Abstract: In order to automatically determine the treatment procedure of whole body gamma knife and improve treatment results, a novel method based on the geometric optimization of shots and optimization of treatment path is proposed. A geometric optimization model based on boundary box is designed to arrange the shots. Coverage percentages of tumor and normal tissues are taken into consideration in the objective function. The optimization problem is solved by genetic algorithm. Based on the shot optimization arrangement, genetic algorithm is applied to find the best treatment path. In case a large number of shots are needed, a layer by layer treatment path optimization scheme is used to reduce computational time. This way, treatment can be carried out regularly according to the optimized shot locations and treatment path. Application of the method to simulated data shows that the treatment procedure is more convenient and faster.

Key words: whole body gamma knife, automation, shot design, treatment path optimization, genetic algorithm