In recent years, ion beams have gain interest in cancer treatment compared to conventional radiotherapy. This can be partly explained by the characteristic depth dose profile of ions within matter, the Bragg curve, allowing a better conformation of the dose delivered to the tumor, while better sparing the surrounding organ at risks. However, the treatment planning for ion beam therapy is more complex than for conventional radiotherapy, as small errors can easily lead to under- or over-dosages. Consequently, margins and robustness are introduced in the planning stage to assure target coverage and to avoid critical dose delivered in organs at risk. Uncertainties in ion beam therapy play a major role in not allowing to fully exploit the ballistic advantage of the ion Bragg peak.
The accuracy of treatment planning and dose delivery in ion beam therapy are conditioned by several parameters and uncertainties on the setup, delineation, range, imaging, patient positioning, anatomical changes, nuclear interactions of the incident beams with tissues. Therefore, correctly planning and predicting the dose delivered during treatment is crucial.
The goal of this collection is to present an overview of the most recent developments in treatment planning and dose delivery in the field of ion beam therapy.
This Research Topic welcomes a range of article types such as Original Research and Reviews related to advances in treatment planning and dose delivery in ion beam therapy. A non-exhaustive list of the topics of interest for this collection are listed below:
- Dose delivery
- Range monitoring
- Monte Carlo simulations
- Treatment planning - Optimization
- Detectors
- Multiscale radiobiological modeling
- Imaging
- New dose delivery modalities (FLASH, mini-beam, radioactive ion beam, targeted radionuclide therapy),
- Radiobiology
- Machine learning and AI
In recent years, ion beams have gain interest in cancer treatment compared to conventional radiotherapy. This can be partly explained by the characteristic depth dose profile of ions within matter, the Bragg curve, allowing a better conformation of the dose delivered to the tumor, while better sparing the surrounding organ at risks. However, the treatment planning for ion beam therapy is more complex than for conventional radiotherapy, as small errors can easily lead to under- or over-dosages. Consequently, margins and robustness are introduced in the planning stage to assure target coverage and to avoid critical dose delivered in organs at risk. Uncertainties in ion beam therapy play a major role in not allowing to fully exploit the ballistic advantage of the ion Bragg peak.
The accuracy of treatment planning and dose delivery in ion beam therapy are conditioned by several parameters and uncertainties on the setup, delineation, range, imaging, patient positioning, anatomical changes, nuclear interactions of the incident beams with tissues. Therefore, correctly planning and predicting the dose delivered during treatment is crucial.
The goal of this collection is to present an overview of the most recent developments in treatment planning and dose delivery in the field of ion beam therapy.
This Research Topic welcomes a range of article types such as Original Research and Reviews related to advances in treatment planning and dose delivery in ion beam therapy. A non-exhaustive list of the topics of interest for this collection are listed below:
- Dose delivery
- Range monitoring
- Monte Carlo simulations
- Treatment planning - Optimization
- Detectors
- Multiscale radiobiological modeling
- Imaging
- New dose delivery modalities (FLASH, mini-beam, radioactive ion beam, targeted radionuclide therapy),
- Radiobiology
- Machine learning and AI
