SUMMARY

Spatially fractionated radiation therapy (SFRT) has been used to deliver radiation therapy since the early 1900s. The use of proton SFRT is a fairly recent proposal which has only been used clinically in very limited circumstances. Further research on proton mini- and microbeams have been shown to have an increased therapeutic index when compared to traditional SFRT while still achieving tumor ablation. Despite the body of research showing its biologic benefits compared to other more traditional methods of radiation therapy, proton Minibeam Radiation Therapy is not currently used clinically. One reason for this is the inability to accurately model proton minibeams in commercially available treatment planning systems. This work attempts to model a proton minibeam and develop a treatment planning system for proton minibeam radiation therapy using existing open-source code designed for proton dose calculation. This is an important step to move proton minibeam radiation therapy beyond physics and small animal studies.