Multi-system verification of registrations for image-guided radiotherapy in clinical trials. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2011 Sep 01;81(1):305-12
Date
01/18/2011Pubmed ID
21236596Pubmed Central ID
PMC3129475DOI
10.1016/j.ijrobp.2010.11.019Scopus ID
2-s2.0-79961128893 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 12 CitationsAbstract
PURPOSE: To provide quantitative information on the image registration differences from multiple systems for image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) credentialing and margin reduction in clinical trials.
METHODS AND MATERIALS: Images and IGRT shift results from three different treatment systems (Tomotherapy Hi-Art, Elekta Synergy, Varian Trilogy) have been sent from various institutions to the Image-Guided Therapy QA Center (ITC) for evaluation for the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) trials. Nine patient datasets (five head-and-neck and four prostate) were included in the comparison, with each patient having 1-4 daily individual IGRT studies. In all cases, daily shifts were re-calculated by re-registration of the planning CT with the daily IGRT data using three independent software systems (MIMvista, FocalSim, VelocityAI). Automatic fusion was used in all calculations. The results were compared with those submitted from institutions. Similar regions of interest (ROIs) and same initial positions were used in registrations for inter-system comparison. Different slice spacings for CBCT sampling and different ROIs for registration were used in some cases to observe the variation of registration due to these factors.
RESULTS: For the 54 comparisons with head-and-neck datasets, the absolute values of differences of the registration results between different systems were 2.6±2.1 mm (mean±SD; range 0.1-8.6 mm, left-right [LR]), 1.7±1.3 mm (0.0-4.9 mm, superior-inferior [SI]), and 1.8±1.1 mm (0.1-4.0 mm, anterior-posterior [AP]). For the 66 comparisons in prostate cases, the differences were 1.1±1.0 mm (0.0-4.6 mm, LR), 2.1±1.7 mm (0.0-6.6 mm, SI), and 2.0±1.8 mm (0.1-6.9 mm, AP). The differences caused by the slice spacing variation were relatively small, and the different ROI selections in FocalSim and MIMvista also had limited impact.
CONCLUSION: The extent of differences was reported when different systems were used for image registration. Careful examination and quality assurance of the image registration process are crucial before considering margin reduction using IGRT in clinical trials.
Author List
Cui Y, Galvin JM, Straube WL, Bosch WR, Purdy JA, Li XA, Xiao YMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AlgorithmsClinical Trials as Topic
Head and Neck Neoplasms
Humans
Male
Patient Positioning
Prostatic Neoplasms
Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted
Radiotherapy, Computer-Assisted
Software
Tomography, X-Ray Computed