Visualization, Comparison, and Selection of Brachytherapy Plans

Abstract

Cancer is a deadly disease which occurs when cells divide uncontrollably. In the battle against cancer, many types of treatments exist to preferably cure the disease. Brachytherapy is one such type of treatment, a form of radiotherapy where the radiation source is internally placed through implanted catheters. A research team consisting of researchers from Centrum Wiskunde \& Informatica (CWI) and Academisch Medisch Centrum (AMC) have developed a solution that generates a wide range of near-optimal brachytherapy treatment plans for treating prostate cancer, which they have named the brachy automated treatment-planning system (BATS). However, the generated plans can currently not be viewed in any tangible way. Physicians must be able to oversee and look into the generated plans before they can act upon it. In addition, the physician must be able to compare multiple treatment plans and must be able to select the most optimal treatment plan.We have developed a front-end solution that works in tandem with BATS that provides the necessary features to create a working environment suited to the needs of the research team. Multiple plans can be viewed and compared through visualization and plan properties. Additionally, the application has DICOM compatibility and can operate on Windows and Linux operating systems.While not all requirements are met, we are satisfied with the resulting application. Recommendations for future iterations include improved navigation through icon-based buttons, and more control options through hotkeys and the like. Additional 3D treatment plan visualizations and multi-plane views would provide opportunities for 3D planning.