Applying operations research models to problems in health care.

摘要

Intensity- modulated radiation therapy is a form of cancer treatment that directs high energy x-rays to irradiate a tumor volume. In order to minimize the damage to surrounding tissue the radiation is delivered from multiple angles. The selection of angles is an NP-hard problem and is currently done manually in most hospitals. We use previously evaluated treatment plans to train a machine learning model to sort potential treatment plans. By sorting potential treatment plans we can find better solutions while only evaluating a fifth as many plans. We then construct a genetic algorithm and use our machine learning models to search the space of all potential treatment plans to suggest a potential best plan. Using the genetic algorithm we are able to find plans 2% better on average than the previously best known plans.;Proton therapy is a new form of radiation therapy. We simulated a proton therapy treatment center in order to optimize patient throughput and minimize patient wait time. We are able to schedule patients reducing wait times between 20% and 35% depending on patient tardiness and absenteeism.;Finally, we analyzed the impact of operations research on the treatment of prostate cancer. We reviewed the work that has been published in both operations research and medical journals, seeing how it has impacted policy and doctor recommendations.