Development of Volumetric Independent Dose Calculation System for Verification of the Treatment Plan in Image-Guided Adaptive Brachytherapy

Purpose: This study aimed to develop a volumetric independent dose calculation (vIDC) system for verification of the treatment plan in image-guided adaptive brachytherapy (IGABT) and to evaluate the feasibility of the vIDC in clinical practice with simulated cases. Methods: The vIDC is based on the formalism of TG-43. Four simulated cases of cervical cancer were selected to retrospectively evaluate the dose distributions in IGABT. Some reference point doses, such as points A and B and rectal points, were calculated by vIDC using absolute coordinate. The 3D dose volume was also calculated to acquire dose-volume histograms (DVHs) with grid resolutions of 1.0 × 1.0 (G(1.0)), 2.5 × 2.5 (G(2.5)), and 0.5 × 0.5 mm(2) (G(0.5)). Dosimetric parameters such as D(90%) and D(2cc) doses covering 90% of the high-risk critical target volume (HR-CTV) and 2 cc of the organs at risk (OARs) were obtained from DVHs. D(90%) also converted to equivalent dose in 2-Gy fractions (EQD2) to produce the same radiobiological effect as external beam radiotherapy. In addition, D(90%) was obtained in two types with or without the applicator volume to confirm the effect of the applicator itself. Validation of the vIDC was also performed using gamma evaluation by comparison with Monte Carlo simulation. Results: The average percentage difference of point doses was <2.28%. The DVHs for the HR-CTV and OARs showed no significant differences between the vIDC and the treatment planning system (TPS). Without considering the applicator volume, the D(90%) of the HR-CTV calculated by the vIDC decreases with a decreasing calculated dose-grid size (32.4, 5.65, and −2.20 cGy in G(2.5), G(1.0), and G(0.5), respectively). The overall D(90%) is higher when considering the applicator volume. The converted D(90%) by EQD2 ranged from −1.29 to 1.00%. The D(2cc) of the OARs showed that the averaged dose deviation is <10 cGy regardless of the dose-grid size. Based on gamma analysis, the passing rate was 98.81% for 3%/3-mm criteria. Conclusion: The vIDC was developed as an independent dose verification system for verification of the treatment plan in IGABT. We confirmed that the vIDC is suitable for second-check dose validation of the TPS under various conditions.