The Experts below are selected from a list of 20205 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
J Flanz - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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New horizons in Particle Therapy systems.
Medical physics, 2018Co-Authors: Jonathan B. Farr, J Flanz, A. Gerbershagen, Michael F. MoyersAbstract:Particle Therapy is rapidly expanding and claiming its position as the treatment modality of choice in teleTherapy. However, the rate of expansion continues to be restricted by the size and cost of the associated Particle Therapy systems and their operation. Additional technical limitations such as dose delivery rate, treatment process efficiency, and achievement of superior dose conformity potentially hinder the complete fulfillment of the promise of Particle Therapy. These topics are explored in this review considering the current state of Particle Therapy systems and what improvements are required to overcome the current challenges. Beam production systems (accelerators), beam transport systems including gantries and beam delivery systems are addressed explicitly in these regards.
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future of synchrotrons for Particle Therapy
arXiv: Medical Physics, 2018Co-Authors: J FlanzAbstract:The field of Particle Therapy is quickly growing and yet it's more widespread adoption is limited by size, cost and adaptation to the more conformal treatment techniques. In order to realize the benefits of this modality the equipment used to generate and deliver the beam is evolving. The accelerator is one of the key components and its future is dictated by the ability to accommodate the clinical requirements. This lecture is intended to provide an introduction to these requirements and identify how synchrotrons are designed to deliver the desired beams as well as what limitations exist and expectations for the future of synchrotrons.
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Accelerators for charged Particle Therapy
Modern Physics Letters A, 2015Co-Authors: J FlanzAbstract:History has shown that energetic Particles can be useful for medical applications. From the time, in 1895 when Roentgen discovered X-rays, and in 1913 when Coolidge developed the vacuum X-ray tube, energetic Particles have been an important tool for medicine. Development of the appropriate tool for effective and safe radioTherapy requires an in-depth understanding of the application and constraints. Various solutions are possible and choices must be analyzed on the basis of the suitability for meeting the requirements. Some of the requirements of charged Particle Therapy are summarized and various accelerator options are described and discussed.
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What’s new in Particle Therapy accelerator technology
Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section B-beam Interactions With Materials and Atoms, 2007Co-Authors: J FlanzAbstract:Abstract Recently, Particle Therapy has entered a new age. The number of facilities opening and under construction is at an all time high. We are now at an interesting time in the cycle of product development and ‘consumer’ interest, where; on the one hand, the interest in the technique has encouraged some groups who are working on new ideas; but on the other hand, existing product production, to reduce costs and improve procurement, installation and commissioning time tends to reduce the degree of change that can be considered in a system. This paper summarizes some of the current requirements and directions in Particle Therapy accelerator technology.
Marco Durante - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Particle Therapy in Europe.
Molecular oncology, 2020Co-Authors: Cai Grau, Marco Durante, Dietmar Georg, Johannes A. Langendijk, Damien C. WeberAbstract:Particle Therapy using protons or heavier ions is currently the most advanced form of radioTherapy and offers new opportunities for improving cancer care and research. Ions deposit the dose with a sharp maximum - the Bragg peak - and normal tissue receives a much lower dose than what is delivered by X-ray Therapy. Particle Therapy has also biological advantages due to the high linear energy transfer of the charged Particles around the Bragg peak. The introduction of Particle Therapy has been slow in Europe, but within the last decade, more than 20 clinical facilities have opened and facilitated access to this frontline Therapy. In this review article, the basic concepts of Particle Therapy are reviewed along with a presentation of the current clinical indications, the European clinical research, and the established networks.
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nuclear physics in Particle Therapy a review
Reports on Progress in Physics, 2016Co-Authors: Marco Durante, H PaganettiAbstract:Charged Particle Therapy has been largely driven and influenced by nuclear physics. The increase in energy deposition density along the ion path in the body allows reducing the dose to normal tissues during radioTherapy compared to photons. Clinical results of Particle Therapy support the physical rationale for this treatment, but the method remains controversial because of the high cost and of the lack of comparative clinical trials proving the benefit compared to x-rays. Research in applied nuclear physics, including nuclear interactions, dosimetry, image guidance, range verification, novel accelerators and beam delivery technologies, can significantly improve the clinical outcome in Particle Therapy. Measurements of fragmentation cross-sections, including those for the production of positron-emitting fragments, and attenuation curves are needed for tuning Monte Carlo codes, whose use in clinical environments is rapidly increasing thanks to fast calculation methods. Existing cross sections and codes are indeed not very accurate in the energy and target regions of interest for Particle Therapy. These measurements are especially urgent for new ions to be used in Therapy, such as helium. Furthermore, nuclear physics hardware developments are frequently finding applications in ion Therapy due to similar requirements concerning sensors and real-time data processing. In this review we will briefly describe the physics bases, and concentrate on the open issues.
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Advancing the modeling in Particle Therapy: From track structure to treatment planning
Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 2014Co-Authors: C. Wälzlein, Emanuele Scifoni, Michael Krämer, Marco DuranteAbstract:We present a series of implementations on Monte Carlo track structure level which might have an impact on treatment planning for Particle Therapy. We evaluated the effect of multiple ion scattering and radical diffusion on the nanoscopic radial dose. Our cross section database for electron interactions was extended to be able to predict the sensitizing effect of gold nanoParticles in Particle Therapy. We also implemented LiF as a possible target for efficiency calculations of thermoluminescent detectors (TLDs).
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Charged Particle Therapy--optimization, challenges and future directions.
Nature reviews. Clinical oncology, 2013Co-Authors: Jay S. Loeffler, Marco DuranteAbstract:The use of charged Particle Therapy to control tumours non-invasively offers advantages over conventional radioTherapy. Protons and heavy ions deposit energy far more selectively than X-rays, allowing a higher local control of the tumour, a lower probability of damage to healthy tissue, low risk of complications and the chance for a rapid recovery after Therapy. Charged Particles are also useful for treating tumours located in areas that surround tissues that are radiosensitive and in anatomical sites where surgical access is limited. Current trial outcomes indicate that accelerated ions can potentially replace surgery for radical cancer treatments, which might be beneficial as the success of surgical cancer treatments are largely dependent on the expertise and experience of the surgeon and the location of the tumour. However, to date, only a small number of controlled randomized clinical trials have made comparisons between Particle Therapy and X-rays. Therefore, although the potential advantages are clear and supported by data, the cost:benefit ratio remains controversial. Research in medical physics and radiobiology is focusing on reducing the costs and increasing the benefits of this treatment.
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Algorithms for the optimization of RBE-weighted dose in Particle Therapy
Physics in medicine and biology, 2012Co-Authors: M. Horcicka, Marco Durante, C Meyer, A. Buschbacher, M KrämerAbstract:We report on various algorithms used for the nonlinear optimization of RBE-weighted dose in Particle Therapy. Concerning the dose calculation carbon ions are considered and biological effects are calculated by the Local Effect Model. Taking biological effects fully into account requires iterative methods to solve the optimization problem. We implemented several additional algorithms into GSI's treatment planning system TRiP98, like the BFGS-algorithm and the method of conjugated gradients, in order to investigate their computational performance. We modified textbook iteration procedures to improve the convergence speed. The performance of the algorithms is presented by convergence in terms of iterations and computation time. We found that the Fletcher–Reeves variant of the method of conjugated gradients is the algorithm with the best computational performance. With this algorithm we could speed up computation times by a factor of 4 compared to the method of steepest descent, which was used before. With our new methods it is possible to optimize complex treatment plans in a few minutes leading to good dose distributions. At the end we discuss future goals concerning dose optimization issues in Particle Therapy which might benefit from fast optimization solvers.
Tsukasa Aso - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Tetrahedral Organ Model in Geant4 Based Particle Therapy Simulation Framework
2018 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference Proceedings (NSS MIC), 2018Co-Authors: Tsukasa Aso, S. Ogasawara, Tsi-chian Chao, H. Chang, Chung-chi LeeAbstract:Monte Carlo simulation for radiation Therapy needs a computational model of patient geometry. Voxel model has been so far used for this purpose. However, tetrahedral model is more suitable for representing organ’s shape. In this paper, we report on the development of tetrahedral organ model in Geant4 based Particle Therapy system simulation framework (PTSIM). Several organ geometries have been successfully constructed with the tetrahedral model in PTSIM. The performance in the simulation is discussed by comparing the tetrahedral model with the voxel model.
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Common platform of Monte Carlo dose calculation on universal grid interface with Geant4 based Particle Therapy simulation framework
Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2014Co-Authors: G. Iwai, Tsukasa Aso, Wataru Takase, Takashi Sasaki, Tomohiro Yamashita, Yoshikazu Maeda, Yoshiyuki Watase, Takashi Akagi, Teiji NishioAbstract:While Monte Carlo (MC) simulation is believed to be the most reliable method of dose calculation in Particle Therapy, the simulation time is critical in attaining sufficient statistical accuracy for clinical applications. Therefore, parallelization of simulations is essential. This paper describes a common platform of MC dose calculation in grid-distributed computing environments. The platform is flexible and effective for dose calculation in both clinical and research applications for Particle Therapy. The platform consists of the universal grid interface (UGI) and the Geant4-based Particle Therapy simulation framework (PTSIM). The UGI, written in Python, provides a command-line interface for job submission, file manipulation, and monitoring in multiple-grid middleware environments. The PTSIM is a single software application for modeling a treatment port with patient data obtained from CT images. The common platform was constructed in grid computing environments using the computing resources in five institutions. The platform utilized these resources through the NAREGI grid middleware under UGI to provide stable computing resources and a common environment for MC dose calculation in Particle Therapy.
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CSE - Extension of the Particle Therapy Simulation Framework to Hospital Information Systems and Multi-grid Environments
2012 IEEE 15th International Conference on Computational Science and Engineering, 2012Co-Authors: Tsukasa Aso, G. Iwai, Wataru Takase, Takashi Sasaki, Tomohiro Yamashita, Yoshikazu Maeda, Yoshiyuki Watase, Takashi Akagi, Yuki NakanoAbstract:The Particle Therapy Simulation Framework (PTSIM) is a Geant4-based Monte Carlo simulation framework for Particle Therapy. The PTSIM provides a common platform to model a beam delivery system and a treatment head with patient data obtained from CT images. The PTSIM had already supported three Japanese proton and ion Therapy facilities and three more in other countries The PTSIM allows Particle Therapy clinicians or researchers to simulate their own facility or an envisioned facility without requiring Geant4 expertise or programming. While Monte Carlo simulation is believed to be the most reliable method of dose calculation in Particle Therapy, the calculation time is critical in performing the simulation with sufficient statistical accuracy for clinical applications. There-fore, adopting a high-performance computing environment, such as a grid, is essential. In order to provide users with better usability and computer resources, we have developed an extension of the PTSIM in order to coordinate with hospital information systems and multi-grid environments. The extension consists of the PTSIM Web Interface for configuring the PTSIM, the DICOM-RT interface for communicating with a hospital information system of a Particle Therapy facility, and a Universal Grid Interface for performing a simulation in a multi-grid environment. In the present paper, we describe these three key components in detail.
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GRID - Particle Therapy Simulation Framework on GRID Environments
2011 IEEE ACM 12th International Conference on Grid Computing, 2011Co-Authors: Tsukasa Aso, Ryosuke Noto, G. Iwai, Wataru Takase, Takashi SasakiAbstract:Dose calculation for Particle Therapy has been performed on GRID environments using a Geant4 based Particle Therapy simulation framework (PTSIM). PTSIM provides a common platform to model a beam line and treatment head with patient data from CT. PTSIM has already provided three of Japanese proton and ion Therapy facilities and three more in other countries. At Particle Therapy facilities, dose analyses in clinical applications are preformed by a treatment planning system (TPS). While TPS includes a simple but very fast pencil beam algorithm (PBA), integration with full Geant4 Monte Carlo (MC) calculation is desirable. However, the computation time is an issue for applying MC calculation to treatment planning. In order to improve the computation time, we examined the performance of dose calculation in PTSIM on two GRID environments, LCG and NAREGI, respectively. In this paper, we describe the performance of dose calculation in PTSIM on these GRID environments.
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The PTSim and TOPAS Projects, Bringing Geant4 to the Particle Therapy Clinic
2011Co-Authors: Takashi Akagi, Tsukasa Aso, A. Kimura, Teiji Nishio, Bruce A. Faddegon, Naruhiro Matsufuji, Chihiro Omachi, Harald Paganetti, J Perl, Takashi SasakiAbstract:Though the Geant4 Simulation Toolkit has been widely accepted in the Particle Therapy community, with research and clinical use at most of the major centers currently involved in this innovative approach to cancer treatment, the high level of Geant4 expertise required for these applications has proven a serious barrier for users. The PTSim collaboration in Japan and the TOPAS collaboration in the United States wrap and extend the Geant4 toolkit to meet the needs of this critical community. PTSim has provided a common platform to model three Japanese proton and ion Therapy facilities plus three more in other countries, allowing users who are not Geant4 experts to accurately and efficiently run Geant4 simulations for any of these pre-built configurations. Building on a rich history of proton Therapy applications at MGH (site of the world's first proton Therapy system), NCC Korea, and elsewhere, the TOPAS project aims to take flexibility further, allowing any Particle Therapy clinician or researcher to Geant4-simulate their own real or envisioned facility still without requiring a Geant4 expert. We describe these projects, how their designs bridge the gap between flexibility and ease of use, what key missing software components they have contributed and how the two projects may evolve together.
Takashi Sasaki - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Common platform of Monte Carlo dose calculation on universal grid interface with Geant4 based Particle Therapy simulation framework
Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2014Co-Authors: G. Iwai, Tsukasa Aso, Wataru Takase, Takashi Sasaki, Tomohiro Yamashita, Yoshikazu Maeda, Yoshiyuki Watase, Takashi Akagi, Teiji NishioAbstract:While Monte Carlo (MC) simulation is believed to be the most reliable method of dose calculation in Particle Therapy, the simulation time is critical in attaining sufficient statistical accuracy for clinical applications. Therefore, parallelization of simulations is essential. This paper describes a common platform of MC dose calculation in grid-distributed computing environments. The platform is flexible and effective for dose calculation in both clinical and research applications for Particle Therapy. The platform consists of the universal grid interface (UGI) and the Geant4-based Particle Therapy simulation framework (PTSIM). The UGI, written in Python, provides a command-line interface for job submission, file manipulation, and monitoring in multiple-grid middleware environments. The PTSIM is a single software application for modeling a treatment port with patient data obtained from CT images. The common platform was constructed in grid computing environments using the computing resources in five institutions. The platform utilized these resources through the NAREGI grid middleware under UGI to provide stable computing resources and a common environment for MC dose calculation in Particle Therapy.
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CSE - Extension of the Particle Therapy Simulation Framework to Hospital Information Systems and Multi-grid Environments
2012 IEEE 15th International Conference on Computational Science and Engineering, 2012Co-Authors: Tsukasa Aso, G. Iwai, Wataru Takase, Takashi Sasaki, Tomohiro Yamashita, Yoshikazu Maeda, Yoshiyuki Watase, Takashi Akagi, Yuki NakanoAbstract:The Particle Therapy Simulation Framework (PTSIM) is a Geant4-based Monte Carlo simulation framework for Particle Therapy. The PTSIM provides a common platform to model a beam delivery system and a treatment head with patient data obtained from CT images. The PTSIM had already supported three Japanese proton and ion Therapy facilities and three more in other countries The PTSIM allows Particle Therapy clinicians or researchers to simulate their own facility or an envisioned facility without requiring Geant4 expertise or programming. While Monte Carlo simulation is believed to be the most reliable method of dose calculation in Particle Therapy, the calculation time is critical in performing the simulation with sufficient statistical accuracy for clinical applications. There-fore, adopting a high-performance computing environment, such as a grid, is essential. In order to provide users with better usability and computer resources, we have developed an extension of the PTSIM in order to coordinate with hospital information systems and multi-grid environments. The extension consists of the PTSIM Web Interface for configuring the PTSIM, the DICOM-RT interface for communicating with a hospital information system of a Particle Therapy facility, and a Universal Grid Interface for performing a simulation in a multi-grid environment. In the present paper, we describe these three key components in detail.
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GRID - Particle Therapy Simulation Framework on GRID Environments
2011 IEEE ACM 12th International Conference on Grid Computing, 2011Co-Authors: Tsukasa Aso, Ryosuke Noto, G. Iwai, Wataru Takase, Takashi SasakiAbstract:Dose calculation for Particle Therapy has been performed on GRID environments using a Geant4 based Particle Therapy simulation framework (PTSIM). PTSIM provides a common platform to model a beam line and treatment head with patient data from CT. PTSIM has already provided three of Japanese proton and ion Therapy facilities and three more in other countries. At Particle Therapy facilities, dose analyses in clinical applications are preformed by a treatment planning system (TPS). While TPS includes a simple but very fast pencil beam algorithm (PBA), integration with full Geant4 Monte Carlo (MC) calculation is desirable. However, the computation time is an issue for applying MC calculation to treatment planning. In order to improve the computation time, we examined the performance of dose calculation in PTSIM on two GRID environments, LCG and NAREGI, respectively. In this paper, we describe the performance of dose calculation in PTSIM on these GRID environments.
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The PTSim and TOPAS Projects, Bringing Geant4 to the Particle Therapy Clinic
2011Co-Authors: Takashi Akagi, Tsukasa Aso, A. Kimura, Teiji Nishio, Bruce A. Faddegon, Naruhiro Matsufuji, Chihiro Omachi, Harald Paganetti, J Perl, Takashi SasakiAbstract:Though the Geant4 Simulation Toolkit has been widely accepted in the Particle Therapy community, with research and clinical use at most of the major centers currently involved in this innovative approach to cancer treatment, the high level of Geant4 expertise required for these applications has proven a serious barrier for users. The PTSim collaboration in Japan and the TOPAS collaboration in the United States wrap and extend the Geant4 toolkit to meet the needs of this critical community. PTSim has provided a common platform to model three Japanese proton and ion Therapy facilities plus three more in other countries, allowing users who are not Geant4 experts to accurately and efficiently run Geant4 simulations for any of these pre-built configurations. Building on a rich history of proton Therapy applications at MGH (site of the world's first proton Therapy system), NCC Korea, and elsewhere, the TOPAS project aims to take flexibility further, allowing any Particle Therapy clinician or researcher to Geant4-simulate their own real or envisioned facility still without requiring a Geant4 expert. We describe these projects, how their designs bridge the gap between flexibility and ease of use, what key missing software components they have contributed and how the two projects may evolve together.
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GEANT4 based simulation framework for Particle Therapy system
2007 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, 2007Co-Authors: Tsukasa Aso, Takashi Sasaki, A. Kimura, Satoru Kameoka, K. Murakami, Tomohiro YamashitaAbstract:The Particle Therapy simulation framework has been developed for radiation Therapy using GEANT4 simulation toolkit. The developed simulation framework provides a common interface for composing irradiation systems of different radiation Therapy facilities. A Particle Therapy simulator on the framework represents a treatment room with an irradiation system. Popular beam modifiers for hadron Therapy are included in the framework as beam modules and are utilized for composing an irradiation system. The developed framework is designed to be able to customize beam modules as flexible as possible without modifying source codes, because end users such as medical physicists are supposed not to be familiar with developing programming code. Each three types of irradiation systems have been successfully carbon Therapy.
Michael F. Moyers - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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New horizons in Particle Therapy systems.
Medical physics, 2018Co-Authors: Jonathan B. Farr, J Flanz, A. Gerbershagen, Michael F. MoyersAbstract:Particle Therapy is rapidly expanding and claiming its position as the treatment modality of choice in teleTherapy. However, the rate of expansion continues to be restricted by the size and cost of the associated Particle Therapy systems and their operation. Additional technical limitations such as dose delivery rate, treatment process efficiency, and achievement of superior dose conformity potentially hinder the complete fulfillment of the promise of Particle Therapy. These topics are explored in this review considering the current state of Particle Therapy systems and what improvements are required to overcome the current challenges. Beam production systems (accelerators), beam transport systems including gantries and beam delivery systems are addressed explicitly in these regards.