Maria Francesca Spadea1, Giampaolo Pileggi2, Paolo Zaffino1, Patrick Salome3, Ciprian Catana4, David Izquierdo-Garcia4, Francesco Amato5, Joao Seco6. 1. Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy. 2. Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy; Biomedical Physics in Radiation Oncology, DKFZ-Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany. 3. Biomedical Physics in Radiation Oncology, DKFZ-Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany. 4. Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, Massachusetts. 5. Dipartimento di Ingegneria Elettrica e delle Tecnologie dell'Informazione, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy. 6. Biomedical Physics in Radiation Oncology, DKFZ-Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Heidelberg University, Germany. Electronic address: j.seco@dkfz.de.
Abstract
PURPOSE: The first aim of this work is to present a novel deep convolution neural network (DCNN) multiplane approach and compare it to single-plane prediction of synthetic computed tomography (sCT) by using the real computed tomography (CT) as ground truth. The second aim is to demonstrate the feasibility of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based proton therapy planning for the brain by assessing the range shift error within the clinical acceptance threshold. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The image database included 15 pairs of MRI/CT scans of the head. Three DCNNs were trained to estimate, for each voxel, the Hounsfield unit (HU) value from MRI intensities. Each DCNN gave an estimation in the axial, sagittal, and coronal plane, respectively. The median HU among the 3 values was selected to build the sCT. The sCT/CT agreement was evaluated by a mean absolute error (MAE) and mean error, computed within the head contour and on 6 different tissues. Dice similarity coefficients were calculated to assess the geometric overlap of bone and air cavities segmentations. A 3-beam proton therapy plan was simulated for each patient. Beam-by-beam range shift (RS) analysis was conducted to assess the proton-stopping power estimation. RS analysis was performed using clinically accepted thresholds of (1) 3.5% + 1 mm and (2) 2.5% + 1.5 mm of the total range. RESULTS: DCNN multiplane statistically outperformed single-plane prediction of sCT (P < .025). MAE and mean error within the head were 54 ± 7 HU and -4 ± 17 HU (mean ± standard deviation), respectively. Soft tissues were very close to perfect agreement (11 ± 3 HU in terms of MAE). Segmentation of air and bone regions led to a Dice similarity coefficient of 0.92 ± 0.03 and 0.93 ± 0.02, respectively. Proton RS was always below clinical acceptance thresholds, with a relative RS error of 0.14% ± 1.11%. CONCLUSIONS: The multiplane DCNN approach significantly improved the sCT prediction compared with other DCNN methods presented in the literature. The method was demonstrated to be highly accurate for MRI-only proton planning purposes.
PURPOSE: The first aim of this work is to present a novel deep convolution neural network (DCNN) multiplane approach and compare it to single-plane prediction of synthetic computed tomography (sCT) by using the real computed tomography (CT) as ground truth. The second aim is to demonstrate the feasibility of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based proton therapy planning for the brain by assessing the range shift error within the clinical acceptance threshold. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The image database included 15 pairs of MRI/CT scans of the head. Three DCNNs were trained to estimate, for each voxel, the Hounsfield unit (HU) value from MRI intensities. Each DCNN gave an estimation in the axial, sagittal, and coronal plane, respectively. The median HU among the 3 values was selected to build the sCT. The sCT/CT agreement was evaluated by a mean absolute error (MAE) and mean error, computed within the head contour and on 6 different tissues. Dice similarity coefficients were calculated to assess the geometric overlap of bone and air cavities segmentations. A 3-beam proton therapy plan was simulated for each patient. Beam-by-beam range shift (RS) analysis was conducted to assess the proton-stopping power estimation. RS analysis was performed using clinically accepted thresholds of (1) 3.5% + 1 mm and (2) 2.5% + 1.5 mm of the total range. RESULTS: DCNN multiplane statistically outperformed single-plane prediction of sCT (P < .025). MAE and mean error within the head were 54 ± 7 HU and -4 ± 17 HU (mean ± standard deviation), respectively. Soft tissues were very close to perfect agreement (11 ± 3 HU in terms of MAE). Segmentation of air and bone regions led to a Dice similarity coefficient of 0.92 ± 0.03 and 0.93 ± 0.02, respectively. Proton RS was always below clinical acceptance thresholds, with a relative RS error of 0.14% ± 1.11%. CONCLUSIONS: The multiplane DCNN approach significantly improved the sCT prediction compared with other DCNN methods presented in the literature. The method was demonstrated to be highly accurate for MRI-only proton planning purposes.
Authors: Samaneh Kazemifar; Ana M Barragán Montero; Kevin Souris; Sara T Rivas; Robert Timmerman; Yang K Park; Steve Jiang; Xavier Geets; Edmond Sterpin; Amir Owrangi Journal: J Appl Clin Med Phys Date: 2020-03-26 Impact factor: 2.102
Authors: Adrian Thummerer; Carmen Seller Oria; Paolo Zaffino; Arturs Meijers; Gabriel Guterres Marmitt; Robin Wijsman; Joao Seco; Johannes Albertus Langendijk; Antje-Christin Knopf; Maria Francesca Spadea; Stefan Both Journal: Med Phys Date: 2021-11-16 Impact factor: 4.506