Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42816144›Full record

ArticleJournal of applied clinical medical physics2026

Automatic single-isocenter multiple-target cranial stereotactic treatment plan optimization via planning system scripting.

Kurtis H Dekker, Jennifer A Everaars

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of applied clinical medical physics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Kurtis H DekkerMedical Physics Department, Cancer Centre of Southeastern Ontario, Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Jennifer A EveraarsRadiation Therapy Department, Cancer Centre of Southeastern Ontario, Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSingle-isocenter multiple-target stereotactic radiation treatments delivered on C-arm linear accelerators are increasingly common due to practical advantages in both accessibility and speed compared to multiple isocenter treatments. Optimization of high-quality treatment plans can be a time-consuming process requiring substantial manual effort. In our institution, the planning workflow for these treatments was entirely manual and involved the generation of optimization structures and repeated recalculation and input of optimization objectives during the iterative optimization process.  Although commercial automated planning solutions are available, their implementation may impose operational constraints, including reliance on specific immobilization and image/surface guidance hardware, motivating the development of an immobilization-independent automation tool for cranial stereotactic treatment plan optimization. PURPOSE: To develop and implement a treatment planning optimization tool for multiple-target cranial stereotactic treatments in the Varian Eclipse treatment planning system, to reduce manual planner input and planning time while improving plan quality.

methodsA software tool was written using the Varian Eclipse Scripting Application Programming Interface to automatically generate target-specific ring structures and facilitate the iterative process of plan generation. Twenty cases were retrospectively re-planned with this tool and compared with the corresponding clinical plans to evaluate plan quality using qualitative and quantitative metrics of conformality and complexity. Automated plans were verified using portal dosimetry to ensure clinical deliverability. For ten cases, a timing study was performed to compare optimization time between the software tool and manual re-optimization.

resultsThe automatic optimization tool produced plans with similar modulation and complexity, but consistently lower dosimetric falloff metrics (R DISCUSSION: The automated planning tool produced clinically acceptable, deliverable plans with better dose falloff compared to the previous manual planning approach. The tool is estimated to save an average of 15 min of optimization time per plan.

conclusionsA treatment planning optimization tool has been developed that provides improvement in both dosimetric plan quality and treatment planning efficiency for single-isocenter multiple-target cranial stereotactic treatments.

Indexed as

Brain NeoplasmsParticle AcceleratorsQuality Assurance, Health CareRadiosurgeryRadiotherapy Planning, Computer-AssistedSoftwareAlgorithmsHumansOrgans at RiskRadiotherapy DosageRadiotherapy, Intensity-ModulatedRetrospective Studiesplanning automationplan qualitySIMTTPS scripting

Identifiers

PMID42816144
PMCPMC13626862

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.