The Investigating Image Registration Accuracy and Contour Propagation for Adaptive Radiotherapy Purposes in Line with the Task Group No. 132 Recommendation.

Abstract

Purpose: Image registration is a crucial component of the adaptive radiotherapy workflow. This study investigates the accuracy of the deformable image registration (DIR) and contour propagation features of SmartAdapt, an application in the Eclipse treatment planning system (TPS) version 16.1.

Materials and methods: The registration accuracy was validated using the Task Group No. 132 (TG-132) virtual phantom, which features contour evaluation and landmark analysis based on the quantitative criteria recommended in the American Association of Physicists in Medicine TG-132 report. The target registration error, Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), and center of mass displacement were used as quantitative validation metrics. The performance of the contour propagation feature was evaluated using clinical datasets (head and neck, pelvis, and chest) and an additional four-dimensional computed tomography (CT) dataset from TG-132. The primary planning and the second CT images were appropriately registered and deformed. The DSC was used to find the volume overlapping between the deformed contours and the radiation oncologist (RO)-drawn contour. The clinical value of the DIR-generated structure was reviewed and scored by an experienced RO to make a qualitative assessment.

Results: The registration accuracy fell within the specified tolerances. SmartAdapt exhibited a reasonably propagated contour for the chest and head-and-neck regions, with DSC values of 0.80 for organs at risk. Misregistration is frequently observed in the pelvic region, which is specified as a low-contrast region. However, 78% of structures required no modification or minor modification, demonstrating good agreement between contour comparison and the qualitative analysis.

Conclusions: SmartAdapt has adequate efficiency for image registration and contour propagation for adaptive purposes in various anatomical sites. However, there should be concern about its performance in regions with low contrast and small volumes.