Seed implantation brachytherapy for prostate cancer has been projected to grow by 18-fold in the ten years since 1995, to become the preferred treatment option in 2005. The major obstacle to achieving uniformly high standard and cost-effective care in this procedure is the lack of robust and optimized treatment planning and real-time dosimetric guidance.
The specific aim and long term objective of this proposed project are autonomous treatment planning and interventional treatment guidance, respectively. The core technologies include a genetic algorithm engine which designs the optimal seed implant for each patient, a decision- theoretic steering agent which ensures that the clinical objectives and tradeoffs are thoroughly explored in 10(2) second time scale, and a sensitivity analysis module which simulates and reduces the likelihood of real-time surgical deviations from the optimized plan. The maturity of web-based computing technology has enabled integration of these intelligent modules to create a synergy for immersive treatment optimization in both telemedical and intra-operative settings. The proposed planning and guidance system will be developed and integrated on the platform of these technologies. The system is targeted to eliminate redundant and error-prone steps, to streamline the clinician- machine interface, and to provide stepwise feedforward optimization.

Proposed Commercial Applications

The immediate commercial application will focus on the autonomous Internet or intranet based treatment planning and the real-time interventional intra-operative treatment guidance for prostate seed implantation. The scope of application may extend to radiation treatment planning in general for the telemedical network-based system. The real- time interventional systems have strong potential in the treatment of restenosis and in the setting of cath-lab.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Small Business Innovation Research Grants (SBIR) - Phase I (R43)
Project #
1R43CA078115-01
Application #
2651914
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG7-SSS-7 (65))
Program Officer
Stone, Helen B
Project Start
1998-09-01
Project End
1999-08-31
Budget Start
1998-09-01
Budget End
1999-08-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
1998
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Alpha Intervention Technology, Inc.
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Rochester
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
14618
Yu, Y; Zhang, J B; Brasacchio, R A et al. (1999) Automated treatment planning engine for prostate seed implant brachytherapy. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 43:647-52
Messing, E M; Zhang, J B; Rubens, D J et al. (1999) Intraoperative optimized inverse planning for prostate brachytherapy: early experience. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 44:801-8