Guanzhong Gong

Reduced lung dose during radiotherapy for thoracic esophageal carcinoma: VMAT combined with active breathing control for moderate DIBH

BackgroundLung radiation injury is a critical complication of radiotherapy (RT) for thoracic esophageal carcinoma (EC). Therefore, the goal of this study was to investigate the feasibility and dosimetric effects of reducing the lung tissue irradiation dose during RT for thoracic EC by applying volumetric modulated arc radiotherapy (VMAT) combined with active breathing control (ABC) for moderate deep inspiration breath-hold (mDIBH).MethodsFifteen patients with thoracic EC were randomly selected to undergo two series of computed tomography (CT) simulation scans with ABC used to achieve mDIBH (representing 80% of peak DIBH value) versus free breathing (FB). Gross tumor volumes were contoured on different CT images, and planning target volumes (PTVs) were obtained using different margins. For PTV-FB, intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) was designed with seven fields, and VMAT included two whole arcs. For PTV-DIBH, VMAT with three 135° arcs was applied, and the corresponding plans were named: IMRT-FB, VMAT-FB, and VMAT-DIBH, respectively. Dosimetric differences between the different plans were compared.ResultsThe heart volumes decreased by 19.85%, while total lung volume increased by 52.54% in mDIBH, compared to FB (p < 0.05). The mean conformality index values and homogeneity index values for VMAT-DIBH (0.86, 1.07) were slightly worse than those for IMRT-FB (0.90, 1.05) and VMAT-FB (0.90, 1.06) (p > 0.05). Furthermore, compared to IMRT-FB and VMAT-FB, VMAT-DIBH reduced the mean total lung dose by 18.64% and 17.84%, respectively (p < 0.05); moreover, the V5, V10, V20, and V30 values for IMRT-FB and VMAT-FB were reduced by 10.84% and 10.65% (p > 0.05), 12.5% and 20% (p < 0.05), 30.77% and 33.33% (p < 0.05), and 50.33% and 49.15% (p < 0.05), respectively. However, the heart dose-volume indices were similar between VMAT-DIBH and VMAT-FB which were lower than IMRT-FB without being statistically significant (p > 0.05). The monitor units and treatment time of VMAT-DIBH were also the lowest (p < 0.05).ConclusionsVMAT combined with ABC to achieve mDIBH is a feasible approach for RT of thoracic EC. Furthermore, this method has the potential to effectively reduce lung dose in a shorter treatment time and with better targeting accuracy.

Multiscale registration of medical images based on edge preserving scale space with application in image-guided radiation therapy

Mutual information (MI) is a well-accepted similarity measure for image registration in medical systems. However, MI-based registration faces the challenges of high computational complexity and a high likelihood of being trapped into local optima due to an absence of spatial information. In order to solve these problems, multi-scale frameworks can be used to accelerate registration and improve robustness. Traditional Gaussian pyramid representation is one such technique but it suffers from contour diffusion at coarse levels which may lead to unsatisfactory registration results. In this work, a new multi-scale registration framework called edge preserving multiscale registration (EPMR) was proposed based upon an edge preserving total variation L1 norm (TV-L1) scale space representation. TV-L1 scale space is constructed by selecting edges and contours of images according to their size rather than the intensity values of the image features. This ensures more meaningful spatial information with an EPMR framework for MI-based registration. Furthermore, we design an optimal estimation of the TV-L1 parameter in the EPMR framework by training and minimizing the transformation offset between the registered pairs for automated registration in medical systems. We validated our EPMR method on both simulated mono- and multi-modal medical datasets with ground truth and clinical studies from a combined positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scanner. We compared our registration framework with other traditional registration approaches. Our experimental results demonstrated that our method outperformed other methods in terms of the accuracy and robustness for medical images. EPMR can always achieve a small offset value, which is closer to the ground truth both for mono-modality and multi-modality, and the speed can be increased 5-8% for mono-modality and 10-14% for multi-modality registration under the same condition. Furthermore, clinical application by adaptive gross tumor volume re-contouring for clinical PET/CT image-guided radiation therapy throughout the course of radiotherapy is also studied, and the overlap between the automatically generated contours for the CT image and the contours delineated by the oncologist used for the planning system are on average 90%.

Feasibility and potential benefits of defining the internal gross tumor volume of hepatocellular carcinoma using contrast-enhanced 4D CT images obtained by deformable registration

ObjectiveTo study the feasibility and the potential benefits of defining the internal gross tumor volume (IGTV) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using contrast-enhanced 4D CT images obtained by combining arterial-phase (AP) contrast-enhanced (CE) 3D CT and non-contrast-enhanced (NCE) 4D CT images using deformable registration (DR).MethodsTen HCC patients who had received radiotherapy beforehand were selected for this study. The following CT simulation images were acquired sequentially: NCE 4D CT in free breathing, NCE 3D CT and APCE 3D CT in end-expiration breath holding. All 4D CT images were sorted into ten phases according to breath cycle (CT00 ~ CT90). Gross tumor volumes (GTVs) were contoured on all CT images and the IGTV-1 was obtained by merging the GTVs in each phase of 4D CT images. The GTV on the APCE 3D CT image was deformably registered to each 4D CT phase image according to liver shape using RayStationTM 3.99.0.7 version treatment planning system. The IGTV-DR was obtained by merging the GTVs after DR on the 4D CT images. Volume differences among the GTVs and between the IGTV-1 and the IGTV-DR were compared.ResultsThe edge of most lesions could be definitively identified using APCE 3D CT images compared to NCE 4D and 3D CT images. The GTV volume on APCE 3D CT images increased by an average of 34.79% (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference among the GTV volumes obtained using NCE 4D and 3D CT images (P > 0.05). The GTV volumes after DR on 4D CT different phase images increased by an average of 36.29% (P < 0.05), as was observed using the APCE 3D CT image (P > 0.05). Lastly, the volume of IGTV-DR increased by an average of 19.91% compared to that of IGTV-1 (P < 0.05).ConclusionNCE 4D CT imaging alone has the potential risk of missing a partial volume of the HCC. The combination of APCE 3D CT and NCE 4D CT images using the DR technique improved the accuracy of the definition of the IGTV in HCC.

Comparison of internal target volumes for hepatocellular carcinoma defined using 3DCT with active breathing coordinator and 4DCT.

The aim of this paper is to study the feasibility for determining the individual internal target volume (ITV) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using 3DCT associated with active breathing coordinator (ABC), comparing the ITVs defined by 3DCT associated with ABC and 4DCT. Thirteen patients with HCC after transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) treatment underwent 4DCT simulation and 3DCT simulation associated with ABC in free breathing (FB), end inspiration hold (EIH) and end expiration hold (EEH). The 4DCT images were sorted into 10 phases according to the respiratory cycle and labeled as CT0, CT10…CT90; and CTMIP (the maximum intensity projection image) was reconstructed. GTV0, GTV10…GTV90, GTVMIP on 4DCT, and the GTVFB, GTVEIH, GTVEEH on 3DCT were contoured. GTV0,10…90, GTV0 and GTV50, GTVEIH and GTVEEH were merged into ITV1, ITV2 and ITV3. The individual margins from GTVFB to ITV1–3 were obtained and applied to ITVFB (labeled as ITVFB-1 ITVFB-2 ITVFB-3), respectively. All the target volumes were normalized by ITV1. The volume of GTVs, ITVs and the margins were compared. There was no significant difference of diaphragm mobility between 4DCT and 3DCT (P > 0.05), nor significant difference among the volume of the GTVs. The three ITVs were larger than the GTVMIP (P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference among three ITVs. Its similar to the differences both in the margins of three dimensions from GTVFB to ITV1–3 and in the volumes among ITVFB-1 ITVFB-2 and ITVFB-3 (P > 0.05). This study shows that its safe and feasible to determine the individual ITV for HCC using 3DCT associated with ABC in comparison with 4DCT.

Radiation Therapy for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Using Simultaneously Integrated Boost (SIB) Protocol: A Comparison Planning Study between Intensity Modulated Arc Radiotherapy vs. Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy:

The aim of this paper is to compare the dosimetric difference between intensity-modulated arc therapy (IMAT) and conventional intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for radiotherapy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) using simultaneously integrated boost (SIB) protocol. Ten patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma underwent SIB protocol were retrospectively studied. The plan target volume (PTV) of NPC contained nasopharynx gross target volume and the positive neck lymph nodes, PTV1 contained the high-risk sites of microscopic extension and the whole nasopharynx and PTV2 contained the low-risk sites. The prescription dose of PTV was 66 Gy/30 fractions, and for PTV1 60 Gy/30 fractions and for PTV2 54 Gy/30 fractions. IMAT (two 358° arcs) and IMRT (7 fields) plans were designed for each patients using SIB strategies. The monitor unit (MU), treatment time (T) and dosimetric difference between IMRT and IMAT were compared. IMAT can achieve better conformal index (CI) than IMRT (P < 0.05) for all PTVs, while no significant difference were found in homogeneity index (HI) (P > 0.05). Theres no significant difference found in radiation dose of brain stem, lenses and parotids, while the maximum dose of spinal cord of IMAT was higher than IMRT (P < 0.05). The monitor unit of IMRT (1308 ± 213) was more than IMAT (606 ± 96) (P < 0.05), while the treatment time of IMRT (540 ± 160S) was more than IMAT (160 ± 10S). This study shows that IMAT using SIB strategies for NPC radiotherapy can achieve similar target coverage with better conformity with less MU and delivery time comparing to IMRT.

Performance Evaluations of Demons and Free Form Deformation Algorithms for the Liver Region

We investigated the influence of breathing motion on radiation therapy according to four-dimensional computed tomography (4D-CT) technology and indicated the registration of 4D-CT images was significant. The demons algorithm in two interpolation modes was compared to the FFD model algorithm to register the different phase images of 4D-CT in tumor tracking, using iodipin as verification. Linear interpolation was used in both mode 1 and mode 2. Mode 1 set outside pixels to nearest pixel, while mode 2 set outside pixels to zero. We used normalized mutual information (NMI), sum of squared differences, modified Hausdorff-distance, and registration speed to evaluate the performance of each algorithm. The average NMI after demons registration method in mode 1 improved 1.76% and 4.75% when compared to mode 2 and FFD model algorithm, respectively. Further, the modified Hausdorff-distance was no different between demons modes 1 and 2, but mode 1 was 15.2% lower than FFD. Finally, demons algorithm has the absolute advantage in registration speed. The demons algorithm in mode 1 was therefore found to be much more suitable for the registration of 4D-CT images. The subtractions of floating images and reference image before and after registration by demons further verified that influence of breathing motion cannot be ignored and the demons registration method is feasible.

A modified optical flow based method for registration of 4D CT data of hepatocellular carcinoma patients

This paper expanded two-dimensional optical flow registration method to three- dimensional optical flow method (3D-OFM) to deform the four-dimensional computed tomography (4D CT) images. 4D CT can investigate the effect of breathing motion to the liver tumors and track the “trajectory” of the tumors. This algorithm was applied to the fully automated registration of 4D CT data for hepatocellular carcinoma patients. According to the respiratory phase, 4D CT data was segmented into 10-series CT images which were named CT0, CT10…CT90, and CT0 is at end inspiration and CT50 is at end expiration. In particular, The iodipin was used to help define the gross target volume of HCC to improve the image contrast. In addition, The iodipin also used to improve the registration method and verify the performance of registration method as the markers. We chose the end-exhale CT as the reference image. To verify the registration performance of this method, we qualitatively compared the subtractions of floating images and reference image and the iodipin deposition regions before and after registered, and we quantificationally computed the multi-information between floating images and reference image of 8 patients. The improving proportion of multi-information between end-exhale CT and in-exhale CT is from 1.71% to 4.17%.