Dose mapping: Validation in 4D dosimetry with measurements and application in radiotherapy follow-up evaluation (original) (raw)
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Radiation oncology (London, England), 2010
Thoracic cancer treatment presents dosimetric difficulties due to respiratory motion and lung inhomogeneity. Monte Carlo and deformable image registration techniques have been proposed to be used in four-dimensional (4D) dose calculations to overcome the difficulties. This study validates the 4D Monte Carlo dosimetry with measurement, compares 4D dosimetry of different tumor sizes and tumor motion ranges, and demonstrates differences of dose-volume histograms (DVH) with the number of respiratory phases that are included in 4D dosimetry. BEAMnrc was used in dose calculations while an optical flow algorithm was used in deformable image registration and dose mapping. Calculated and measured doses of a moving phantom agreed within 3% at the center of the moving gross tumor volumes (GTV). 4D CT image sets of lung cancer cases were used in the analysis of 4D dosimetry. For a small tumor (12.5 cm3) with motion range of 1.5 cm, reduced tumor volume coverage was observed in the 4D dose with ...
Acta Oncologica, 2014
background. Methods to accurately accumulate doses in radiotherapy (RT) are important for tumour and normal tissues being influenced by geometric uncertainties. The purpose of this study was to investigate a pre-release deformable image registration (DIR)-based dose accumulation application, in the setting of prostate RT. Material and methods. Initially accumulated bladder and prostate doses were assessed (based on 8-9 repeat CT scans/patient) for nine prostate cancer patients using an intensity-based DIR and dose accumulation algorithm as provided by the Dynamic Adaptive Radiation Therapy (DART) software. The accumulated bladder and prostate dosevolume histograms (DVHs) were compared on a range of parameters (paired Wilcoxon signed-rank test, 5% significance level) to DVHs derived using an in-house developed dose accumulation method based on biomechanical, contour-driven DIR (SurfaceRegistration). Finally, both these accumulated dose distributions were compared to the 'static' DVH, assessed from the planning CT. results. Over the population, doses accumulated with DART were overall lower than those from SurfaceRegistration (p 0.05: D 2% , gEUD and NTCP (bladder); D min (prostate)). The magnitude of these differences peaked for the bladder gEUD with a population median of 47 Gy for DART versus 57 Gy for SurfaceRegistration. Across the ten bladder dose/ volume parameters investigated, the most pronounced individual differences were observed between the 'accumulated' DVHs and the 'static' DVHs, with deviations in mean dose up to 22 Gy. conclusion. Substantial and significant differences were observed in the dose distributions between the two investigated DIR-based dose accumulation applications. The most pronounced individual differences were seen for the bladder and relative to the planned dose distribution, encouraging the use of repeat imaging data in RT planning and evaluation for this organ.
Radiology and Oncology, 2017
IntroductionDeformable image registration (DIR) is used to modify structures according to anatomical changes for observing the dosimetric effect. In this study, megavoltage computed tomography (MVCT) images were used to generate cumulative doses for nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) patients by various DIR methods. The performance of the multiple DIR methods was analysed, and the impact of dose accumulation was assessed.Patients and methodsThe study consisted of five NPC patients treated with a helical tomotherapy unit. The weekly MVCT images at the 1ResultsThe target dose received a slightly different result from the initial plan at the end of the treatment. The organ dose differences increased as the treatment progressed to 6.8% (range: 2.2 to 10.9%), 15.2% (range: -1.7 to 36.3%), and 6.4% (range: -1.6 to 13.2%) for the right parotid, the left parotid, and the spinal cord, respectively. The mean uncertainty values to estimate the accumulated doses for all the DIR methods were 0.21 ± 0.1...
Medical Physics
To use four-dimensional (4D) dose accumulation based on deformable image registration (DIR) to assess dosimetric uncertainty in lung stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) treatment planning. A novel concept, the Evaluation Target Volume (ETV), was introduced to achieve this goal. Methods: The internal target volume (ITV) approach was used for treatment planning for 11 patients receiving lung SBRT. Retrospectively, 4D dose calculation was done in Pinnacle v9.10. Total dose was accumulated in the reference phase using DIR with MIM. DIR was validated using landmarks introduced by an expert radiation oncologist. The 4D and three-dimensional (3D) dose distributions were compared within the gross tumor volume (GTV) and the planning target volume (PTV) using the D 95 and D min (calculated as D min,0.035cc) metrics. For lung involvement, the mean dose and V 20 , V 10 , and V 5 were used in the 3D to 4D dose comparison, and D max (D 0.1cc) was used for all other organs at risk (OAR). The new evaluation target volume (ETV) was calculated by expanding the GTV in the reference phase in order to include geometrical uncertainties of the DIR, interobserver variability in the definition of the tumor, and uncertainties of imaging and delivery systems. D 95 and D min,0.035cc metrics were then calculated on the basis of the ETV for 4D accumulated dose distributions, and these metrics were compared with those calculated from the PTV for 3D planned dose distributions. Results: The target registration error (TRE) per spatial component was below 0.5 AE 2.1mm for all our patients. For five patients, dose degradation above 2% (>4% in 2 patients) was found in the PTV after 4D accumulation and attributed to anatomical variations due to breathing. Comparison of D 95 and D min,0.035cc metrics showed that the ETV (4D accumulated dose) estimated substantially lower coverage than the PTV (3D planning dose): in six out of the 11 cases, and for at least for one of the two metrics, coverage estimated by ETV was at least 5% lower than that estimated by PTV. Furthermore, the ETV approach revealed hot and cold spots within its boundaries. Conclusions: A workflow for 4D dose accumulation based on DIR has been devised. Dose degradation was attributed to respiratory motion. To overcome limitations in the PTV for the purposes of evaluating DIR-based 4D accumulated dose distributions, a new concept, the ETV, was proposed. This concept appears to facilitate more reliable dose evaluation and a better understanding of dosimetric uncertainties due to motion and deformation.
Physics in medicine and biology, 2015
Effective positron emission tomography / computed tomography (PET/CT) guidance in radiotherapy of lung cancer requires estimation and mitigation of errors due to respiratory motion. An end-to-end workflow was developed to measure patient-specific motion-induced uncertainties in imaging, treatment planning, and radiation delivery with respiratory motion phantoms and dosimeters. A custom torso phantom with inserts mimicking normal lung tissue and lung lesion was filled with [(18)F]FDG. The lung lesion insert was driven by six different patient-specific respiratory patterns or kept stationary. PET/CT images were acquired under motionless ground truth, tidal breathing motion-averaged (3D), and respiratory phase-correlated (4D) conditions. Target volumes were estimated by standardized uptake value (SUV) thresholds that accurately defined the ground-truth lesion volume. Non-uniform dose-painting plans using volumetrically modulated arc therapy were optimized for fixed normal lung and spin...
Radiotherapy and Oncology, 1995
Purpose: To determine the accuracy of dose calculations based on CT-densities for lung cancer patients irradiated with an anterioposterior parallel-opposed treatment technique and to evaluate, for this technique, the use of diodes and an Electronic Portal Imaging Device (EPID) for absolute exit dose and relative transmission dose verification, respectively. Materials and methodr: Dose calculations were performed using a 3-dimensional treatment planning system, using CT-densities or assuming the patient to be water-equivalent. A simple inhomogeneity correction model was used to take CT-densities into account. For 22 patients, entrance and exit dose calculations at the central beam axis and at several off-axis positions were compared with diode measurements. For 12 patients, diode exit dose measurements and exit dose calculations were compared with EPID transmission dose values. Results: Using water-equivalent calculations, the actual exit dose value under lung was, on average, underestimated by 30%, with an overall spread of 10% (1 SD) in the ratio of measurement and calculation. Using inhomogeneity corrections, the exit dose was, on average, overestimated by 4%, with an overall spread of 6% (1 SD). Only 2% of the average deviation was due to the inhomogeneity correction model. The other 2% resulted from a small inaccuracy in beam fit parameters and the fact that lack of backscatter is not taken into account by the calculation model. Organ motion, resulting from the ventilatory or cardiac cycle, caused an estimated uncertainty in calculated exit dose of 2.5% (1 SD). The most important reason for the large overall spread was, however, the inaccuracy involved in point measurements, of about 4% (1 SD), which resulted from the systematic and random deviation in patient setup and therefore in the diode position with respect to patient anatomy. Transmission and exit dose values agreed with an average difference of 1.1%. Transmission dose profiles also showed good agreement with calculated exit dose profiles. Conclusions: The study shows that, for this treatment technique, the dose in the thorax region is quite accurately predicted using CT-based dose calculations and a simple heterogeneity correction model. Point detectors such as diodes are not suitable for exit dose verification in regions with inhomogeneities. The EPID has the advantage that the dose can be measured in the entire irradiation field, thus allowing an accurate verification of the dose delivered to regions with large dose gradients.
Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2014
Respiration and anatomical variation during radiotherapy (RT) of lung cancer yield dosimetric uncertainties of the delivered dose, possibly affecting the clinical outcome if not corrected for. Adaptive radiotherapy (ART), based on deformable image registration (DIR) and Deep-Inspiration-Breath-Hold (DIBH) gating can potentially improve the accuracy of RT. Purpose: The objective was to investigate the performance of contour propagation on repeated CT and Cone Beam CT (CBCT) images in DIBH compared to images acquired in free breathing (FB), using a recently released DIR software. Method: Three locally advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer patients were included, each with a planning-, midterm-and final CT (pCT, mCT, fCT) and 7 CBCTs acquired weekly and on the same day as the mCT and fCT. All imaging were performed in both FB and DIBH, using Varian RPM system for respiratory tracking. Delineations of anatomical structures were performed on each image set. The CT images were retrospective rigidly and deformable registered to all obtained images using the Varian Smart Adapt v. 11.0. The registered images were analysed for volume change and Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC). Result: Geometrical similarities were found between propagated and manually delineated structures, with a slightly favour of FB imaging. Special notice should be taken to registrations where image artefacts or low tissue contrast are present. Conclusion: This study does not support the hypothesis that DIBH images perform better image registration than FB images. However DIR is a feasible tool for ART of lung cancer.
BioMed Research International, 2015
In the context of head and neck cancer (HNC) adaptive radiation therapy (ART), the two purposes of the study were to compare the performance of multiple deformable image registration (DIR) methods and to quantify their impact for dose accumulation, in healthy structures. Fifteen HNC patients had a planning computed tomography (CT0) and weekly CTs during the 7 weeks of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Ten DIR approaches using different registration methods (demons or B-spline free form deformation (FFD)), preprocessing, and similarity metrics were tested. Two observers identified 14 landmarks (LM) on each CT-scan to compute LM registration error. The cumulated doses estimated by each method were compared. The two most effective DIR methods were the demons and the FFD, with both the mutual information (MI) metric and the filtered CTs. The corresponding LM registration accuracy (precision) was 2.44 mm (1.30 mm) and 2.54 mm (1.33 mm), respectively. The corresponding LM esti...