Respiration-correlated treatment delivery using feedback-guided breath hold: a technical study.
Respiratory motion causes movement of internal structures in the thorax and abdomen, making accurate delivery of radiation therapy to tumors in those areas a challenge. To reduce the uncertainties caused by this motion, we have developed feedback-guided breath hold (FGBH), a novel delivery technique in which radiation is delivered only during a voluntary breath hold that is sustained for as long as the patient feels comfortable. Here we present the technical aspects of FGBH, which involve (1) fabricating the hardware so the respiratory trace can be displayed to the patient, (2) assembling a delay box to be used as a breath-hold detector, and (3) performing quality control tests to ensure that FGBH can be delivered accurately and safely. A commercial respiratory tracking system that uses an external fiducial to monitor abdominal wall motion generates and displays the breathing trace and specific positions in the breathing cycle where a breath hold needs to occur. Hardware was developed to present this display to the patient in the treatment position. Patients view the presentation either on a liquid crystal display or through a pair of virtual reality goggles. Using the respiratory trace as a visual aid, the patient performs a breath hold so that the position representing the location of a fiducial is held within a specified gating window. A delay box was fabricated to differentiate between gating signals received during free breathing and those received during breath hold, allowing radiation delivery only when the fiducial was within the breath-hold gating window. A quality control analysis of the gating delay box and the integrated system was performed to ensure that all of the hardware and components were ready for clinical use.
Nelson
Christopher
C
Department of Radiation Physics, The University of Texas M D Anderson Cancer Center Houston, Texas 77030, USA. chnelson@mdanderson.org
Starkschall
George
G
Balter
Peter
P
Fitzpatrick
Mathew J
MJ
Antolak
John A
JA
Tolani
Naresh
N
Prado
Karl
K
D000005:Abdomen / Q000502:physiology; D000465:Algorithms; D005246:Feedback; D006801:Humans; D001239:Inhalation; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy; D009038:Motion; D009068:Movement; D009991:Oscillometry; D010315:Particle Accelerators; D011108:Polymers; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000379:methods; D011880:Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D012119:Respiration; D013909:Thorax / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors
D011108:Polymers; C422409:liquid crystal polymer