Abstract
In this paper, we study an interesting geometric partition problem, called optimal field splitting with feathering (OFSF), which arises in Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT). In current clinical practice, a multi-leaf collimator (MLC) with a maximum field size is used to deliver the prescribed intensity maps (IMs). However, the maximum field size of an MLC may require to split a large intensity map into several overlapping sub-IMs each being delivered separately, which may result in sacrificed treatment quality. Few IM splitting techniques reported in the literature have addressed the issue of treatment delivery accuracy for large IMs. We develop a new algorithm for solving the OFSF problem while minimizing the total delivery error. Our basic idea is to formulate the OFSF problem as computing a d-link shortest path in a directed acyclic graph, which expresses a special “layered” structure. The edge weights of the graph satisfy the Monge property, which enables us to solve this d-link shortest path problem by examining only a small portion of the graph, yielding an optimal linear time algorithm for the OFSF problem.
This research was supported in part by an NIH-NIBIB research grant R01-EB004640, and in part by a seed grant award from the American Cancer Society through an Institutional Research Grant to the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.
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Wu, X., Dou, X. (2007). Optimal Field Splitting with Feathering in Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy. In: Kao, MY., Li, XY. (eds) Algorithmic Aspects in Information and Management. AAIM 2007. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4508. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-72870-2_31
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-72870-2_31
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