Samenvatting

This thesis discusses the progress made on the development of superficial hyperthermia treatment planning. For superficial hyperthermia treatment, contact flexible microstrip applicators (CFMA) are used. These applicators are bent along the body curvature of the patient. A software tool, written in C++, has been developed for the modelling of CFMA including this curvature and other treatment specific characteristics. The treatment characteristics include variable applicator position, orientation, type, and water bolus thickness. The CFMA is modelled on a segmented patient anatomy, which is acquired from a CT scan of the patient.

Aside from the patient anatomy, the CT scan holds a dummy antenna. From this dummy, CFMA curvature, position and orientation can be estimated/extracted. For modelling of the CFMA, applicator curvature is defined by two separate second-degree polynomial functions. Applicator composition is done by modelling different components independently, which are combined later on. Orientation of the CFMA is established by transforming the segmented patient anatomy, since this is less prone to simulation errors than transforming the applicator, due to possible misplacing of voxels. All treatment specific parameters can be defined/adjusted by the user in a parameter file.

Treatment curvature was investigated and compared to the modelled curvature. Here, an absolute maximum displacement of 1.98 ± 0.99 mm is found, while a test on treatment curvature inter-variance show an average maximum displacement of 6 ± 1.17mm. Therefore, modelling applicator curvature using two separate second-degree polynomial functions is shown an appropriate approach.

Using the developed software tool, treatment specific applicators can now be modelled. Therefore, superficial hyperthermia treatment planning is now complete. In order to further improve superficial hyperthermia treatment planning, the dummy applicator should be adjusted. Furthermore, the ability to model applicators with torsion should be added to the developed tool.