April 27, 2018 — In the first World Championships of Treatment Planning, arranged by radiation oncology analytics company ProKnow and held March 1, 2018, RayStation users scored highest in two out of three treatment planning categories. The categories were proton, volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) and intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). RayStation users reached five of the ten highest scores, with all submitted plans taken into consideration.
The objective of the World Championships of treatment planning is to determine what planner and planning system can produce the highest quality plan in an aggressive and limited timeframe. Professionals from over 30 countries participated.
RayStation user Dennie Fransen, senior radiation therapy technologist at Holland Proton Therapy Centre (HollandPTC), scored highest in the proton category, with all submitted plans considered. Fransen has extensive experience in treatment planning with several different planning systems and treatment techniques. Over the last 18 months, he has been using RayStation for intensity modulated proton therapy, which is one of the most advanced and accurate radiation therapy techniques.
"Participating in the inaugural World Championships in treatment planning was a fun experience. The ability to quickly produce high-quality proton plans in RayStation was a key factor for this competition”, said Fransen.
In the IMRT category, RaySearch research engineer Björn Andersson achieved the highest score using an automatic planning technique that he recently developed, which will be included in a future RayStation release.
The winning plan was thus produced with only minimal user interaction. After the competition had closed, the automatic planning technique was applied to the proton and VMAT categories as well, showing good results.
"I am of course delighted that my technique managed to produce a winning plan. Looking forward, I am very excited about the possibilities that automatic treatment planning will bring to radiation therapy", said Andersson.
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May 02, 2024 
