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NA-MIC Project Weeks

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Extending Radiotherapy Treatment Planning Capabilities within SlicerRT

Key Investigators

Project Description

We will continue the extension of the treatment planning capabilities of SlicerRT by upgrading the corresponding user interface to better separate plan optimization and dose calculation. Algorithms will be interfaced from the open source treatment planning toolkit matRad via its new Python extension pyRadPlan. Last year, we managed rudimentary treatment planning capabilities - this year, the goal is to allow full treatment planning on data loaded directly in Slicer, returning planned dose cubes for further analysis in Slicer.

Objective

  1. Photon & Ion Dose calculation engines available and configurable within SlicerRT ExternalBeamPlanning
  2. SlicerRT ExternalBeamPlanning UI to handle plan optimization objectives defined in c++ and Python
  3. Infrastructure for interfacing optimizers from Python and C++
  4. Interface to pyRadPlan objectives and optimizers

Approach and Plan

  1. Update the existing rudimentary interface prototype for dose engines and optimization to the recent pyRadPlan version
  2. Build an Optimization Objective Infrastructure derived from SlicerRT’s way of handling python and C++ dose engines
  3. Create a dedicated Objective view in the SlicerRT graphical user interface
  4. Track potential compatibility conflicts and integrate them into the main pyRadPlan release

Progress and Next Steps

  1. Updated to the latest version of pyRadPlan for Python native dose calculation and inverse planning
  2. Extension of SlicerRT infrastructure to manage Plan Optimizers & Objectives
  3. Add pyRadPlan Optimization Interface & Objective Interface
  4. Extension of pyRadPlan/SlicerRT interface to handle multiple beams
  5. First fully intensity-modulated photon and proton plans

Next steps

  1. Performance improvement in data transfers
  2. Improve GUI flexibility
  3. PR & Code Review SlicerRT

Illustrations

Extended ExternalBeamPlanning Interface with Optimization Settings

Photons_5Beams_Plan

5 beam photon plan with SlicerRT pyRadPlan interface:

Photons_5Beams

Dose Influence storage accessible from Python for Beam Nodes:

Photons_5Beams_DVH

Background and References