Optimization and Systems Theory Seminar
Friday, April 18, 2008, 11.00-12.00, Room 3721, Lindstedtsvägen 25


Fredrik Carlsson, KTH
E-mail: fcar@math.kth.se

Utilizing Problem Structure in Optimization of Radiation Therapy

This talk summarizes my thesis, which concerns optimization approaches for intensity-modulated radiation therapy. The first part of the talk gives an introduction to radiation therapy with emphasis on mathematical structure and treatment delivery aspects. The two optimization problems central to the thesis are formulated; (i) the fluence map optimization problem and (ii) the step-and-shoot optimization problem.

The second part of the talk is more focused on the results of the thesis. So-called iterative regularization of the fluence map optimization problem is first discussed. The idea is to find regular solutions by utilizing a sequential quadratic programming method that is able to find near-optimal solutions with non-jagged fluence profiles in few iterations. Then, a column generation approach to the step-and-shoot optimization problem is presented. Some properties of the approach are discussed and numerical results are provided. Finally, the impact of extending the column generation approach by adjusting the leaf positions of the generated multileaf collimator segments is discussed.

Calendar of seminars Last update: April 15, 2008 by Marie Lundin.