Feasibility study on the application of accelerator MV CBCT images in adaptive radiation therapy / 中华放射医学与防护杂志

Objective To investigate whether the accelerator image beam line (IBL) full scan and extend field of view(EFOV) scan mode megavoltage cone beam CT(MV CBCT) images can be used for dose calculation in adaptive radiotherapy.Methods The large aperture CT and MV CBCT were used to scan the CIRS 062M electron density modules,the CT value was established to electron density curves in the Pinnacle treatment planning system.Also,CT and MV CBCT were used to scan the head and neck,chest,abdomen and pelvis phantom.The intensity modulated radiotherapy(IMRT) plans were made with CT images and transplanted to MV CBCT images.The dose of targets and organs with their electron density curves was calculated,and two type IMRT plans with different CT images were compared.Results The dose distribution of head and neck phantom was acceptable,compared with the reference plan,the difference was within 3 ％.The dose distribution of chest and.pelvis was significantly reduced from reference plans,and the difference was 5％ and 10％ separately.This difference was beyond the scope of clinical acceptance.Conclusions MV CBCT images of accelerator IBL full scan mode in patients with head and neck site scan could be used for dose calculation in adaptive radiotherapy,chest and pelvic sites in EFOV mode scanning MV CBCT images could only be used for image guidance.

Improvement of the Dose Calculation Accuracy Using MVCBCT Image Processing / 의학물리

The dose re-calculation process using Megavoltage cone-beam CT images is inevitable process to perform the Adaptive Radiation Therapy (ART). The purpose of this study is to improve dose re-calculation accuracy using MVCBCT images by applying intensity calibration method and three dimensional rigid body transform and filtering process. The three dimensional rigid body transform and Gaussian smoothing filtering process to MVCBCT Rando phantom images was applied to reduce image orientation error and the noise of the MVCBCT images. Then, to obtain the predefined modification level for intensity calibration, the cheese phantom images from kilo-voltage CT (kV CT), MVCBCT was acquired. From these cheese phantom images, the calibration table for MVCBCT images was defined from the relationship between Hounsfield Units (HUs) of kV CT and MVCBCT images at the same electron density plugs. The intensity of MVCBCT images from Rando phantom was calibrated using the predefined modification level as discussed above to have the intensity of the kV CT images to make the two images have the same intensity range as if they were obtained from the same modality. Finally, the dose calculation using kV CT, MVCBCT with/without intensity calibration was applied using radiation treatment planning system. As a result, the percentage difference of dose distributions between dose calculation based on kVCT and MVCBCT with intensity calibration was reduced comparing to the percentage difference of dose distribution between dose calculation based on kVCT and MVCBCT without intensity calibration. For head and neck, lung images, the percentage difference between kV CT and non-calibrated MVCBCT images was 1.08%, 2.44%, respectively. In summary, our method has quantitatively improved the accuracy of dose calculation and could be a useful solution to enhance the dose calculation accuracy using MVCBCT images.

Enhancement of the Deformable Image Registration Accuracy Using Image Modification of MV CBCT / 의학물리

To perform the Adaptive Radiation Therapy (ART), a high degree of deformable registration accuracy is essential. The purpose of this study is to identify whether the change of MV CBCT intensity can improve registration accuracy using predefined modification level and filtering process. To obtain modification level, the cheese phantom images was acquired from both kilovoltage CT (kappaV CT), megavoltage cone-beam CT (MV CBCT). From the cheese phantom images, the modification level of MV CBCT was defined from the relationship between Hounsfield Units (HUs) of kappaV CT and MV CBCT images. 'Gaussian smoothing filter' was added to reduce the noise of the MV CBCT images. The intensity of MV CBCT image was changed to the intensity of the kappaV CT image to make the two images have the same intensity range as if they were obtained from the same modality. The demon deformable registration which was efficient and easy to perform the deformable registration was applied. The deformable lung phantom which was intentionally created in the laboratory to imitate the changes of the breathing period was acquired from kappaV CT and MV CBCT. And then the deformable lung phantom images were applied to the proposed method. As a result of deformable image registration, the similarity of the correlation coefficient was used for a quantitative evaluation of the result was increased by 6.07% in the cheese phantom, and 18% in the deformable lung phantom. For the additional evaluation of the registration of the deformable lung phantom, the centric coordinates of the mark which was inserted into the inner part of the phantom were measured to calculate the vector difference. The vector differences from the result were 2.23, 1.39 mm with/without modification of intensity of MV CBCT images, respectively. In summary, our method has quantitatively improved the accuracy of deformable registration and could be a useful solution to improve the image registration accuracy. A further study was also suggested in this paper.

Optimization of the IMRT treatment plan undergoing megavoltage cone-beam CT Imaging for nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

Objective To investigate the intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) planning optimization method to reduce the additional dose resulting from megavoltage cone-beam CT (MVCBCT) imaging for nasopharyngeal carcinoma IMRT treatment. Methods MVCBCT images collection process was simulated using XiO treatment planning system. The mean doses of MVCBCT ( DMVCBCT ) were calculated in gross tumor volume ( GTV), clinical target volume ( CTV ) and risk at organ or tissue using 27. 4 cm× 27.4 cm portal radiation 8 MU,5 MU (A,C) and 27.4 cm× 15.0 cm portal radiation 8 MU,5 MU (B,D). The dose correct factor of MVCBCT (CFMVCBCT) according to IMRT TPS and DMVCBCT ,but CFMVCBCT plus MVCBCT imaging process for radiotherapy planning optimization. The paired t-test was play for A∶ B,C∶ D,A∶ C,B∶ D of DMVCBCT. Results The DMVCBCT and CFMVCBCT of A, B, C, D were 7. 78,5. 78,4. 88,3.55 cGy ( A∶ C, t =24.41,P＜0.01) and 0.993 -0.997 in GTV,with 7.88,6.95,4.88,4.38 cGy (A∶ B,A∶ C,B∶ C,t=3. 85, -31.82, -8.52, all P＜0. 01) and 0.992 -0.996 in CTV1 ,with 8.28,6.67,5. 17,4. 17 cGy (A ∶B,A∶C,B∶C,B∶D,t=6.41 -18.24,all P＜0. 01) and 0.991 -0.996 in CTV2;with 6.88,5.00,4.28,3. 50 cGy ( A∶ B, A∶ C,t = 2. 83,11.03, all P ＜ 0. 05 ) and 0. 989 - 0. 995 in spinal cord, with 7.88,7. 38,4. 95,4. 62 cGy and 0. 984 -0. 990 in left parotid, with 8. 67,0. 28,5. 33,0. 28 cGy and 0. 963 -0. 999 in left optic nerve,with 9. 17,0.22,5.72,0. 17 cGy and 0.821 -0.997 in left eye lens,with 6.95,2. 17,4. 38,1.38 cGy and 0. 987 -0. 997 in brain stem, with 7.78,0.45,4. 95,0. 28 cGy and 0. 978 -0. 999 ( A ∶ B,A∶ C,B∶ C,B∶ D for five organ or tissue,t =5. 06 -335. 16 ,all P ＜0. 01 ) in optic chiasm. Conclusions The MVCBCT imaging process resulted in radiation doses to patient. The impact of MVCBCT image acquired dose on IMRT treatment plan for NPC was eliminated by a compensation method.

Quantitative analysis of the image quality in megavoltage cone-beam computed tomography / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

Objective To quantitatively analyze the image quality of megavoltage cone-beam CT (MVCBCT) under different scanning conditions to provide reference in clinical applications. Methods Si-emens ONCOR linear accelerator with MVCBCT was used to scan the phantom under different conditions. The image quality was evaluated in terms of image noise, uniformity, spatial resolution, contrast resolution, the number of Monitor Units(MUs) used in imaging,and the size of the reconstruction matrix. The comparison of the image quality between MVCBCT and conventional simulator CT was also analyzed. Results The image noise was decreased with the increase of the number of MUs. The uniformity index showed that the system u-niformity was weakly dependent on MU numbers or the size of the reconstruction matrix. Except for the ima-ges with 5 MUs,all other images had the spatial resolution of 0.4 lp/mm with a reconstruction matrix of 256 ×256. Better low contrast resolution was achieved by using more MUs. For typical pelvis and head-and-neck patients,the imaging dose at the center was 0.8 cGy/MU and 0.7 cGy/MU, respectively,and the maxi-mum dose was about 1.2 cGy/MU. For typical abdomen patients,the image maximum dose and center dose was 1.3 cGy/MU and 0.7 cGy/MU,respectively. Conclusions The image quality of MVCBCT is inferior to the conventional kilo-voltage CT. However,with the optimization of the parameters in imaging,we can a-chieve sufficient image contrast in the bone,air and some soft-tissue structures with low imaging dose to pa-tients. Such images can be used for IGRT.

Megavoltage cone-heron CT in the use of head and neck dose calculation / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

Objective To evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of performing dose calculation on megavoltage cone-beam CT(MVCBCT) in the head and neck. Methods MiniCTQC phantom was imaged using MVCBCT scanner, and the MVCBCT value density calibration curve was established. Conventional CT and MVCBCT image of phantom and nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC) patient were acquired respectively. Two kinds of single field plan were designed for conventional CT image of phantom,and IMRT plan was used for conventional CT image of a NPC patient. The conventional CT plans were copied to MVCBCT image. The dose distribution was calculated for targets and normal tissues using the MVCBCT value density calibration curve,and compared with that of conventional CT. Results For all the cases,the differences between the calculated dose distributions using MVCBCT and CT were less than 3% and 3 mm in single field plan. In IMRT plan, DVHs of conventional CT and MVCBCT were in excellent agreement. The biggest difference between conventional CT and MVCBCT was 95 cGy with the error of 1.4%. On the isocenter plane,the passing rate was 95.5% ,99.4% ,93.8% ,98.7%, 100% ,94.5% ,97.3% ,95.6% ,99.3% and 99.4% for the beam angle of 0°,45°,90°,120°,160°,200°,240°,280° and 320°. Conclusions Performing dose calculation using MVCBCT in head-and-neck region was feasible, and the dose distributions on the conventional CT and MVCBCT were in excellent agreement.