Light dose verification for pleural PDT.

The ability to deliver uniform light dose in Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is critical to treatment efficacy. Current protocol in pleural photodynamic therapy uses 7 isotropic detectors placed at discrete locations within the pleural cavity to monitor light dose throughout treatment. While effort is made to place the detectors uniformly through the cavity, measurements do not provide an overall uniform measurement of delivered dose. A real-time infrared (IR) tracking camera is development to better deliver and monitor a more uniform light distribution during treatment. It has been shown previously that there is good agreement between fluence calculated using IR tracking data and isotropic detector measurements for direct light phantom experiments. This study presents the results of an extensive phantom study which uses variable, patient-like geometries and optical properties (both absorption and scattering). Position data of the treatment is collected from the IR navigation system while concurrently light distribution measurements are made using the aforementioned isotropic detectors. These measurements are compared to fluence calculations made using data from the IR navigation system to verify our light distribution theory is correct and applicable in patient-like settings. The verification of this treatment planning technique is an important step in bringing real-time fluence monitoring into the clinic for more effective treatment.