Radiotherapy Plan Robustness Visualization in 3D Dose-Volume-Structure Space
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing radiotherapy treatment plans lack robustness evaluation methods that effectively address uncertainties in proton beam range and patient setup, leading to challenges in ensuring accurate dose delivery to targets while minimizing damage to surrounding tissues.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for evaluating and presenting treatment plan robustness using a 3D dose-volume-structure space, which generates and graphically represents dose distributions under nominal and uncertainty conditions, providing robustness indicators to enhance plan evaluation and presentation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional 2D dose-volume histogram (DVH) graphs are used to evaluate treatment plans, then the evaluation process becomes complex and time-consuming, but the precision of robustness assessment is limited due to overlapping dose distributions under different uncertainty conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from traditional 2D DVH graphs to a 3D dose-volume-structure space that incorporates uncertainty conditions as a third dimension. This dimensional expansion allows simultaneous visualization of multiple dose distributions (nominal and various uncertainty conditions) without overlapping confusion, enabling precise robustness assessment while reducing evaluation time through intuitive graphical representation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the dose distribution evaluation by separating nominal conditions from uncertainty conditions in the 3D space. Each uncertainty condition (e.g., proton range uncertainty, patient setup uncertainty) is independently visualized and compared against the nominal plan, allowing clinicians to assess robustness for each specific uncertainty source individually while maintaining overall evaluation efficiency.
2Reliability
If multiple uncertainty conditions are evaluated simultaneously using traditional methods, then comprehensive robustness assessment is achieved, but the complexity of dose distribution visualization increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
By adding the uncertainty condition dimension to the traditional 2D DVH graph, the patent creates a 3D dose-volume-structure space that naturally organizes multiple uncertainty evaluations. This dimensional approach simplifies the visualization of complex multi-condition robustness assessment, as each uncertainty condition occupies a distinct region in the third dimension, reducing visual clutter and system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The 3D dose-volume-structure space serves as a universal visualization framework that can simultaneously handle nominal conditions and multiple types of uncertainty conditions (proton range, patient setup, etc.). This multi-functional system eliminates the need for separate evaluation tools for different uncertainty sources, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining comprehensive assessment capability.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for evaluating and presenting robustness of a radiotherapy treatment plan for use in radiotherapy are discussed. An exemplary system includes a processor to generate, in a radiation simulation in accordance with the treatment plan under evaluation, dose distributions at an anatomical structure under a nominal condition and one or more artificially imposed uncertainty conditions, determine a dose distribution characteristic for the anatomical structure using the received dose distributions, and generate a robustness indicator of the treatment plan. The dose distributions may be determined at a target structure and one or more structures at risk, and presented graphically in a three-dimensional dose-volume-structure space. An output circuit can output the dose distribution characteristic or the robustness indicator to a user or a treatment planning system.