Treatment planning system and patient positioning for boron neutron capture therapy

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 50-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroaki Kumada ◽  
Kenta Takada
Author(s):  
Hiroaki Kumada ◽  
Takemi Nakamura ◽  
Akira Matsumura ◽  
Koji Ono

To improve treatment planning in boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT), a new Monte-Carlo radiotherapy planning system is under development at Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA). This system (developing code: JCDS-FX) builds on fundamental technologies of JCDS (JAEA Computation Dosimetry System) which has been applied to actual BNCT trials at Japan Research Reactor No.4 (JRR-4). Basic technologies of JCDS have been taken over to JCDS-FX, and some new functions have been built into the system. One of features of the JCDS-FX is that PHITS as a multi-purpose particle Monte-Carlo transport code has been applied to particle transport calculation. Application of PHITS enables to evaluate doses for neutrons and photons as well as protons and heavy ions. Therefore, the JCDS-FX with PHITS can perform treatment planning for not only BNCT but also particle radiotherapy. To verify calculation accuracy of the JCDS-FX with PHITS, dose evaluations for neutron irradiation of a cylindrical water phantom and for an actual clinical trial conducted at JRR-4 were performed. The verification results indicated that JCDS-FX is applicable to BNCT treatment planning in practical use. Further verifications of the system are being performed to achieve practical application of the system in the future. And in addition to the BNCT, investigations for application of the system to any other particle radiotherapy like proton therapy are carried forward.


2014 ◽  
Vol 167 (4) ◽  
pp. 584-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenta Takada ◽  
Hiroaki Kumada ◽  
Tomonori Isobe ◽  
Toshiyuki Terunuma ◽  
Satoshi Kamizawa ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Naonori Hu ◽  
Hiroki Tanaka ◽  
Ryo Kakino ◽  
Syuushi Yoshikawa ◽  
Mamoru Miyao ◽  
...  

AbstractBoron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) for the treatment of unresectable, locally advanced, and recurrent carcinoma of the head and neck cancer has been approved by the Japanese government for reimbursement under the national health insurance as of June 2020. A new treatment planning system for clinical BNCT has been developed by Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. (Sumitomo), NeuCure® Dose Engine. To safely implement this system for clinical use, the simulated neutron flux and gamma ray dose rate inside a water phantom was compared against experimental measurements. Furthermore, to validate and verify the new planning system, the dose distribution inside an anthropomorphic head phantom was compared against a BNCT treatment planning system SERA and an in-house developed Monte Carlo dose calculation program. The simulated results closely matched the experimental results, within 5% for the thermal neutron flux and 10% for the gamma ray dose rate. The dose distribution inside the head phantom closely matched with SERA and the in-house developed dose calculation program, within 3% for the tumour and a difference of 0.3 Gyw for the brain.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jia-Cheng Lee ◽  
Yi-Wei Chen ◽  
Keh-Shih Chuang ◽  
Fang-Yuh Hsu ◽  
Fong-In Chou ◽  
...  

Unlike conventional photon radiotherapy, sophisticated patient positioning tools are not available for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). Thus, BNCT remains vulnerable to setup errors and intra-fractional patient motion. The aim of this study was to estimate the impact of deviations in positioning on the dose administered by BNCT for brain tumors at the Tsing Hua open-pool reactor (THOR). For these studies, a simulated head model was generated based on computed tomography (CT) images of a patient with a brain tumor. A cylindrical brain tumor 3 cm in diameter and 5 cm in length was modeled at distances of 6.5 cm and 2.5 cm from the posterior scalp of this head model (T6.5 cm and T2.5 cm, respectively). Radiation doses associated with positioning errors were evaluated for each distance, including left and right shifts, superior and inferior shifts, shifts from the central axis of the beam aperture, and outward shifts from the surface of the beam aperture. Rotational and tilting effects were also evaluated. The dose prescription was 20 Gray-equivalent (Gy-Eq) to 80 % of the tumor. The treatment planning system, NCTPlan, was used to perform dose calculations. The average decreases in mean tumor dose for T6.5 cm for the 1 cm, 2 cm, and 3 cm lateral shifts composed by left, right, superior, and inferior sides, were approximately 1 %, 6 %, and 11 %, respectively, compared to the dose administered to the initial tumor position. The decreases in mean tumor dose for T6.5 cm were approximately 5 %, 11 %, and 15 % for the 1 cm, 2 cm, and 3 cm outward shifts, respectively. For a superficial tumor at T2.5cm, no significant decrease in average mean tumor dose was observed following lateral shifts of 1 cm. Rotational and tilting up to 15° did not result in significant difference to the tumor dose. Dose differences to the normal tissues as a result of the shifts in positioning were also minimal. Taken together, these data demonstrate that the mean dose administered to tumors at greater depths is potentially more vulnerable to deviations in positioning, and greater shift distances resulted in reduced mean tumor doses at the THOR. Moreover, these data provide an estimation of dose differences that are caused by setup error or intra-fractional motion during BNCT, and these may facilitate more accurate predictions of actual patient dose in future treatments.


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