ARCHER - An Extremely Fast Medical Radiation Dose Computing Software

 描述(由申请人提供)：这个项目的目标是开发一个商业软件包，用于成像和放射治疗中基于蒙特卡罗的快速剂量计算。该产品利用了桌面并行计算机的优势，该计算机配备了最初开发的新兴硬件游戏和高性能计算。该项目的动机是这样一个事实，即市场已经成熟，可以将目前只有国家实验室和主要研究型大学才能获得的大规模并行计算能力带到繁忙且资源有限的放射学/肿瘤学诊所。到目前为止，我们以及其他小组就这一非常新的研究主题进行的初步研究揭示了一些重大挑战。具体目标：(第一阶段)1.开发适合第三方用户测试的Archer软件/硬件原型系统。2.展示Archer相对于临床放射治疗计划系统的性能优势。(第二阶段)1.使用新兴的并行计算硬件平台完成用于放射治疗剂量计算的Archer软件设计。2.利用实验和成熟的蒙特卡罗程序包对辐射物理模型进行系统的基准测试。3.评估Archer对前列腺癌患者选择的放射治疗方案的临床益处。4.评估交互且易于使用的剂量验证和治疗计划的软件用户体验。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this project is to develop a commercial software package for rapid Monte Carlo-based dose computation in imaging and radiation therapy. The product takes advantage of a desktop parallel computer equipped with emerging hardware originally developed gaming and high-performance computing. The project is motivated by the fact that the market is ripe for a product that brings massively parallel computing power currently available only to National Labs and major research universities to busy and resource-limited radiology/oncology clinics. The preliminary studies by us, as well as other groups, on this very new research topic have thus far revealed a number of major challenges. Specific Aims: (Phase I Segment) 1. To develop a prototype ARCHER software/hardware system suitable for third-party user testing. 2. To demonstrate performance advantage of ARCHER against clinical radiation treatment planning system. (Phase II Segment) 1. To finish the ARCHER software design for radiation therapy dose calculations using emerging parallel-computing hardware platforms. 2. To systematically benchmark radiation physics modeling using experiments and well-tested Monte Carlo code packages. 3. To evaluate clinical benefits of ARCHER for selected radiation treatment protocols involving prostate cancer patients. 4. To evaluate software user experience for interactive and easy-to-use dose verification and treatment planning.