A heterogeneous algorithm for PDT dose optimization for prostate.

The object of this study is to develop optimization procedures that account for both the optical heterogeneity as well as photosensitizer (PS) drug distribution of the patient prostate and thereby enable delivery of uniform photodynamic dose to that gland. We use the heterogeneous optical properties measured for a patient prostate to calculate a light fluence kernel (table). PS distribution is then multiplied with the light fluence kernel to form the PDT dose kernel. The Cimmino feasibility algorithm, which is fast, linear, and always converges reliably, is applied as a search tool to choose the weights of the light sources to optimize PDT dose. Maximum and minimum PDT dose limits chosen for sample points in the prostate constrain the solution for the source strengths of the cylindrical diffuser fibers (CDF). We tested the Cimmino optimization procedures using the light fluence kernel generated for heterogeneous optical properties, and compared the optimized treatment plans with those obtained using homogeneous optical properties. To study how different photosensitizer distributions in the prostate affect optimization, comparisons of light fluence rate and PDT dose distributions were made with three distributions of photosensitizer: uniform, linear spatial distribution, and the measured PS distribution. The study shows that optimization of individual light source positions and intensities are feasible for the heterogeneous prostate during PDT.