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MO‐A(SAM)‐BRC‐04: Four‐Dimensional Dose Calculations
Author(s) -
Starkschall G
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
medical physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.473
H-Index - 180
eISSN - 2473-4209
pISSN - 0094-2405
DOI - 10.1118/1.3612883
Subject(s) - grid , set (abstract data type) , process (computing) , computer science , data set , nuclear medicine , resource (disambiguation) , medical physics , radiation treatment planning , plan (archaeology) , phase (matter) , medicine , physics , mathematics , artificial intelligence , radiology , radiation therapy , computer network , geometry , quantum mechanics , programming language , operating system , history , archaeology
Four‐dimensional (4D) dose calculations can be used to account for respiratory motion. The 4D process consists of generating a treatment plan on a single reference phase of a 4D CT data set, using the same beam configuration to calculate doses on other phases in the data set, deforming the dose grid from the reference phase to the other phases of the data set, and accumulating the dose to the points on the deformed grid. Studies indicating the need for such dose calculations are limited, but suggest that these calculations may be needed for larger (stage III) lung tumors, but not for smaller (stage I) tumors. 4D dose calculations are time‐consuming and resource intensive, but as treatment planning hardware becomes faster, such calculations are feasible in a clinical environment. Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this presentation the participant will be able to answer the following questions: 1. What are 4D dose calculations? 2. Do we need to do 4D dose calculations? 3. Can 4D dose calculations be done on a routine basis in the clinic? 4. What questions remain to be answered?