Clinical goal treatment planning and optimization
An apparatus for developing an intensity-modulated radiation therapy treatment plan includes a memory that stores machine instructions and a processor that executes the machine instructions to receive a clinical goal associated with the treatment plan as a user input. The processor further executes the machine instructions to determine a plan objective based on the clinical goal, generate a cost function comprising a term based on the plan objective, and assign an initial value to a parameter associated with the term. The processor also executes the machine instructions to identify a microstate that results in a reduced value associated with the cost function, evaluate a fulfillment level associated with the clinical goal, and adjust the value of the parameter to improve the fulfillment level.
1. An apparatus, comprising:
a memory that stores machine instructions; and
a processor that executes the machine instructions to:
generate a cost function comprising a parameter value based on a plan objective;
identify a microstate that results in a reduced value associated with the cost function, wherein the reduced value iteratively converges on a resultant value of the cost function;
adjust a value associated with the parameter to improve a fulfillment level of a clinical goal associated with the plan objective;
generate a radiation therapy treatment plan based on the resultant value; and
control a radiation therapy system based on the radiation therapy treatment plan.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the parameter value comprises a machine parameter value.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the machine parameter value is selected from the group consisting of a selected field geometry and a selected monitor unit (MU) limit.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the parameter value comprises an optimal fluence and wherein the resultant value is a minimum value.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the parameter value comprises an optimal fluence, and wherein the processor further executes the machine instructions to:
convert the optimal fluence to a leaf sequence; and
reduce a margin defined by the clinical goal.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor further executes the machine instructions to:
determine an initial value of the parameter value; and
adjust the parameter value by projecting a gradient to estimate a goal value at which the clinical goal is achieved.
7. A method for developing a radiation therapy treatment plan, the method comprising:
determining a plan objective based on a clinical goal associated with the treatment plan;
generating a cost function comprising a term based on the plan objective, the term including a parameter;
identifying a microstate that results in a reduced value associated with the cost function, wherein the reduced value is iteratively converging on a minimum value of the cost function;
adjusting a value associated with the parameter to improve a fulfillment level associated with the clinical goal;
generating the radiation therapy treatment plan based on the value; and
controlling a radiation therapy system based on the radiation therapy treatment plan.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the reduced value is a total value of the cost function.
9. The method of claim 7 , wherein adjusting the value associated with the parameter includes projecting a gradient associated with the term to determine a goal value to achieve the clinical goal.
10. The method of claim 7 , wherein adjusting the value associated with the parameter includes estimating a resultant response of a dose distribution associated with a prospective adjustment of the value based on an extrapolation corresponding to a localized response of the dose distribution.
11. The method of claim 7 , wherein adjusting the value associated with the parameter further comprises considering a priority associated with the clinical goal.
12. The method of claim 7 , wherein identifying the microstate includes performing an iterative gradient flow analysis.
13. The method of claim 7 , further comprising assigning an initial estimate of the value associated with the parameter based on an estimated dose distribution.
14. The method of claim 7 , wherein the plan objective is associated with a dose level corresponding to a point in a patient.
15. The method of claim 7 , wherein the parameter is associated with one of a location and a weighting factor.
16. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions operable for execution by a processor to implement operations comprising:
generating a cost function comprising a parameter value based on a plan objective;
identifying a microstate that results in a reduced value associated with the cost function, wherein the reduced value iteratively converges on a resultant value of the cost function;
adjusting a value associated with the parameter to improve a fulfillment level of a clinical goal associated with the plan objective;
generating a radiation therapy treatment plan based on the resultant value; and
controlling a radiation therapy system based on the radiation therapy treatment plan.
17. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the parameter value comprises a machine parameter value selected from the group consisting of a selected field geometry and a selected monitor unit (MU) limit.
18. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the parameter value comprises an optimal fluence and wherein the resultant value is a minimum value.
19. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the parameter value comprises an optimal fluence, and wherein the operations further comprise:
converting the optimal fluence to a leaf sequence; and
reducing a margin defined by the clinical goal.
20. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the operations further comprise:
determining an initial value of the parameter value; and
adjusting the parameter value by projecting a gradient to estimate a goal value at which the clinical goal is achieved.