Program Information
Using Commercially Available Software to Prove That Providing Planning Objectives to the Planner Improves Plan Quality
F Younan*, A Arnold , S Patel , E Clouser , Mayo Clinic Arizona, Phoenix, AZ
Presentations
SU-F-T-393 (Sunday, July 31, 2016) 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM Room: Exhibit Hall
Purpose:Use commercially available software to evaluate whether providing planning objectives during the treatment planning process improves overall plan quality in head and neck cases
Methods:The commercially available software, PlanIQ, was used to evaluate the plan quality of head and neck cases before and after the introduction of an in-house developed evaluation tool, Integrated Clinical Information System (ICIS). Twenty patients were selected; ten from before the introduction of ICIS and ten that used ICIS during the treatment planning process. These plans only included oropharynx cases. All plans were two or three arc VMAT cases prescribed at two dose levels, 60 Gy and 54 Gy. A PlanIQ algorithm was created with the assistance of physician input. The algorithm consisted of seventy-four PTV and OAR plan quality metrics and objectives. Each plan was scored based on meeting the objectives provided. Plans were then evaluated by looking at the Plan Quality Metric (PQM) and Adjusted Plan Quality Metric (APQM) score. The PQM score is the overall score which evaluated the treatment plan against the PlanIQ algorithm. The APQM score was customized to the patient-specific feasibility analysis, adjusting the PQM scores to account for unique challenges like patient-specific anatomical challenges.
Results:After introducing ICIS into the workflow, PlanIQ scores improved. On average, target coverage remained the same (p>.05). Individual OAR sparing differed when looking at plans evaluated before ICIS versus plans created with the assistance of the ICIS template. PQM scores increased from 65.16% to 74.07% (p=.004), while the APQM scores increased from 78.26% to 84.05% (p=.008). Overall plan quality improved after providing planners with additional information during the treatment planning process.
Conclusion:Overall plan quality improves when providing the treatment planner with additional information and guidance during the treatment planning process.
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