Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42703749›Full record

ArticleMedical physics2026

Impact of collimator misalignments on dosimetric robustness in proton minibeam radiotherapy using an automated measurement setup.

Sake Salverda, Ernst van der Wal, Thomas Toet, Mischa Hoogeman, Kelvin Ng Wei Siang

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Medical physics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Sake SalverdaFaculty of Mechanical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands.
Ernst van der WalDepartment of Research and Development, Holland Proton Therapy Center, Delft, the Netherlands.
Thomas ToetDepartment of Research and Development, Holland Proton Therapy Center, Delft, the Netherlands.
Mischa HoogemanDepartment of Medical Physics & Informatics, Holland Proton Therapy Center, Delft, the Netherlands.
Kelvin Ng Wei SiangDepartment of Medical Physics & Informatics, Holland Proton Therapy Center, Delft, the Netherlands.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundProton minibeam radiation therapy is an emerging technique that combines the tissue-sparing benefits of protons with the spatial modulation used for minibeams to reduce toxicity in healthy tissue. Achieving accurate delivery of planned dose distributions depends on precise collimator-to-beam alignment, for which it is essential to understand the behavior of both multi-slit and single-slit configurations. Understanding single-slit behavior is particularly important, as it also linearly affects the heterogeneity (peaks and valleys) of the overall minibeam. While several studies have investigated misalignment effects with multi-slit collimators, there is limited experimental characterisation of single-slit behavior and its impact on multi-slit arrays. PURPOSE: This study aims to quantify the dosimetric effects of translational and rotational collimator-to-beam misalignments for single-slit proton minibeams using our in-house automated measurement setup. Additionally, the robustness of lateral dose profiles for minibeam arrays will be investigated under varying collimator misalignments.

methodsA single slit collimator with

resultsRotational misalignments caused substantial asymmetry and peak dose reductions up to 68.4% at shallow depths, with asymmetry reducing at greater depths. Translational shifts resulted in a translation of the minibeam profile in the same direction and magnitude without changing the minibeams shape. Despite these distortions, simulated minibeam arrays achieved acceptable dose homogeneity at

conclusionsCollimator misalignments substantially affect the minibeam dose robustness and should be considered in clinical treatment planning and quality assurance (QA). The presented measurement setup enables, rapid, high-resolution profile measurements using commercially available detectors and can facilitate routine clinical QA.

Indexed as

Proton TherapyRadiometryAutomationRadiotherapy Dosage

Identifiers

PMID42703749
PMCPMC13548184

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.