct Machine-Specific Parameters Incorporated Spot-Scanning Proton Arc (Sparc) Algorithm, Gang Liu, Lewei Zhao, Di Yan, Xiaoqiang Li, Xuanfeng Ding

Conference Presentation Abstracts

No abstract provided.

The First Modeling Of The Spot-Scanning Proton Arc (Sparc) Delivery Sequence And Investigating Its Efficiency Improvement In The Clinical Proton Treatment Workflow, Gang Liu, Lewei Zhao, Di Yan, Rohan Deraniyagala, Craig Stevens, Xiaoqiang Li, Xuanfeng Ding

Conference Presentation Abstracts

No abstract provided.

Changes In Post-Treatment Cardiac Pet Avidity Predict Overall Survival In Lung Cancer Patients Treated With Chemoradiation, T Santangelo, F Forghani, C Rusthoven, R Castillo, E Castillo, B Jones, T Guerrero, Y Vinogradskiy

Conference Presentation Abstracts

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Flattening Filter-Free Field On Online Adaptive Radiotherapy Using Virtual Couch Shift (Vcs) Technique, Q Liu, J Liang, D Yan

Conference Presentation Abstracts

No abstract provided.

Investigate The Delivery Efficiency And Accuracy Of Spot-Scanning Proton Arc (Sparc) In Comparison With Conventional Impt, Automatic Step-And-Shoot Multifield Impt, Lewei Zhao, Gang Liu, Di Yan, Xiaoqiang Li, Xuanfeng Ding

Conference Presentation Abstracts

No abstract provided.

Develop A Rotational Robust Optimized Spot-Scanning Proton Arc (Sparc) Algorithm, Shupeng Chang, Gang Liu, Lewei Zhao, Weili Zheng, An Qin, Di Yan, Xiaoqiang Li, Xuanfeng Ding

Conference Presentation Abstracts

No abstract provided.

Toward Online Adaptive Proton Therapy Of Sinonasal Cancer: The Dosimetric Accuracy Of Utilizing Deep-Learning Synthetic Ct From Cbct For Daily Treatment Dose Verification, An Qin, Lewei Zhao, Shupeng Chen, Xiaoqiang Li, Weili Zheng, Di Yan, Rohan Deraniyagala, Xuanfeng Ding

Conference Presentation Abstracts

No abstract provided.

Assess The Interplay Effect Based On The Cyclotron Accelerator Proton Therapy System Machine-Specific Delivery Sequence Model, Lewei Zhao, Gang Liu, J Shen, A Lee, Di Yan, Rohan Deraniyagala, Craig Stevens, Weili Zheng, Xiaoqiang Li, S Tang, Xuanfeng Ding

Conference Presentation Abstracts

No abstract provided.

Nuclear-Targeted Gold Nanoparticles Enhance The Effects Of Radiation Therapy With And Without Liposomal Delivery, Maureen Aliru

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Less that 10% of pancreatic cancer patients are eligible for curative resection, and clinical trials evaluating chemoradiation in locally advanced patients with unresectable disease have been largely disappointing. New and creative therapeutic approaches are needed to address the unment need for treatment options. The objective of this thesis is to advance radiosensitization of treatment-resistant densely desmoplastic pancreatic cancer using nanoparticles to surmount biological barriers to effective particle distribution for DNA-targeting.

Clinical translation of radiosensitizing nanoparticles has stalled owing to technical challenges. Current strategies to use AuNPs for radiosensitization require large quantities of gold, kilovoltage x-rays, immediate irradiation after intravenous administration, …

Modeling Anatomic Changes For Adaptive Radiotherapy In Locally Advanced Lung Cancer Patient Population, James Alexander Kavanaugh

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Anatomic changes occurring mid-treatment for patients undergoing radiation therapy for locally advanced lung cancer can degrade the quality of the intended treatment plan. These changes include tumor regression, geometric misalignment, and lung density changes (atelectasis and pleural effusion), and are visible on the daily 3D cone beam CT (CBCT). To maintain the intended treatment quality, adaptive radiotherapy (ART) can be employed to modify the treatment plan to account for these anatomic changes. However, the evaluation on when to adapt is currently completed manually by the treating clinicians, resulting in a subjective and inconsistent application. To address these limitations, a series …

Analytical Setup Margin For Spinal Sbrt Based On Measured Errors, Audrey Copeland

LSU Master's Theses

Purpose: No consensus currently exists in the radiotherapy community about the correct margin size to use for spinal SBRT. Margins have been proposed to account for various errors individually, but not with all errors combined to result in a single margin value. The purpose of this work was to determine a setup margin for spinal SBRT based on known and measurable errors during radiotherapy to achieve at least 90% coverage of the clinical target volume (CTV) with the prescription dose for at least 90% of patients and not exceed a 30 Gy point dose or 23 Gy to 10% of …

Development Of A Robust Treatment Delivery Framework For Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (Sbrt) Of Synchronous Multiple Lung Lesions, Lana Catherine Critchfield

Theses and Dissertations--Radiation Medicine

Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) of lung tumors uses high doses of radiation to deliver high biological effective doses (BED) in very few fractions (1-5). With the use of highly conformal fields to cover the tumor without depositing large doses to non-cancerous structures, this technique has proven time and again to be successful at achieving high local control. However, frequently patients receiving SBRT are elderly with multiple medical comorbidities who may not tolerate long treatment times. Furthermore, many patients present with oligometastatic or multiple primary lung tumors. The success of SBRT on oligometastatic lung disease relies on physician experience with …

Characterization And Longitudinal Assessment Of Daily Quality Assurance For An Mr-Guided Radiotherapy (Mrgrt) Linac, Kathryn Mittauer

All Publications

No abstract provided.

Modeling Proton Relative Biological Effectiveness Using Monte Carlo Simulations Of Microdosimetry, Mark A. Newpower

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Proton therapy is a radiotherapy modality that can offer a better physical dose distribution when compared to photon radiotherapy by taking advantage of the Bragg peak, a narrow region of rapid energy loss. Proton therapy is also known to offer an enhanced relative biological effectiveness (RBE) compared to photons. In the current clinical standard, RBE is fixed at 1.1 at all points along the proton beam, meaning protons are assumed to require 10% less dose than photons to achieve target coverage and organ at risk (OAR) sparing. However, there is mounting clinical evidence, and a significant number of in vitro …

Development And Long-Term Stability Of A Comprehensive Daily Qa Program For A Modern Pencil Beam Scanning (Pbs) Proton Therapy Delivery System, Suresh Rana, Jaafar Bennouna, Alonso Gutierrez

Alonso Gutierrez

No abstract provided.

Development And Long-Term Stability Of A Comprehensive Daily Qa Program For A Modern Pencil Beam Scanning (Pbs) Proton Therapy Delivery System, Suresh Rana, Jaafar Bennouna, Alonso Gutierrez

Jaafar Bennouna

No abstract provided.

Development And Long-Term Stability Of A Comprehensive Daily Qa Program For A Modern Pencil Beam Scanning (Pbs) Proton Therapy Delivery System, Suresh Rana, Jaafar Bennouna, Alonso Gutierrez

Suresh Rana

No abstract provided.

Development And Long-Term Stability Of A Comprehensive Daily Qa Program For A Modern Pencil Beam Scanning (Pbs) Proton Therapy Delivery System, Suresh Rana, Jaafar Bennouna, Alonso Gutierrez

All Publications

No abstract provided.