STUDY: A Prototype Radiation Therapy Treatment Planning Research Toolkit

Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

This Study Grant supports the research of the NCI-sponsored Optimization Collaborative Working Group (CWG), consisting of nine members from multiple disciplines. The initial goal of the CWG involves developing standards for web-based tools that will enhance the development and validation of dose computation and optimization algorithms in the delivery of radiation treatments. The CWG members will implement prototypes of these web-based tools and data sets that can be examined by peers in this area of treatment planning, and solicit examination and feed back from a small group of these peers. Specifically, the project is a proof-of-concept study that involves discussion and work aimed at evolving a design that can support the grand vision of developing a comprehensive software environment to facilitate research on radiation therapy treatment planning. CWG members will exchange ideas, experiment with their own software, develop and implement strategies for interfacing component software systems, and develop a rudimentary database of patient cases. By the end of the twelve-month timeframe, several hands-on demonstrations and exercises will have been developed to demonstrate proof-of-concept. The proof-of-concept experimentation will lay the foundation for a follow-up multi-year joint collaborative project phase of production-quality development in which a comprehensive database of patient cases and plan directives will be created, and a production-quality toolkit that meets researcher needs for dose calculation, modeling, optimization, and evaluation will be developed. The success of this project will advance frontiers of knowledge in several areas. First, the research allows objective analysis of computation and optimization algorithms that are viable for clinical use in treatment planning design. It will help to validate the correct implementation and usage of these algorithms and to understand their limitations. Second, the toolkit will provide a set of tools and a distribution method that will allow Quality Assurance Centers, research scientists, and clinicians to develop, validate and implement treatment plans that can be benchmarked against accepted standards, and will therefore help to advance the associated frontiers of knowledge. Third, the toolkit will foster interdisciplinary collaborations among clinicians, medical physicists, and optimization researchers as it offers a common planning environment with patient cases and evaluation tools for objectively comparing plan quality resulting from different optimization techniques. Finally, from an educational standpoint, it offers a common treatment-planning platform in which Ph.D. students and residents among these three fields can be cross-trained so as to develop high-quality optimization and computational tools for Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) treatment planning design.