Session Item

Friday
August 27
08:30 - 17:00
EDUCATION PMC - Leadership
1890
Pre-meeting course
09:10 - 09:35
Automation of treatment planning process \r
SP-0028

Abstract

Automation of treatment planning process \r
Authors: Rossi|, Linda(1)*[l.rossi@erasmusmc.nl];
(1)Erasmus MC - Cancer Institute, Department of Radiation Oncology, Rotterdam, The Netherlands;
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Abstract Text
Abstract text

Automation of treatment planning can substantially improve plan quality or match the quality of manual plans. This is possible together with a  reduced workload, generating time for manual planning of more complex cases, or out of protocol treatments. Automation of treatment planning can increase standardization in treatment plans, but, at the same time, it can be used to go toward a patient-specific plan selection,  allowing to easily run (in the background) multiple plans "for-free". Automated planning also helps the medical physicist in performing robust treatment planning studies based on a high number of consistent plans, e.g. to compare various treatment approaches (protons vs. photons, coplanar vs. non-coplanar, etc.). Automation of the treatment planning process however is time consuming in the initial phase of workflow development, and it has to be checked during time (validation proposal not defined yet). These aspects need a change of mind in the working daily activity (i.e. it needs more time investment at the beginning and less later) and an extra expertise is needed compared to conventional planning. Moreover automated planning can lead to a reduced planning expertise, among planners, which can be a problem in the long term.  A review of current autoplanning systems will be provided focusing on strengths and limitations.