In this study¹ researchers at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands and at Philips Healthcare and Philips Research, investigated whether the Auto-Planning feature, released with Pinnacle 9.10 (Philips Healthcare) is able to create clinically acceptable oropharynx IMRT treatment plans with only one push of the button.
Twenty-five oropharynx cancer patients who were treated with a simultaneously integrated boost (SIB) IMRT technique at the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, were re-planned using the Auto-Planning module. The same beam set-up (7 uniformly spaced coplanar beams) and contours as in the original clinical plans were employed.
The average maximum dose of the cord and of the brainstem was significantly reduced to 3.9 +/- 3.3 Gy and 6.8 +/- 4.8 Gy, respectively. The average mean dose to the oral cavity, the larynx and the mandible was significantly reduced to 3.6 +/- 3.3 Gy, 2.5 +/- 4.3 Gy and 2.2 +/- 1.8 Gy, respectively. Total planning time could be reduced from about 4 hours to less than 30 minutes.
Figure 1 and 2 show a typical result of a patient plan for the dose distribution and dose volume histograms (DVHs), respectively.
To receive a copy of this clinical study, please contact your local Philips representative.
Find out more about Pinnacle³ Auto- Planning.
