RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Dose calculations for novel radiotherapy cancer treatments such as proton minibeam radiation therapy is often done using full Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. As MC simulations can be very time consuming for this kind of application, deep learning models have been considered to accelerate dose estimation in cancer patients. PURPOSE: This work systematically evaluates the dose prediction accuracy, speed and generalization performance of three selected state-of-the-art deep learning models for dose prediction applied to the proton minibeam therapy. The strengths and weaknesses of those models are thoroughly investigated, helping other researchers to decide on a viable algorithm for their own application. METHODS: The following recently published models are compared: first, a 3D U-Net model trained as a regression network, second, a 3D U-Net trained as a generator of a generative adversarial network (GAN) and third, a dose transformer model which interprets the dose prediction as a sequence translation task. These models are trained to emulate the result of MC simulations. The dose depositions of a proton minibeam with a diameter of 800µm and an energy of 20-100 MeV inside a simple head phantom calculated by full Geant4 MC simulations are used as a case study for this comparison. The spatial resolution is 0.5 mm. Special attention is put on the evaluation of the generalization performance of the investigated models. RESULTS: Dose predictions with all models are produced in the order of a second on a GPU, the 3D U-Net models being fastest with an average of 130 ms. An investigated 3D U-Net regression model is found to show the strongest performance with overall 61.0 % ± $\%\pm$ 0.5% of all voxels exhibiting a deviation in energy deposition prediction of less than 3% compared to full MC simulations with no spatial deviation allowed. The 3D U-Net models are observed to show better generalization performance for target geometry variations, while the transformer-based model shows better generalization with regard to the proton energy. CONCLUSIONS: This paper reveals that (1) all studied deep learning models are significantly faster than non-machine learning approaches predicting the dose in the order of seconds compared to hours for MC, (2) all models provide reasonable accuracy, and (3) the regression-trained 3D U-Net provides the most accurate predictions.
Asunto(s)
Neoplasias , Terapia de Protones , Humanos , Protones , Dosificación Radioterapéutica , Algoritmos , Neoplasias/radioterapia , Planificación de la Radioterapia Asistida por Computador , Método de MontecarloRESUMEN
The time- or temperature-resolved detector signal from a thermoluminescence dosimeter can reveal additional information about circumstances of an exposure to ionising irradiation. We present studies using deep neural networks to estimate the date of a single irradiation with 12 mSv within a monitoring interval of 42 days from glow curves of novel TL-DOS personal dosimeters developed by the Materialprüfungsamt NRW in cooperation with TU Dortmund University. Using a deep convolutional network, the irradiation date can be predicted from raw time-resolved glow curve data with an uncertainty of roughly 1-2 days on a 68% confidence level without the need for a prior transformation into temperature space and a subsequent glow curve deconvolution (GCD). This corresponds to a significant improvement in prediction accuracy compared to a prior publication, which yielded a prediction uncertainty of 2-4 days using features obtained from a GCD as input to a neural network.
Asunto(s)
Aprendizaje Profundo , Humanos , Dosimetría TermoluminiscenteRESUMEN
Parallel to the introduction of the optimized dermatologist's report in 2006, a hierarchical multi-step intervention approach to occupational dermatitis (OD) was launched within the statutory accident insurance bodies. It is aimed at ensuring that OD patients can be allocated to dermatological consultations and preventive measures quickly and in a manner appropriate to the severity of their OD. At present, a study ("EVA Haut") is being conducted at the University of Osnabrueck in which about 10% of the annually reported cases in Germany with suspected OD in 2007 have been selected at random (N=1,600). All randomized notifications are reviewed by occupational dermatologists; in parallel, the implementation of the hierarchical multi-step intervention scheme by the insurance-administrations is evaluated. Main criteria are the course of OD, job loss and costs of the procedures (follow-up 1 year). The random quota sample reveals the number of cases in which dermatological and/or preventive intervention were initiated by the administrations ("dermatologist's procedure"; N=995), in these cases patients and dermatologists involved are interviewed by a standardized questionnaire. In the remaining N=556 cases, no intervention has taken place so far; these cases are also analyzed. The study offers the unique opportunity to analyze the quality and interaction of dermatological and administrative procedures in the management of occupational dermatoses in Germany and to define criteria for further improvement.