Three-Dimensional Conformal Dose Planning for Prostate Brachytherapy

Abstract

For local radiotherapy, a three-dimensional (3D) conformal localized dose planning protocol has been established in this paper to develop a precise and reasonable dose plan. A precalculated 3D dose map for a single source is obtained using the Monte Carlo method, and the spatial dose maps are combined linearly to acquire the dose distribution. The dose distribution is visualized through the real-time display of the isodose line and isodose surface combined with the reconstructed 3D organ groups. By observing 3D dose coverage to the target volume and surrounding tissues, dose planning could be initiated with greater accuracy and precision to avoid dose dead zones and excessively high-dose levels, thus achieving the 3D conformal dose planning objective. Further research into the impact that blockages have on a needle trajectory can be conducted to optimize the insertion accuracy. A treatment planning system was developed to formulate and implement the 3D local treatment plan before the surgery, during the surgery, and after the surgery. Several experiments pertaining to both single-seed and multiple-seed dose distributions were conducted to verify the accuracy of the single-seed dose calculation module and 3D superposition dose calculation in the treatment planning system.

Keywords

Brachytherapy / I-125 seed / 3D conformal localized dose planning / Treatment planning system

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