جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با کلیدواژه "طراحی درمان" در نشریات گروه "پزشکی"

The considerable growth of 3D printing technology in recent years has led to the application of this emerging technology in many medical fields, in which recently performed studies have shown the special importance of this technology which can enhance the results of the treatment method. Since, surgery is one of the main modalities to treat patients, the advent of 3D printing technology in surgery and the creation of different patient organs with 3D printers, improve the surgeon's performance. Hence, the accuracy and quality of the surgery can be enhanced. The aim of this study was to review the current statues and the applications of the 3D printing technology in surgery.

By searching the indexed articles in Persian and Latin databases, Scopus, PubMed, Science direct, Scholar, 34 studies were reviewed.

3D printing applications in surgery: Generally, the ability to generate a physical object with complex structures from a digital model has been introduced as the 3D printing technology which offers many advantages over the traditional manufacturing. The most important advantage of 3D printing technology is the ability to produce objects based on individual needs in which can reduce the costs of their production. Furthermore, complex preoperative procedures can be practiced. In other words, 3D printed models allow physicians to become familiar with medical procedures which possible problems created during the operation, can be identified before the operation. This modern technology generally includes three main steps to generate 3D objects from imaging data. The first step is the acquisition of image data. Then, the interest region is extracted which is termed as the segmentation. Finally, the digital data is transferred to the 3D printers to produce the 3D object.  For 3D model production, printer selection highly depends on speed, accuracy, cost, and availability of the printing materials. Recent advances in 3D printing technology have made it possible to use various biocompatible materials such as titanium and degradable polyesters to produce 3D models. Complex surgeries require more precise visual understanding before the surgery to ensure about the success of the treatment. In this regard, 3D printing technology can be a promising way to produce faster and cheaper models. In addition, this modern technology enables producers to produce highly specialized products for a wide range of patient organs. Applying a physical model results in better performance and greater visual perception about the desired treatment area, which can significantly reduce the side effects during surgery. Since a large contribution of the surgical process can be performed outside the operating room hence, 3D printed models can reduce the operation time. In fact, before the operation, surgeons will have enough time to make decisions, evaluate solutions and focus on other key elements during the operation. So, based on the basic role of 3D printing technology in surgery, the purpose of the present review is to investigate the current state of 3D printing technology and its clinical application in surgery for the construction of various 3D organs via medical imaging data. In this paper, some applications such as maxillofacial, spinal, liver, etc., are briefly discussed. Maxilla-facial and cranial facial reconstruction are the complex procedure which have been one of the first and most proven applications of 3D printing in the field of surgery to correct the facial deformities after the tumor resection. In this method with the application of 3D printers, at first, a 3D model of the desired anatomy is prepared to reduce a significant amount of time for linking the titanium plates to transplant adjacent bones (while the patient is anesthetized). Also, the production of titanium implants using the 3D printers will result in a very precise fit with the target tissue, the risks of maxillofacial surgery can be reduced.The use of 3D printing applications before or during complex surgeries like congenital heart defects has been reported in several studies. Since, acquiring to the real anatomical structures in patients with complex congenital defects, are sometimes unpredictable, treatment planning and surgical decision-making require a thorough understanding of three-dimensional anatomy. Therefore, the 3D printing technique, as a widely used method in all medical fields can overcome the defects of common preoperative imaging, especially in cardiovascular surgery.The other application of 3D printing technology includes spinal surgery in which due to the complex anatomy of the spine and the delicate nature of the surrounding structures, 3D printers will improve preoperative planning and increase the accuracy during the surgery.Liver surgery can be another suitable candidate for performing 3D printing technology to create 3D printing models. The two main applications of 3D printing technology in this field include training or necessary planning for surgery and liver functional cell printing through bio-printing technology that can be used in the study of liver disease and pharmaceutical research.Renal tumor resection is the other example of 3D printing applications in which 3D models have an exclusive role to enhance the accuracy of renal surgery. The 3D printed models can accurately display three-dimensional spatial relationships between different anatomical and pathological structures. Three-dimensional printed kidney models may also facilitate interdisciplinary communication and decision-making about the management of patients undergoing renal surgery.  In the field of renal surgeries, employing of 3D printed models plays a specific performance to train young surgeons which consequently increases the practical skills of surgeons which can accurately visualize the anatomical and morphological relationship compared to volumetric imaging.The obtained results of performed studies in the field of 3D printing show the potential significance of this technology in surgery which can lead to improvement of therapeutic outcomes. Since the printed models by 3D printing technology have an appropriate fit to the anatomy, the use of these models can reduce the associated errors during surgery.It is worth noting that despite the valuable advantages of this technology, some disadvantages such as limited printing size and costly printing process can be discussed which many studies try to address the deficiency of 3D printing technology in clinical applications. The cost of 3D printed models varies according to the type of performed printing method and applicable software which requires specialized users. The main mentioned costs for 3D model creation include hardware, software, and printed materials. In the future, the production costs of 3D models would be likely reduced in which the use of 3D models would become more traditional in common clinical operation. The 3D printed physical models are based on medical imaging which are prone to errors during the imaging procedures. Hence, increasing the accuracy of creating printed models requires improving the clinical imaging methods. Generally, with the advances in this modern technology, faster, cheaper, and more accurate models can be produced.

Radiation therapy as a part of cancer treatment is used in almost 50-60% of involved cases. In prostate cancer radiation therapy, a large volume of pelvis is irradiated, so, it is necessary to preserve sensitive organs around the treatment area, especially rectum and bladder. In this study, some dosimetric parameters such as minimum dose (Dmin), maximum dose (Dmax), mean dose (Dmean) to target (PTV) and organs at risk (OAR), Integral dose, Homogeneity Index and Conformity Index were compared between two techniques.

In this analytical study, computed tomography scans of 50 patients (mean age: 52 years) attending Sari Imam Khomeini Hospital were acquired and transferred to the 3D treatment planning system (TPS). For each patient, a conventional plan (Box Fields) and modified oblique four-field (MOFF) plan were prepared using TPS for 15 MV photon energy. A total dose of 7200 cGy was prescribed for each patient. Data analysis was carried out in SPSS applying paired-t-test.

In current study, 15-MV energies for radiation of pelvis and bladder using box radiation fields (routine plan) lead to maximum uniformity and homogeneity of dose in irradiated tumor tissue. The results also showed that 15-MV energies for radiation of pelvis and bladder and the new plan could decrease the average integrated dose in femur heads.

We observed a significant effect of the geometrics of radiation fields on distribution of dose in tumor tissue and also the amount of dose received by organs at risk in radiotherapy of patients with prostate cancer.

Radiation therapy make an important contribution in the control and treatment of cancers. Lungs are the main organs at risk in esophageal cancer radiotherapy. Difference between the dose distribution due to the treatment planning system (TPS) and the patient's body dose is dependent on the calculation of the treatment planning system algorithm, which is more pronounced in heterogeneities such as the lung. In this study, the dose distribution of treatment planning system was compared with Monte Carlo calculations in both homogeneous and heterogeneous tissues.

Three dimensional planning composed of four fields were done on the CT images using the CorPLAN TPS of a SIEMENS PRIMUS linac. EGSnrc Monte Carlo simulation code was used for the same conditions. The dose distributions obtained from Monte Carlo simulation and the TPS were compared using PDD curve and Dose Difference Percentage index obtained from the two modes.

According to the findings, the error rate from the TPS was less than 3% in the homogeneous tissue, whereas the error in the heterogeneous tissue was higher than the standard value (more than 5%).

The accuracy of CorPLAN TPS at homogeneous tissue is more than that in the heterogeneous tissue and this should be considered in the clinic. This study suggests that the Monte Carlo code can be used to simulate and estimate the dose distribution in radiotherapy, and in cases where the practical measurement of some dosimetric parameters is impossible or difficult, this code can be used for prediction and optimization of treatment plans.

Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) is one of the most usable methods in prostate radiotherapy that is used with different techniques. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the dosimetric and radiobiological effects of prostate IMRT techniques regarding to joint volume between the target tissue and organs at risk as a patients anatomical parameter.
This research was a cross-sectional, analytical, and quantitative study that was carried out from April 2016 to June 2018 at the radiotherapy and oncology center of Shoheday-e-Tajrish Hospital and Medical Physics Department of Tarbiat Modarres University Tehran, Iran. Four various prostate IMRT techniques (9, 7 and 5 fields and automatic) were planned on 63 prostate cancer patients CT scans. Radiobiological effects were calculated using Relative Seriality model for the organs at risk (bladder and rectum) and target tissue. Results of mentioned prostate IMRT techniques were compared based on the patient’s anatomical parameter. 
For the patients with joint volumes ranged from 0 to 15%, statistical differences were not observed among various IMRT techniques. The tumor control probability and complication free tumor control probability values decreased as a function of joint volume. The normal tissue complication probability value increased as a function of joint volume. The 9 and 7 fields IMRT techniques had not any significant differences (P=0.06) in all of the joint volume ranges. In patients with the joint volumes higher than 30%, the 9 and 7 fields techniques showed significantly better radiobiological values in comparison with 5 fields and automatic techniques (P=0.009).
In the patients with lower percentage of joint volume, all the mentioned prostate IMRT techniques showed same radiobiological effects; however, in the patients with higher joint volume percentages (> 30%), the 9 and 7 fields techniques have better results. It is proposed to use the 7 fields technique instead of the 9 fields technique, especially in prostate cancer cases with high uncertainty in patients’ setup.

In three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT), contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) image is commonly used to assist radiation oncologists in diagnosing regions of interest, so that normal and target tissues can be better delineated. CECT causes the temporary increase in the CT number and the corresponding electron density (ρe). Administrated contrast agents (CA) during CT simulation and altering the ρe of structures can be effective on radiation calculations and dose-volume histograms (DVHs) in radiotherapy treatment planning. Therefore, present study was designed and performed to determine the influence of the administrated CA on DVHs.
Current study performed as a self-controlled clinical trial study with before/after method at Imam Reza Hospital, Kermanshah City, during the period from June 2015 till August 2016. Ten patients with pelvic cancer included in this study through simple sampling. Cases with prior reactions to CA, diabetes, renal diseases, and asthma were excluded. Two sets of CT-scans were taken for each patient in the same position and coordinates. Primary study sets contained pre-contrast images and secondary study sets were performed post-contrast. Both sets of CT images were transferred to the treatment planning system (ISOgray® software, Version 4.1.3.23 L, DOSIsoft®, Cachan, France). All treatment plans were generated on pre-contrast and subsequently copied to the post-contrast CT. Quantitative calculations were performed in treatment planning including the difference in ρe before and after CA administration.
The prostate (1.27%), the bladder (0.62-0.79%) and the rectum (0.43-0.56%) showed the largest changes in average ρe increase. The results confirm the expected relationship of increasing attenuation, CT number, and ρe with increased tissue density due to the CA. However, the DVHs showed insignificant difference between pre-and post-contrast CTs for 18 MV photon beam.
The results showed statistical insignificant difference between with and without CA CTs treatment plan in pelvic field for targets and OARs. These results may serve as a reference to justify the use of CECT data sets for 3D-CRT planning of pelvic region cancers using DosiSoft ISOgray system.

Hodgkin lymphoma is one of the treatable malignant diseases. The incidence of secondary cancers, especially breast cancer, and cardiovascular diseases after radiotherapy doubles the importance of patient treatment plan. In this study, some comparisons were made between a variety of treatments by using photon energy of 6 and 18 Mv on the treated areas of neck and mediastinum.
The contouring of all sensitive organs and treatment volumes were performed for 18 female patients with Hodgkin lymphoma involving neck and mediastinum, using TiGRT software. Then, comparison between different anterior-posterior (AP-PA) treatments with different weights of 6 and 18 Mv was done.
Findings: Using 18-Mv photon with the same weight of the anterior and posterior than conventional 6-Mv photon caused 2-9% reduction in mean dose to breast, heart, and lungs. Although changing the normalization (isocenter) point from the center of tumor to sternal notch reduced the mean dose of the studied organs, 9-13% reduction in the mean dose of treatment volume did not meet the criterion (prescribed dose ± 105%).
For women with Hodgkin lymphoma involving mediastinum and neck, using 18-Mv photon with the same weight of the anterior and posterior is more appropriate to meet the design criteria of treatment (coating suitable treatment volume of prescribed dose ± 105%). Changing isocenter point from the center of the tumor to sternal notch causes a more favorable result. The better uniformity of the dose distribution in treatment volume is achieved by using 18-Mv photon.

In this study, a comparison between various types of radiotherapy treatment for parotid gland cancer was performed to achieve the optimal treatment technique.
Treatment planning and countering performed with TiGRT software for 15 patents with parotid gland cancer. Six techniques were performed and compared. Finally, by comparing the dose volume histograms (DVH), average dose received by each organ was determined and the best method was introduced. Techniques were as: 1. an ipsilateral wedge pair technique using 6 MV photons; 2. a 3-field anteroposterior (AP) (wedged) posteroanterior (PA) (wedged) and lateral portal technique using 6 MV photons; 3. a mixed beam technique using 6 MV photons and 12 MeV electrons (1:4 weighting); 4. a mixed beam technique using 6 MV photons and 15 MeV electrons (1:4 weighting); 5: four 6 MV photon beams with different gantry angles; and 6. similar to fifth technique with an additional small ring around the tumor tissue.
Findings: Intensity-modulated arc therapy (IMRT) techniques five and six delivered maximum dose to the target and minimum dose to organ at risks (OAR). Among 3-D conformal radiotherapy techniques (CRT), technique number two delivered more amount of dose to the target than techniques number three and four. The dose delivered to the contrary parotid gland was negligible for intensity-modulated arc therapy techniques.
Intensity-modulated arc therapy techniques are most appropriate methods for treating cancer of the parotid gland and the sixth technique delivered better dose distribution in the tumor and healthy tissues. Second D conformal radiotherapy technique delivered higher average dose to the target.

Using contrast media is very important in diagnosis and identification of organ from the surrounding tissue. Contrast media can alter radiation absorption of studied organs following by enhanced image contrast. This study aimed to assess the influence of contrast media on treatment planning and dose calculation in radiation therapy of pelvic cancers.
Six patients with pelvic area cancer with two sets of computed tomography (CT) images, one with contrast media and another without it, were studied and the effects of contrast media were studied.
Findings: After using contrast media, an increase of 2.91% in monitor unit (MU) for right lateral (RL) field and decreases of 0.59%, 0.75%, and 1.47% in monitor unit anterior-posterior (AP), posterior-anterior (PA), and left lateral (LL) fields was obtained in rectum cancer, respectively. For bladder cancer, a decrease of 0.34% in monitor unit for AP filed and increases of 1.57%, 0.46%, and 0.39% in monitor unit for PA, RL and LL fields was calculated, respectively. For cervix cancer, a decrease of 1.1% for AP field and an increase of 0.68% for PA field were obtained.
Regarding dose-volume histograms (DVHs) and calculated monitor units, the results showed that the dose differences between the plans for the CT images with and without contrast media were less than 1%. Of course to ensure the effect of contrast media on the amount of delivered dose to the target organ, study on more patients is recommended.

Hodgkin’s disease is a special type of lymphoma or cancer that is associated with the abnormal growth of cells in the lymphatic system. The purpose of this study was to investigate different methods of radiotherapy in women with Hodgkin’s disease who need radiotherapy. Due to the presence of sensitive organs in this area, and secondary disease and cancers after radiotherapy, the importance of reviewing various treatment plans, is outstanding.
The data of computed tomography (CT) scan for 18 women with Hodgkin’s disease with mediastinal involvement were used. In next step, contouring all sensitive organs inside the field and the involved volume was done, using treatment planning system of Seyedoshohada Hospital, Isfahan, Iran. Then, the comparisons between the anterior-posterior/posterior- anterior (AP/PA) common treatment with the energy of 6 and 18 Mv and the four-field techniques with different weights were performed.
Findings: The maximum dose reached to the breast was reduced to 33%, compared to the current parallel-opposite technique, in the four- filed technique. On the other hand, the four- filed technique caused an increase of about 2.8 times in the average dose, due to the side-fields. The mean dose reached to the treatment volume was 100-102 percent in the 2-field technique and 99.5 percent in the four-filed technique.
For women with Hodgkin’s disease with mediastinal involvement, using the two-field technique with 18 Mv photon weighing 1.5 of anterior and 0.5 of posterior, showed better results compared to the 6 photon. The use of the 4-field technique led to a decrease of V20 value for the whole lung and the average dose received by esophagus and aorta and spinal cord, and V30 value for the heart.

The main aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the photon energies (6 and 15 MV) and the number of radiation fields (3 fields and 4 fields) on tumor dose distribution and dose received by organs at risk in radiation therapy of bladder cancer. In this study, CT images of 12 patients with bladder cancer were used. And 8 different radiation treatment plans were designed for each patient (with energies of 6 and 15 MV and 3 and 4 fields), and a total dose of 6100 cGy (4500 cGy for pelvic and 1600 cGy for bladder) was used. The results showed that the use of 15-MV energies for radiation of the pelvic and bladder using 3 radiation fields lead to maximum uniformity and homogeneity of dose in the irradiated tumor tissue. The results also showed that the use of 15-MV energies for radiation of the pelvic and bladder and the use of 4 radiation fields in patients decrease the average integrated dose in the prostate and femur heads. However, based on the results obtained to reduce the average integrated dose of rectum in bladder radiation therapy, 3 radiation fields with energy of 15 MV for pelvic and 6 MV for bladder should be used. The results indicate a significant effect of photon energy and the number of radiation fields on distribution of dose in the tumor tissue and also the amount of dose received by organs at risk in radiotherapy of patients with bladder cancer.

One of the most important aspects in radiotherapy is target definition. Since routine methods of imaging (CT and MRI) are inadequate for treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRSI) as a functional imaging modality has recently been taken into consideration for target definition. In this study we tried to use MRSI in addition to CT and MRI in order to identify clinical target volume (CTV). The aim of the present study was to compare the clinical target volumes based on anatomical imaging (CT-MRI) and anatomical-biochemical imaging (CT-MRI-MRS). In this study, we used images of 16 GBM cancer cases. MRS and MRI images were fused with CT images. Then, treatment planning was preformed for each patient in two combined methods (CT+MRI and CT+MRS planning). CTVsCT+MRS were significantly larger than CTVCT+MRI (Pvalue<0.05). no other considerable changes in other important factors of treatment planning were found. Application of MRSI for target volume identification of GBM may lead to an increase in volume in comparison to CT planning alone; thereby, it is recommended to apply MRSI images for the purpose of target determination of radiotherapy because of its advantages.

Brachytherapy is a type of radiotherapy in which radioactive sources are used in proximity of tumors normally for treatment of malignancies in the head, prostate and cervix.

The Cs-137 Selectron source is a low-dose-rate (LDR) brachytherapy source used in a remote afterloading system for treatment of different cancers. This system uses active and inactive spherical sources of 2.5 mm diameter, which can be used in different configurations inside the applicator to obtain different dose distributions. In this study, first the dose distribution at different distances from the source was obtained around a single pellet inside the applicator in a water phantom using the MCNP4C Monte Carlo code. The simulations were then repeated for six active pellets in the applicator and for six point sources.

The anisotropy of dose distribution due to the presence of the applicator was obtained by division of dose at each distance and angle to the dose at the same distance and angle of 90 degrees. According to the results, the doses decreased towards the applicator tips. For example, for points at the distances of 5 and 7 cm from the source and angle of 165 degrees, such discrepancies reached 5.8% and 5.1%, respectively. By increasing the number of pellets to six, these values reached 30% for the angle of 5 degrees.Discussion and

The results indicate that the presence of the applicator causes a significant dose decrease at the tip of the applicator compared with the dose in the transverse plane. However, the treatment planning systems consider an isotropic dose distribution around the source and this causes significant errors in treatment planning, which are not negligible, especially for a large number of sources inside the applicator.

In brachytherapy, radioactive sources are placed close to the tumor, therefore, small changes in their positions can cause large changes in the dose distribution. This emphasizes the need for computerized treatment planning. The usual method for treatment planning of cervix brachytherapy uses conventional radiographs in the Manchester system. Nowadays, because of their advantages in locating the source positions and the surrounding tissues, CT and MRI images are replacing conventional radiographs. In this study, we used CT images in Monte Carlo based dose calculation for brachytherapy treatment planning, using an interface software to create the geometry file required in the MCNP code. The aim of using the interface software is to facilitate and speed up the geometry set-up for simulations based on the patient’s anatomy. This paper examines the feasibility of this method in cervix brachytherapy and assesses its accuracy and speed. For dosimetric measurements regarding the treatment plan, a pelvic phantom was made from polyethylene in which the treatment applicators could be placed. For simulations using CT images, the phantom was scanned at 120 kVp. Using an interface software written in MATLAB, the CT images were converted into MCNP input file and the simulation was then performed. Using the interface software, preparation time for the simulations of the applicator and surrounding structures was approximately 3 minutes; the corresponding time needed in the conventional MCNP geometry entry being approximately 1 hour. The discrepancy in the simulated and measured doses to point A was 1.7% of the prescribed dose. The corresponding dose differences between the two methods in rectum and bladder were 3.0% and 3.7% of the prescribed dose, respectively. Comparing the results of simulation using the interface software with those of simulation using the standard MCNP geometry entry showed a less than 1% difference of the prescribed dose at 67% of the studied points (minimum <0.01%, maximum 4.8%). Discussion and Using the interface software reduces the overall simulation time. Comparison of the results of the measurements, simulation using the interface software and simulation using standard MCNP geometry entry shows that the use of tomographic images and transforming them into MCNP input file for dose calculation in brachytherapy is feasible and reasonably accurate.