Online external beam radiation treatment simulator

Abstract

Radiation therapy is an effective and widely accepted form of treatment for many types of cancer that requires extensive computerized planning. Unfortunately, current treatment planning systems have limited or no visual aid that combines patient volumetric models extracted from patient-specific CT data with the treatment device geometry in a 3D interactive simulation. We illustrate the potential of 3D simulation in radiation therapy with a web-based interactive system that combines novel standards and technologies. We discuss related research efforts in this area and present in detail several components of the simulator. An objective assessment of the accuracy of the simulator and a usability study prove the potential of such a system for simulation and training.

The development and verification of a highly accurate collision prediction model for automated noncoplanar plan delivery

“…19 Hamza-Lup et al digitized the surface of individual moveable components on external beam therapy machines using 3D scanners and generated an augmented reality environment for virtual collision detection. 20 While these methods provided an approximation for collision prediction, they were either not individualized to each patient, or have not been end-to-end tested for the purpose of noncoplanar radiotherapy. Studies in which patient-specific external contours from CT images were utilized, the patient contour not only does not include the entire body, but also could not be extensively verified via measurements due to the impracticality of placing any patient on the couch for an extended period of time.…”

Interactive X-ray and proton therapy training and simulation

“…We proposed and presented a web-based simulation system 3DRTT [9,10] for XRT that provides a room view of the system. The 3DRTT simulator included a generic patient model.…”

Patient specific 3D surfaces for interactive medical planning and training

“…The overall accuracy of the simulator for the Novalis and Varian XRT devices was determined to be below 1 centimeter [Hamza-Lup et al 2008]. Radiation oncologists consulted during the system development consider that 1 centimeter accuracy is sufficient and will significantly improve the confidence in the radiation plan delivery.…”

“…We propose a cost effective, real-time 3D digitization solution and a patient S-rep processing and optimization method, designed for interactive medical planning and training. The proposed solution generates an optimized X3D patient specific S-rep. We benefit from X3D's web capabilities to deploy a prototype S-rep in an existing medical simulation system for 3D Radiation Therapy Training (3DRTT) [Hamza-Lup et al 2008]. …”