Fast Spot Order Optimization to Increase Dose Rates in Scanned Particle Therapy FLASH Treatments

TL;DR

This paper presents a fast, heuristic-based optimization method for proton therapy spot arrangements that significantly improves FLASH dose coverage while drastically reducing computation time, aiding clinical implementation.

Contribution

Introduces a TSP heuristic approach for proton therapy optimization that matches global methods in quality but with much faster computation, facilitating clinical use.

Findings

TSP heuristics achieve similar FLASH coverage as global optimization.

Computation time reduced from hours to seconds.

Method scalable for clinical treatment planning.

Abstract

The advent of ultra-high dose rate irradiation, known as FLASH radiation therapy, has shown promising potential in reducing toxicity while maintaining tumor control. However, the clinical translation of these benefits necessitates efficient treatment planning strategies. This study introduces a novel approach to optimize proton therapy for FLASH effects using traveling salesperson problem (TSP) heuristics. We applied these heuristics to optimize the arrangement of proton spots in treatment plans for 26 prostate cancer patients, comparing the performance against conventional sorting methods and global optimization techniques. Our results demonstrate that TSP-based heuristics significantly enhance FLASH coverage to the same extent as the global optimization technique, but with computation times reduced from hours to a few seconds. This approach offers a practical and scalable solution for enhancing the effectiveness of FLASH therapy, paving the way for more effective and personalized cancer treatments. Future work will focus on further optimizing run times and validating these methods in clinical settings.