Generalized inverse optimization with application to radiation therapy

这项研究计划将在优化领域开发新的工具，并展示这些工具的应用，以开创放射治疗治疗计划的新范式。放射治疗是治疗癌症的主要方法之一。目前的治疗计划过程复杂且效率低下，通常依靠人工反复试验来制定治疗计划。这一挑战源于难以在规划软件中确定将导致可接受治疗的适当参数。 在这项研究计划中，我们将开发新的逆优化方法，可以分析历史处理并反向工程适当的处理参数。然后，将开发机器学习方法，根据个人的解剖预测这些治疗参数。我们新的基于知识的治疗计划框架建立在优化和机器学习的基础上，将能够同时提高治疗计划过程的标准化，而不会牺牲治疗的个性化。 我们的研究将推动逆最优化理论的前沿，并使这些新工具能够应用于放射治疗以外的广泛领域。随着大数据的兴起，我们的逆向优化方法将获得越来越多的适用性，并代表着一种从大数据集中获得新见解的新方法。分析和优化是一个快速增长的领域，毕业生短缺。参与这项研究的学生将发展高度可就业的技术技能，这些技能将在医疗保健、交通运输、制造、金融、供应链管理和能源等以技术为导向、数据驱动的行业中受到重视。

This research program will develop new tools in the field of optimization and demonstrate the application of those tools to pioneer a new paradigm in radiation therapy treatment planning. Radiation therapy is one of the primary ways to treat cancer. The current treatment planning process is complex and inefficient, typically relying on manual trial-and-error effort to produce a treatment plan. The challenge stems from the difficulty in determining appropriate parameters in the planning software that will result in an acceptable treatment. In this research program, we will develop new inverse optimization methods that can analyze historical treatments and reverse-engineer appropriate treatment parameters. Then, machine learning methods will be developed to predict these treatment parameters from an individual’s anatomy. Our new knowledge-based treatment planning framework, built on a foundation of optimization and machine learning, will be able to simultaneously improve standardization of the treatment planning process without sacrificing personalization of the treatments. Our research will push forward the frontiers of the theory of inverse optimization and enable the application of these new tools to a wide variety of domains beyond radiation therapy. With the rise of big data, our inverse optimization methods will find increasing applicability and represent a new way to derive novel insight from large datasets. Analytics and optimization is a fast-growing field that is in short supply of graduates. Students who participate in this research will develop highly employable technical skills that will be valued in technology-oriented, data-driven industries including healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, finance, supply chain management, and energy.