Accuracy of dose-volume metric calculation for small-volume radiosurgery targets.

PURPOSE: For stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), accurate evaluation of dose-volume metrics for small structures is necessary. The purpose of this study was to compare the DVH metric capabilities of five commercially available SRS DVH analysis tools (Eclipse, Elements, Raystation, MIM, and Velocity). METHODS: DICOM RTdose and RTstructure set files created using MATLAB were imported and evaluated in each of the tools. Each structure set consisted of 50 randomly placed spherical targets. The dose distributions were created on a 1-mm grid using an analytic model such that the dose-volume metrics of the spheres were known. Structure sets were created for 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, and 20 mm diameter spheres. The reported structure volume, V100% [cc], and V50% [cc], and the RTOG conformity index and Paddick Gradient Index, were compared with the analytical values. RESULTS: The average difference and range across all evaluated target sizes for the reported structure volume was - 4.73%[-33.2,0.2], 0.11%[-10.9, 9.5], -0.39%[-12.1, 7.0], -2.24%[-21.0, 1.3], and 1.15%[-15.1,0.8], for TPS-A through TPS-E, respectively. The average difference and range for the V100%[cc] (V20Gy[cc]) was - 0.4[-24.5,9.8], -2.73[-23.6, 1.1], -3.01[-23.6, 0.6], -3.79[-27.3, 1.3], and 0.26[-6.1,2.6] for TPS-A through TPS-E, respectively. For V50%[cc](V10Gy[cc]) in TPS-A through TPS-E the average and ranger were - 0.05[-0.8,0.4], -0.18[-1.2, 0.5], -0.44[-1.4, 0.3], -0.26[-1.8, 2.6], and 0.09[-1.4,2.7]. CONCLUSION: This study expanded on the previously published literature to quantitatively compare the DVH analysis capabilities of software commonly used for SRS plan evaluation and provides freely available and downloadable analytically derived set of ground truth DICOM dose and structure files for the use of radiotherapy clinics. The differences between systems highlight the need for standardization and/or transparency between systems, especially when evaluating plan quality for multi-institutional clinical trials.

Incorporating biological modeling into patient-specific plan verification.

PURPOSE: Dose-volume histogram (DVH) measurements have been integrated into commercially available quality assurance systems to provide a metric for evaluating accuracy of delivery in addition to gamma analysis. We hypothesize that tumor control probability and normal tissue complication probability calculations can provide additional insight beyond conventional dose delivery verification methods. METHODS: A commercial quality assurance system was used to generate DVHs of treatment plan using the planning CT images and patient-specific QA measurements on a phantom. Biological modeling was performed on the DVHs produced by both the treatment planning system and the quality assurance system. RESULTS: The complication-free tumor control probability, P+ , has been calculated for previously treated intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) patients with diseases in the following sites: brain (-3.9% ± 5.8%), head-neck (+4.8% ± 8.5%), lung (+7.8% ± 1.3%), pelvis (+7.1% ± 12.1%), and prostate (+0.5% ± 3.6%). CONCLUSION: Dose measurements on a phantom can be used for pretreatment estimation of tumor control and normal tissue complication probabilities. Results in this study show how biological modeling can be used to provide additional insight about accuracy of delivery during pretreatment verification.

Characterizing a deformable registration algorithm for surface-guided breast radiotherapy.

PURPOSE: Surface-guided radiation therapy (SGRT) is a nonionizing imaging approach for patient setup guidance, intra-fraction monitoring, and automated breath-hold gating of radiation treatments. SGRT employs the premise that the external patient surface correlates to the internal anatomy, to infer the treatment isocenter position at time of treatment delivery. Deformations and posture variations are known to impact the correlation between external and internal anatomy. However, the degree, magnitude, and algorithm dependence of this impact are not intuitive and currently no methods exist to assess this relationship. The primary aim of this work was to develop a framework to investigate and understand how a commercial optical surface imaging system (C-RAD, Uppsala, Sweden), which uses a nonrigid registration algorithm, handles rotations and surface deformations. METHODS: A workflow consisting of a female torso phantom and software-introduced transformations to the corresponding digital reference surface was developed. To benchmark and validate the approach, known rigid translations and rotations were first applied. Relevant breast radiotherapy deformations related to breast size, hunching/arching back, distended/deflated abdomen, and an irregular surface to mimic a cover sheet over the lower part of the torso were investigated. The difference between rigid and deformed surfaces was evaluated as a function of isocenter location. RESULTS: For all introduced rigid body transformations, C-RAD computed isocenter shifts were determined within 1 mm and 1˚. Additional translational shifts to correct for rotations as a function of isocenter location were determined with the same accuracy. For yaw setup errors, the difference in shift corrections between a plan with an isocenter placed in the center of the breast (BrstIso) and one located 12 cm superiorly (SCFIso) was 2.3 mm/1˚ in lateral direction. Pitch setup errors resulted in a difference of 2.1 mm/1˚ in vertical direction. For some of the deformation scenarios, much larger differences up to 16 mm and 7˚ in the calculated shifts between BrstIso and SCFIso were observed that could lead to large unintended gaps or overlap between adjacent matched fields if uncorrected. CONCLUSIONS: The methodology developed lends itself well for quality assurance (QA) of SGRT systems. The deformable C-RAD algorithm determined accurate shifts for rigid transformations, and this was independent of isocenter location. For surface deformations, the position of the isocenter had considerable impact on the registration result. It is recommended to avoid off-axis isocenters during treatment planning to optimally utilize the capabilities of the deformable image registration algorithm, especially when multiple isocenters are used with fields that share a field edge.