Precision of proton therapy increased by advanced robustness analysis
Principal Investigators: Prof. dr. Mischa Hoogeman (Erasmus MC) and dr. Zoltán Perkó (TU Delft)
PhD students: Jésus Rojo Santiago (Erasmus MC), Oscar Pastor-Serrano (TU Delft) (finished)
Funding: KWF 2017
Description
PEARL aims to increase the precision of IMPT by providing end users (e.g. radiation oncologists) the practical tools to optimally balance tumor control probability and dose conformity in the presence of residual treatment uncertainties. This goal will be achieved by engaging specialists from TU Delft who are working at the forefront of state-of- the- art robustness analysis in radiotherapy, (medical) experts in IMPT treatment plan optimization, and end users of IMPT.
Specifically, the following objectives will be pursued:
- To set up a comprehensive national database as part of ProTRAIT with IMPT plans evaluated on robustness;
- To expand our unique robustness evaluation method to also include anatomical variations (internal organ motion and breathing);
- To develop easily evaluable metrics for robustness evaluation, which can be used for reporting and prescribing IMPT plans;
- To provide practical guidelines to improve robust treatment planning for IMPT.