GPU-based high-performance computing for radiation therapy

• Published in: Physics in medicine & biology Vol. 59; no. 4; pp. R151 - R182
• Main Authors: Jia, Xun, Ziegenhein, Peter, Jiang, Steve B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England IOP Publishing 21.02.2014
• Subjects: Computer Graphics - instrumentation; Computing Methodologies; Diagnostic Imaging; graphics processing units; high-performance computing; Humans; radiation therapy; Radiotherapy, Computer-Assisted - instrumentation; Radiotherapy, Computer-Assisted - methods
• ISSN: 0031-9155; 1361-6560
• DOI: 10.1088/0031-9155/59/4/R151

Recent developments in radiotherapy therapy demand high computation powers to solve challenging problems in a timely fashion in a clinical environment. The graphics processing unit (GPU), as an emerging high-performance computing platform, has been introduced to radiotherapy. It is particularly attractive due to its high computational power, small size, and low cost for facility deployment and maintenance. Over the past few years, GPU-based high-performance computing in radiotherapy has experienced rapid developments. A tremendous amount of study has been conducted, in which large acceleration factors compared with the conventional CPU platform have been observed. In this paper, we will first give a brief introduction to the GPU hardware structure and programming model. We will then review the current applications of GPU in major imaging-related and therapy-related problems encountered in radiotherapy. A comparison of GPU with other platforms will also be presented.