Premium
TH‐E‐BRF‐02: 4D‐CT Ventilation Image‐Based IMRT Plans Are Dosimetrically Comparable to SPECT Ventilation Image‐Based Plans
Author(s) -
Kida S,
Bal M,
Kabus S,
Loo B,
Keall P,
Yamamoto T
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
medical physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.473
H-Index - 180
eISSN - 2473-4209
pISSN - 0094-2405
DOI - 10.1118/1.4889666
Subject(s) - ventilation (architecture) , nuclear medicine , voxel , image registration , medicine , radiation treatment planning , dosimetry , medical physics , radiology , radiation therapy , computer science , image (mathematics) , artificial intelligence , physics , thermodynamics
Purpose: An emerging lung ventilation imaging method based on 4D‐CT can be used in radiotherapy to selectively avoid irradiating highly‐functional lung regions, which may reduce pulmonary toxicity. Efforts to validate 4DCT ventilation imaging have been focused on comparison with other imaging modalities including SPECT and xenon CT. The purpose of this study was to compare 4D‐CT ventilation image‐based functional IMRT plans with SPECT ventilation image‐based plans as reference. Methods: 4D‐CT and SPECT ventilation scans were acquired for five thoracic cancer patients in an IRB‐approved prospective clinical trial. The ventilation images were created by quantitative analysis of regional volume changes (a surrogate for ventilation) using deformable image registration of the 4D‐CT images. A pair of 4D‐CT ventilation and SPECT ventilation image‐based IMRT plans was created for each patient. Regional ventilation information was incorporated into lung dose‐volume objectives for IMRT optimization by assigning different weights on a voxel‐by‐voxel basis. The objectives and constraints of the other structures in the plan were kept identical. The differences in the dose‐volume metrics have been evaluated and tested by a paired t‐test. SPECT ventilation was used to calculate the lung functional dose‐volume metrics (i.e., mean dose, V20 and effective dose) for both 4D‐CT ventilation image‐based and SPECT ventilation image‐based plans. Results: Overall there were no statistically significant differences in any dose‐volume metrics between the 4D‐CT and SPECT ventilation imagebased plans. For example, the average functional mean lung dose of the 4D‐CT plans was 26.1±9.15 (Gy), which was comparable to 25.2±8.60 (Gy) of the SPECT plans (p = 0.89). For other critical organs and PTV, nonsignificant differences were found as well. Conclusion: This study has demonstrated that 4D‐CT ventilation image‐based functional IMRT plans are dosimetrically comparable to SPECT ventilation image‐based plans, providing evidence to use 4D‐CT ventilation imaging for clinical applications. Supported in part by Free to Breathe Young Investigator Research Grant and NIH/NCI R01 CA 093626. The authors thank Philips Radiation Oncology Systems for the Pinnacle3 treatment planning systems