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Bordigoni B, Trivellato S, Pellegrini R, Meregalli S, Bonetto E, Belmonte M, Castellano M, Panizza D, Arcangeli S, De Ponti E. Automated segmentation in pelvic radiotherapy: A comprehensive evaluation of ATLAS-, machine learning-, and deep learning-based models. Phys Med 2024; 125:104486. [PMID: 39098106 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmp.2024.104486] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2023] [Revised: 06/20/2024] [Accepted: 07/17/2024] [Indexed: 08/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Artificial intelligence can standardize and automatize highly demanding procedures, such as manual segmentation, especially in an anatomical site as common as the pelvis. This study investigated four automated segmentation tools on computed tomography (CT) images in female and male pelvic radiotherapy (RT) starting from simpler and well-known atlas-based methods to the most recent neural networks-based algorithms. The evaluation included quantitative, qualitative and time efficiency assessments. A mono-institutional consecutive series of 40 cervical cancer and 40 prostate cancer structure sets were retrospectively selected. After a preparatory phase, the remaining 20 testing sets per each site were auto-segmented by the atlas-based model STAPLE, a Random Forest-based model, and two Deep Learning-based tools (DL), MVision and LimbusAI. Setting manual segmentation as the Ground Truth, 200 structure sets were compared in terms of Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC), Hausdorff Distance (HD), and Distance-to-Agreement Portion (DAP). Automated segmentation and manual correction durations were recorded. Expert clinicians performed a qualitative evaluation. In cervical cancer CTs, DL outperformed the other tools with higher quantitative metrics, qualitative scores, and shorter correction times. On the other hand, in prostate cancer CTs, the performance across all the analyzed tools was comparable in terms of both quantitative and qualitative metrics. Such discrepancy in performance outcome could be explained by the wide range of anatomical variability in cervical cancer with respect to the strict bladder and rectum filling preparation in prostate Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT). Decreasing segmentation times can reduce the burden of pelvic radiation therapy routine in an automated workflow.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Bordigoni
- Medical Physics, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza, Italy
| | - S Trivellato
- Medical Physics, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza, Italy
| | | | - S Meregalli
- Radiation Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza, Italy
| | - E Bonetto
- Radiation Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza, Italy
| | - M Belmonte
- Radiation Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza, Italy; School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano Bicocca, Milano, Italy
| | - M Castellano
- Radiation Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza, Italy; School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano Bicocca, Milano, Italy
| | - D Panizza
- Medical Physics, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza, Italy; School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano Bicocca, Milano, Italy
| | - S Arcangeli
- Radiation Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza, Italy; School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano Bicocca, Milano, Italy.
| | - E De Ponti
- Medical Physics, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza, Italy; School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano Bicocca, Milano, Italy
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Johnson CL, Press RH, Simone CB, Shen B, Tsai P, Hu L, Yu F, Apinorasethkul C, Ackerman C, Zhai H, Lin H, Huang S. Clinical validation of commercial deep-learning based auto-segmentation models for organs at risk in the head and neck region: a single institution study. Front Oncol 2024; 14:1375096. [PMID: 39055552 PMCID: PMC11269179 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1375096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2024] [Accepted: 06/20/2024] [Indexed: 07/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Purpose To evaluate organ at risk (OAR) auto-segmentation in the head and neck region of computed tomography images using two different commercially available deep-learning-based auto-segmentation (DLAS) tools in a single institutional clinical applications. Methods Twenty-two OARs were manually contoured by clinicians according to published guidelines on planning computed tomography (pCT) images for 40 clinical head and neck cancer (HNC) cases. Automatic contours were generated for each patient using two deep-learning-based auto-segmentation models-Manteia AccuContour and MIM ProtégéAI. The accuracy and integrity of autocontours (ACs) were then compared to expert contours (ECs) using the Sørensen-Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and Mean Distance (MD) metrics. Results ACs were generated for 22 OARs using AccuContour and 17 OARs using ProtégéAI with average contour generation time of 1 min/patient and 5 min/patient respectively. EC and AC agreement was highest for the mandible (DSC 0.90 ± 0.16) and (DSC 0.91 ± 0.03), and lowest for the chiasm (DSC 0.28 ± 0.14) and (DSC 0.30 ± 0.14) for AccuContour and ProtégéAI respectively. Using AccuContour, the average MD was<1mm for 10 of the 22 OARs contoured, 1-2mm for 6 OARs, and 2-3mm for 6 OARs. For ProtégéAI, the average mean distance was<1mm for 8 out of 17 OARs, 1-2mm for 6 OARs, and 2-3mm for 3 OARs. Conclusions Both DLAS programs were proven to be valuable tools to significantly reduce the time required to generate large amounts of OAR contours in the head and neck region, even though manual editing of ACs is likely needed prior to implementation into treatment planning. The DSCs and MDs achieved were similar to those reported in other studies that evaluated various other DLAS solutions. Still, small volume structures with nonideal contrast in CT images, such as nerves, are very challenging and will require additional solutions to achieve sufficient results.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Brian Shen
- New York Proton Center, New York, NY, United States
| | | | - Lei Hu
- New York Proton Center, New York, NY, United States
| | - Francis Yu
- New York Proton Center, New York, NY, United States
| | | | | | - Huifang Zhai
- New York Proton Center, New York, NY, United States
| | - Haibo Lin
- New York Proton Center, New York, NY, United States
| | - Sheng Huang
- New York Proton Center, New York, NY, United States
- National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin’s Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, Tianjin, China
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3
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Wang X, Feng C, Huang M, Liu S, Ma H, Yu K. Cervical cancer segmentation based on medical images: a literature review. Quant Imaging Med Surg 2024; 14:5176-5204. [PMID: 39022282 PMCID: PMC11250284 DOI: 10.21037/qims-24-369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 05/20/2024] [Indexed: 07/20/2024]
Abstract
Background and Objective Cervical cancer clinical target volume (CTV) outlining and organs at risk segmentation are crucial steps in the diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer. Manual segmentation is inefficient and subjective, leading to the development of automated or semi-automated methods. However, limitation of image quality, organ motion, and individual differences still pose significant challenges. Apart from numbers of studies on the medical images' segmentation, a comprehensive review within the field is lacking. The purpose of this paper is to comprehensively review the literatures on different types of medical image segmentation regarding cervical cancer and discuss the current level and challenges in segmentation process. Methods As of May 31, 2023, we conducted a comprehensive literature search on Google Scholar, PubMed, and Web of Science using the following term combinations: "cervical cancer images", "segmentation", and "outline". The included studies focused on the segmentation of cervical cancer utilizing computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance (MR), and positron emission tomography (PET) images, with screening for eligibility by two independent investigators. Key Content and Findings This paper reviews representative papers on CTV and organs at risk segmentation in cervical cancer and classifies the methods into three categories based on image modalities. The traditional or deep learning methods are comprehensively described. The similarities and differences of related methods are analyzed, and their advantages and limitations are discussed in-depth. We have also included experimental results by using our private datasets to verify the performance of selected methods. The results indicate that the residual module and squeeze-and-excitation blocks module can significantly improve the performance of the model. Additionally, the segmentation method based on improved level set demonstrates better segmentation accuracy than other methods. Conclusions The paper provides valuable insights into the current state-of-the-art in cervical cancer CTV outlining and organs at risk segmentation, highlighting areas for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiu Wang
- College of Medicine and Biological Information Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China
| | - Chaolu Feng
- Key Laboratory of Intelligent Computing in Medical Image, Ministry of Education, Shenyang, China
- School of Computer Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China
| | - Mingxu Huang
- School of Computer Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China
| | - Shiqi Liu
- College of Medicine and Biological Information Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China
| | - He Ma
- College of Medicine and Biological Information Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China
- Key Laboratory of Intelligent Computing in Medical Image, Ministry of Education, Shenyang, China
| | - Kun Yu
- College of Medicine and Biological Information Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China
- Key Laboratory of Intelligent Computing in Medical Image, Ministry of Education, Shenyang, China
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Wen X, Zhao C, Zhao B, Yuan M, Chang J, Liu W, Meng J, Shi L, Yang S, Zeng J, Yang Y. Application of deep learning in radiation therapy for cancer. Cancer Radiother 2024; 28:208-217. [PMID: 38519291 DOI: 10.1016/j.canrad.2023.07.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2023] [Revised: 07/17/2023] [Accepted: 07/18/2023] [Indexed: 03/24/2024]
Abstract
In recent years, with the development of artificial intelligence, deep learning has been gradually applied to clinical treatment and research. It has also found its way into the applications in radiotherapy, a crucial method for cancer treatment. This study summarizes the commonly used and latest deep learning algorithms (including transformer, and diffusion models), introduces the workflow of different radiotherapy, and illustrates the application of different algorithms in different radiotherapy modules, as well as the defects and challenges of deep learning in the field of radiotherapy, so as to provide some help for the development of automatic radiotherapy for cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- X Wen
- Cancer Institute of the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University and Qingdao Cancer Institute, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China; Department of Radiotherapy, Yunnan Cancer Hospital, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China
| | - C Zhao
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, No. 800, Dongchuan Road, Minhang District, Shanghai, China
| | - B Zhao
- Department of Radiotherapy, Yunnan Cancer Hospital, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China
| | - M Yuan
- Department of Radiotherapy, Yunnan Cancer Hospital, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China
| | - J Chang
- Cancer Institute of the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University and Qingdao Cancer Institute, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China; School of Basic Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
| | - W Liu
- Cancer Institute of the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University and Qingdao Cancer Institute, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China; School of Basic Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
| | - J Meng
- Cancer Institute of the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University and Qingdao Cancer Institute, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China; School of Basic Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
| | - L Shi
- Cancer Institute of the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University and Qingdao Cancer Institute, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China; School of Basic Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
| | - S Yang
- Cancer Institute of the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University and Qingdao Cancer Institute, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China; School of Basic Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
| | - J Zeng
- Cancer Institute of the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University and Qingdao Cancer Institute, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China; School of Basic Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
| | - Y Yang
- Department of Radiotherapy, Yunnan Cancer Hospital, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
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Rayn K, Gokhroo G, Jeffers B, Gupta V, Chaudhari S, Clark R, Magliari A, Beriwal S. Multicenter Study of Pelvic Nodal Autosegmentation Algorithm of Siemens Healthineers: Comparison of Male Versus Female Pelvis. Adv Radiat Oncol 2024; 9:101326. [PMID: 38405314 PMCID: PMC10885554 DOI: 10.1016/j.adro.2023.101326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2023] [Accepted: 07/18/2023] [Indexed: 02/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Purpose The autosegmentation algorithm of Siemens Healthineers version VA 30 (AASH) (Siemens Healthineers, Erlangen, Germany) was trained and developed in the male pelvis, with no published data on its usability in the female pelvis. This is the first multi-institutional study to describe and evaluate an artificial intelligence algorithm for autosegmentation of the pelvic nodal region by gender. Methods and Materials We retrospectively evaluated AASH pelvic nodal autosegmentation in both male and female patients treated at our network of institutions. The automated pelvic nodal contours generated by AASH were evaluated by 1 board-certified radiation oncologist. A 4-point scale was used for each nodal region contour: a score of 4 is clinically usable with minimal edits; a score of 3 requires minor edits (missing nodal contour region, cutting through vessels, or including bowel loops) in 3 or fewer computed tomography slices; a score of 2 requires major edits, as previously defined but in 4 or more computed tomography slices; and a score of 1 requires complete recontouring of the region. Pelvic nodal regions included the right and left side of the common iliac, external iliac, internal iliac, obturator, and midline presacral nodes. In addition, patients were graded based on their lowest nodal contour score. Statistical analysis was performed using Fisher exact tests and Yates-corrected χ2 tests. Results Fifty-two female and 51 male patients were included in the study, representing a total of 468 and 447 pelvic nodal regions, respectively. Ninety-six percent and 99% of contours required minor edits at most (score of 3 or 4) for female and male patients, respectively (P = .004 using Fisher exact test; P = .007 using Yates correction). No nodal regions had a statistically significant difference in scores between female and male patients. The percentage of patients requiring no more than minor edits was 87% (45 patients) and 92% (47 patients) for female and male patients, respectively (P = .53 using Fisher exact test; P = .55 using Yates correction). Conclusions AASH pelvic nodal autosegmentation performed very well in both male and female pelvic nodal regions, although with better male pelvic nodal autosegmentation. As autosegmentation becomes more widespread, it may be important to have equal representation from all sexes in training and validation of autosegmentation algorithms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kareem Rayn
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York
- Varian Medical Systems Inc, Palo Alto, California
| | | | - Brian Jeffers
- Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York
| | - Vibhor Gupta
- American Oncology Institute, Hyderabad, CA, India
| | | | - Ryan Clark
- Varian Medical Systems Inc, Palo Alto, California
| | | | - Sushil Beriwal
- Varian Medical Systems Inc, Palo Alto, California
- Division of Radiation Oncology, Allegheny Health Network Cancer Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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Hoque SMH, Pirrone G, Matrone F, Donofrio A, Fanetti G, Caroli A, Rista RS, Bortolus R, Avanzo M, Drigo A, Chiovati P. Clinical Use of a Commercial Artificial Intelligence-Based Software for Autocontouring in Radiation Therapy: Geometric Performance and Dosimetric Impact. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15:5735. [PMID: 38136281 PMCID: PMC10741804 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15245735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2023] [Revised: 11/30/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE When autocontouring based on artificial intelligence (AI) is used in the radiotherapy (RT) workflow, the contours are reviewed and eventually adjusted by a radiation oncologist before an RT treatment plan is generated, with the purpose of improving dosimetry and reducing both interobserver variability and time for contouring. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the results of application of a commercial AI-based autocontouring for RT, assessing both geometric accuracies and the influence on optimized dose from automatically generated contours after review by human operator. MATERIALS AND METHODS A commercial autocontouring system was applied to a retrospective database of 40 patients, of which 20 were treated with radiotherapy for prostate cancer (PCa) and 20 for head and neck cancer (HNC). Contours resulting from AI were compared against AI contours reviewed by human operator and human-only contours using Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), Hausdorff distance (HD), and relative volume difference (RVD). Dosimetric indices such as Dmean, D0.03cc, and normalized plan quality metrics were used to compare dose distributions from RT plans generated from structure sets contoured by humans assisted by AI against plans from manual contours. The reduction in contouring time obtained by using automated tools was also assessed. A Wilcoxon rank sum test was computed to assess the significance of differences. Interobserver variability of the comparison of manual vs. AI-assisted contours was also assessed among two radiation oncologists for PCa. RESULTS For PCa, AI-assisted segmentation showed good agreement with expert radiation oncologist structures with average DSC among patients ≥ 0.7 for all structures, and minimal radiation oncology adjustment of structures (DSC of adjusted versus AI structures ≥ 0.91). For HNC, results of comparison between manual and AI contouring varied considerably e.g., 0.77 for oral cavity and 0.11-0.13 for brachial plexus, but again, adjustment was generally minimal (DSC of adjusted against AI contours 0.97 for oral cavity, 0.92-0.93 for brachial plexus). The difference in dose for the target and organs at risk were not statistically significant between human and AI-assisted, with the only exceptions of D0.03cc to the anal canal and Dmean to the brachial plexus. The observed average differences in plan quality for PCa and HNC cases were 8% and 6.7%, respectively. The dose parameter changes due to interobserver variability in PCa were small, with the exception of the anal canal, where large dose variations were observed. The reduction in time required for contouring was 72% for PCa and 84% for HNC. CONCLUSIONS When an autocontouring system is used in combination with human review, the time of the RT workflow is significantly reduced without affecting dose distribution and plan quality.
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Affiliation(s)
- S M Hasibul Hoque
- Medical Physics Department, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO) IRCCS, 33081 Aviano, Italy; (S.M.H.H.); (G.P.); (R.S.R.); (M.A.); (A.D.)
| | - Giovanni Pirrone
- Medical Physics Department, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO) IRCCS, 33081 Aviano, Italy; (S.M.H.H.); (G.P.); (R.S.R.); (M.A.); (A.D.)
| | - Fabio Matrone
- Radiation Oncology Department, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO) IRCCS, 33081 Aviano, Italy; (F.M.); (A.D.); (G.F.); (A.C.); (R.B.)
| | - Alessandra Donofrio
- Radiation Oncology Department, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO) IRCCS, 33081 Aviano, Italy; (F.M.); (A.D.); (G.F.); (A.C.); (R.B.)
| | - Giuseppe Fanetti
- Radiation Oncology Department, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO) IRCCS, 33081 Aviano, Italy; (F.M.); (A.D.); (G.F.); (A.C.); (R.B.)
| | - Angela Caroli
- Radiation Oncology Department, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO) IRCCS, 33081 Aviano, Italy; (F.M.); (A.D.); (G.F.); (A.C.); (R.B.)
| | - Rahnuma Shahrin Rista
- Medical Physics Department, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO) IRCCS, 33081 Aviano, Italy; (S.M.H.H.); (G.P.); (R.S.R.); (M.A.); (A.D.)
| | - Roberto Bortolus
- Radiation Oncology Department, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO) IRCCS, 33081 Aviano, Italy; (F.M.); (A.D.); (G.F.); (A.C.); (R.B.)
| | - Michele Avanzo
- Medical Physics Department, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO) IRCCS, 33081 Aviano, Italy; (S.M.H.H.); (G.P.); (R.S.R.); (M.A.); (A.D.)
| | - Annalisa Drigo
- Medical Physics Department, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO) IRCCS, 33081 Aviano, Italy; (S.M.H.H.); (G.P.); (R.S.R.); (M.A.); (A.D.)
| | - Paola Chiovati
- Medical Physics Department, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO) IRCCS, 33081 Aviano, Italy; (S.M.H.H.); (G.P.); (R.S.R.); (M.A.); (A.D.)
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Gao L, Yusufaly TI, Williamson CW, Mell LK. Optimized Atlas-Based Auto-Segmentation of Bony Structures from Whole-Body Computed Tomography. Pract Radiat Oncol 2023; 13:e442-e450. [PMID: 37030539 DOI: 10.1016/j.prro.2023.03.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2022] [Revised: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 04/09/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE To develop and test a method for fully automated segmentation of bony structures from whole-body computed tomography (CT) and evaluate its performance compared with manual segmentation. METHODS AND MATERIALS We developed a workflow for automatic whole-body bone segmentation using atlas-based segmentation (ABS) method with a postprocessing module (ABSPP) in MIM MAESTRO software. Fifty-two CT scans comprised the training set to build the atlas library, and 29 CT scans comprised the test set. To validate the workflow, we compared Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), mean distance to agreement, and relative volume errors between ABSPP and ABS with no postprocessing (ABSNPP) with manual segmentation as the reference (gold standard). RESULTS The ABSPP method resulted in significantly improved segmentation accuracy (DSC range, 0.85-0.98) compared with the ABSNPP method (DSC range, 0.55-0.87; P < .001). Mean distance to agreement results also indicated high agreement between ABSPP and manual reference delineations (range, 0.11-1.56 mm), which was significantly improved compared with ABSNPP (range, 1.00-2.34 mm) for the majority of tested bony structures. Relative volume errors were also significantly lower for ABSPP compared with ABSNPP for most bony structures. CONCLUSIONS We developed a fully automated MIM workflow for bony structure segmentation from whole-body CT, which exhibited high accuracy compared with manual delineation. The integrated postprocessing module significantly improved workflow performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Gao
- Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Tahir I Yusufaly
- Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiologic Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Casey W Williamson
- Department of Radiation Medicine, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon
| | - Loren K Mell
- Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California.
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Systematic Review of Tumor Segmentation Strategies for Bone Metastases. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15:cancers15061750. [PMID: 36980636 PMCID: PMC10046265 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15061750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2023] [Revised: 03/09/2023] [Accepted: 03/10/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Purpose: To investigate the segmentation approaches for bone metastases in differentiating benign from malignant bone lesions and characterizing malignant bone lesions. Method: The literature search was conducted in Scopus, PubMed, IEEE and MedLine, and Web of Science electronic databases following the guidelines of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). A total of 77 original articles, 24 review articles, and 1 comparison paper published between January 2010 and March 2022 were included in the review. Results: The results showed that most studies used neural network-based approaches (58.44%) and CT-based imaging (50.65%) out of 77 original articles. However, the review highlights the lack of a gold standard for tumor boundaries and the need for manual correction of the segmentation output, which largely explains the absence of clinical translation studies. Moreover, only 19 studies (24.67%) specifically mentioned the feasibility of their proposed methods for use in clinical practice. Conclusion: Development of tumor segmentation techniques that combine anatomical information and metabolic activities is encouraging despite not having an optimal tumor segmentation method for all applications or can compensate for all the difficulties built into data limitations.
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Marschner S, Datarb M, Gaasch A, Xu Z, Grbic S, Chabin G, Geiger B, Rosenman J, Corradini S, Niyazi M, Heimann T, Möhler C, Vega F, Belka C, Thieke C. A deep image-to-image network organ segmentation algorithm for radiation treatment planning: principles and evaluation. Radiat Oncol 2022; 17:129. [PMID: 35869525 PMCID: PMC9308364 DOI: 10.1186/s13014-022-02102-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 06/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Background We describe and evaluate a deep network algorithm which automatically contours organs at risk in the thorax and pelvis on computed tomography (CT) images for radiation treatment planning. Methods The algorithm identifies the region of interest (ROI) automatically by detecting anatomical landmarks around the specific organs using a deep reinforcement learning technique. The segmentation is restricted to this ROI and performed by a deep image-to-image network (DI2IN) based on a convolutional encoder-decoder architecture combined with multi-level feature concatenation. The algorithm is commercially available in the medical products “syngo.via RT Image Suite VB50” and “AI-Rad Companion Organs RT VA20” (Siemens Healthineers). For evaluation, thoracic CT images of 237 patients and pelvic CT images of 102 patients were manually contoured following the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) guidelines and compared to the DI2IN results using metrics for volume, overlap and distance, e.g., Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) and Hausdorff Distance (HD95). The contours were also compared visually slice by slice. Results We observed high correlations between automatic and manual contours. The best results were obtained for the lungs (DSC 0.97, HD95 2.7 mm/2.9 mm for left/right lung), followed by heart (DSC 0.92, HD95 4.4 mm), bladder (DSC 0.88, HD95 6.7 mm) and rectum (DSC 0.79, HD95 10.8 mm). Visual inspection showed excellent agreements with some exceptions for heart and rectum. Conclusions The DI2IN algorithm automatically generated contours for organs at risk close to those by a human expert, making the contouring step in radiation treatment planning simpler and faster. Few cases still required manual corrections, mainly for heart and rectum.
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Nie S, Wei Y, Zhao F, Dong Y, Chen Y, Li Q, Du W, Li X, Yang X, Li Z. A dual deep neural network for auto-delineation in cervical cancer radiotherapy with clinical validation. Radiat Oncol 2022; 17:182. [DOI: 10.1186/s13014-022-02157-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2022] [Accepted: 11/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Background
Artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms are capable of automatically detecting contouring boundaries in medical images. However, the algorithms impact on clinical practice of cervical cancer are unclear. We aimed to develop an AI-assisted system for automatic contouring of the clinical target volume (CTV) and organs-at-risk (OARs) in cervical cancer radiotherapy and conduct clinical-based observations.
Methods
We first retrospectively collected data of 203 patients with cervical cancer from West China Hospital. The proposed method named as SegNet was developed and trained with different data groups. Quantitative metrics and clinical-based grading were used to evaluate differences between several groups of automatic contours. Then, 20 additional cases were conducted to compare the workload and quality of AI-assisted contours with manual delineation from scratch.
Results
For automatic CTVs, the dice similarity coefficient (DSC) values of the SegNet trained with incorporating multi-group data achieved 0.85 ± 0.02, which was statistically better than the DSC values of SegNet independently trained with the SegNet(A) (0.82 ± 0.04), SegNet(B) (0.82 ± 0.03) or SegNet(C) (0.81 ± 0.04). Moreover, the DSC values of the SegNet and UNet, respectively, 0.85 and 0.82 for the CTV (P < 0.001), 0.93 and 0.92 for the bladder (P = 0.44), 0.84 and 0.81 for the rectum (P = 0.02), 0.89 and 0.84 for the bowel bag (P < 0.001), 0.93 and 0.92 for the right femoral head (P = 0.17), and 0.92 and 0.91 for the left femoral head (P = 0.25). The clinical-based grading also showed that SegNet trained with multi-group data obtained better performance of 352/360 relative to it trained with the SegNet(A) (334/360), SegNet(B) (333/360) or SegNet(C) (320/360). The manual revision time for automatic CTVs (OARs not yet include) was 9.54 ± 2.42 min relative to fully manual delineation with 30.95 ± 15.24 min.
Conclusion
The proposed SegNet can improve the performance at automatic delineation for cervical cancer radiotherapy by incorporating multi-group data. It is clinically applicable that the AI-assisted system can shorten manual delineation time at no expense of quality.
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Li Z, Zhu Q, Zhang L, Yang X, Li Z, Fu J. A deep learning-based self-adapting ensemble method for segmentation in gynecological brachytherapy. Radiat Oncol 2022; 17:152. [PMID: 36064571 PMCID: PMC9446699 DOI: 10.1186/s13014-022-02121-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2022] [Accepted: 08/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose Fast and accurate outlining of the organs at risk (OARs) and high-risk clinical tumor volume (HRCTV) is especially important in high-dose-rate brachytherapy due to the highly time-intensive online treatment planning process and the high dose gradient around the HRCTV. This study aims to apply a self-configured ensemble method for fast and reproducible auto-segmentation of OARs and HRCTVs in gynecological cancer. Materials and methods We applied nnU-Net (no new U-Net), an automatically adapted deep convolutional neural network based on U-Net, to segment the bladder, rectum and HRCTV on CT images in gynecological cancer. In nnU-Net, three architectures, including 2D U-Net, 3D U-Net and 3D-Cascade U-Net, were trained and finally ensembled. 207 cases were randomly chosen for training, and 30 for testing. Quantitative evaluation used well-established image segmentation metrics, including dice similarity coefficient (DSC), 95% Hausdorff distance (HD95%), and average surface distance (ASD). Qualitative analysis of automated segmentation results was performed visually by two radiation oncologists. The dosimetric evaluation was performed by comparing the dose-volume parameters of both predicted segmentation and human contouring. Results nnU-Net obtained high qualitative and quantitative segmentation accuracy on the test dataset and performed better than previously reported methods in bladder and rectum segmentation. In quantitative evaluation, 3D-Cascade achieved the best performance in the bladder (DSC: 0.936 ± 0.051, HD95%: 3.503 ± 1.956, ASD: 0.944 ± 0.503), rectum (DSC: 0.831 ± 0.074, HD95%: 7.579 ± 5.857, ASD: 3.6 ± 3.485), and HRCTV (DSC: 0.836 ± 0.07, HD95%: 7.42 ± 5.023, ASD: 2.094 ± 1.311). According to the qualitative evaluation, over 76% of the test data set had no or minor visually detectable errors in segmentation. Conclusion This work showed nnU-Net’s superiority in segmenting OARs and HRCTV in gynecological brachytherapy cases in our center, among which 3D-Cascade shows the highest accuracy in segmentation across different applicators and patient anatomy. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13014-022-02121-3.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhen Li
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Xuhui District, Shanghai, China
| | - Qingyuan Zhu
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Xuhui District, Shanghai, China
| | - Lihua Zhang
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Xuhui District, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiaojing Yang
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Xuhui District, Shanghai, China
| | - Zhaobin Li
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Xuhui District, Shanghai, China.
| | - Jie Fu
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Xuhui District, Shanghai, China.
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Variation in clinical target volume delineation in postoperative radiotherapy for biliary tract cancer. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0273395. [PMID: 36048817 PMCID: PMC9436049 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2022] [Accepted: 08/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
We aimed to evaluate the inter-clinician variability in the clinical target volume (CTV) for postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) for biliary tract cancer (BTC) including extrahepatic bile duct cancer (EBDC) and gallbladder cancer (GBC). Nine experienced radiation oncologists delineated PORT CTVs for distal EBDC (pT2N1), proximal EBDC (pT2bN1) and GBC (pT2bN1) patients. The expectation maximization algorithm for Simultaneous Truth and Performance Level Estimation (STAPLE) was used to quantify expert agreements. We generated volumes with a confidence level of 80% to compare the maximum distance to each CTV in six directions. The degree of agreement was moderate; overall kappa values were 0.573 for distal EBDC, 0.513 for proximal EBDC, and 0.511 for GBC. In the distal EBDC, a larger variation was noted in the right, post, and inferior direction. In the proximal EBDC, all borders except the right and left direction showed a larger variation. In the GBC, a larger variation was found in the anterior, posterior, and inferior direction. The posterior and inferior borders were the common area having discrepancies, associated with the insufficient coverage of the paraaortic node. A consensus guideline is needed to reduce inter-clinician variability in the CTVs and adequate coverage of regional lymph node area.
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Wang J, Chen Y, Xie H, Luo L, Tang Q. Evaluation of auto-segmentation for EBRT planning structures using deep learning-based workflow on cervical cancer. Sci Rep 2022; 12:13650. [PMID: 35953516 PMCID: PMC9372087 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-18084-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2022] [Accepted: 08/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Deep learning (DL) based approach aims to construct a full workflow solution for cervical cancer with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) and brachytherapy (BT). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of EBRT planning structures derived from DL based auto-segmentation compared with standard manual delineation. Auto-segmentation model based on convolutional neural networks (CNN) was developed to delineate clinical target volumes (CTVs) and organs at risk (OARs) in cervical cancer radiotherapy. A total of 300 retrospective patients from multiple cancer centers were used to train and validate the model, and 75 independent cases were selected as testing data. The accuracy of auto-segmented contours were evaluated using geometric and dosimetric metrics including dice similarity coefficient (DSC), 95% hausdorff distance (95%HD), jaccard coefficient (JC) and dose-volume index (DVI). The correlation between geometric metrics and dosimetric difference was performed by Spearman’s correlation analysis. The right and left kidney, bladder, right and left femoral head showed superior geometric accuracy (DSC: 0.88–0.93; 95%HD: 1.03 mm–2.96 mm; JC: 0.78–0.88), and the Bland–Altman test obtained dose agreement for these contours (P > 0.05) between manual and DL based methods. Wilcoxon’s signed-rank test indicated significant dosimetric differences in CTV, spinal cord and pelvic bone (P < 0.001). A strong correlation between the mean dose of pelvic bone and its 95%HD (R = 0.843, P < 0.001) was found in Spearman’s correlation analysis, and the remaining structures showed weak link between dosimetric difference and all of geometric metrics. Our auto-segmentation achieved a satisfied agreement for most EBRT planning structures, although the clinical acceptance of CTV was a concern. DL based auto-segmentation was an essential component in cervical cancer workflow which would generate the accurate contouring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiahao Wang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310006, Zhejiang, China
| | - Yuanyuan Chen
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310006, Zhejiang, China
| | - Hongling Xie
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310006, Zhejiang, China
| | - Lumeng Luo
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310006, Zhejiang, China
| | - Qiu Tang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310006, Zhejiang, China.
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Li Y, Wu W, Sun Y, Yu D, Zhang Y, Wang L, Wang Y, Zhang X, Lu Y. The clinical evaluation of atlas-based auto-segmentation for automatic contouring during cervical cancer radiotherapy. Front Oncol 2022; 12:945053. [PMID: 35982960 PMCID: PMC9379286 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.945053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2022] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose Our purpose was to investigate the influence of atlas library size and CT cross-slice number on the accuracy and efficiency of the atlas-based auto-segmentation (ABAS) method for the automatic contouring of clinical treatment volume (CTV) and organs at risk (OARs) during cervical cancer radiotherapy. Methods Of 140 cervical cancer patients, contours from 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, and 120 patients were selected incrementally to create six atlas library groups in ABAS. Another 20 tested patients were automatically contoured with the ABAS method and manually contoured by the same professional oncologist. Contours included CTV, bladder, rectum, femoral head-L, femoral head-R, and spinal cord. The CT cross-slice numbers of the 20 tested patients included 61, 65, 72, 75, 81, and 84. The index of dice similarity coefficients (DSCs) and Hausdorff distance (HD) were used to assess the consistency between ABAS automatic contouring and manual contouring. The randomized block analysis of variance and paired t-test were used for statistical analysis. Results The mean DSC values of “CTV, bladder, femoral head, and spinal cord” were all larger than 0.8. The femoral head and spinal cord showed a high degree of agreement between ABAS automatic contouring and manual contouring, with a mean DC >0.80 and HD <1 cm in all atlas library groups. A post-hoc least significant difference comparison indicated that no significant difference had been found between different atlas library sizes with DSC and HD values. For ABAS efficiency, the atlas library size had no effect on the time of ABAS automatic contouring. The time of automatic contouring increased slightly with the increase in CT cross-slice numbers, which were 99.9, 106.8, 114.0, 120.6, 127.9, and 134.8 s with CT cross-slices of 61, 65, 72, 75, 81, and 84, respectively. Conclusion A total of 20 atlas library sizes and a minimum CT cross-slice number including CTV and OARs are enough for ensuring the accuracy and efficiency of ABAS automatic contouring during cervical cancer radiotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Li
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
| | - Wenjing Wu
- Department of Radiological Health, Xi’an Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Xi’an, China
- *Correspondence: Wenjing Wu, ; Xiaozhi Zhang, ; Yongkai Lu,
| | - Yuchen Sun
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
| | - Dequan Yu
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Tangdu Hospital, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Medical University, Xi’an, China
| | - Yuemei Zhang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
| | - Long Wang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
| | - Yao Wang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
| | - Xiaozhi Zhang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
- *Correspondence: Wenjing Wu, ; Xiaozhi Zhang, ; Yongkai Lu,
| | - Yongkai Lu
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
- *Correspondence: Wenjing Wu, ; Xiaozhi Zhang, ; Yongkai Lu,
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Im JH, Lee IJ, Choi Y, Sung J, Ha JS, Lee H. Impact of Denoising on Deep-Learning-Based Automatic Segmentation Framework for Breast Cancer Radiotherapy Planning. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14153581. [PMID: 35892839 PMCID: PMC9332287 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14153581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2022] [Revised: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 07/20/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective: This study aimed to investigate the segmentation accuracy of organs at risk (OARs) when denoised computed tomography (CT) images are used as input data for a deep-learning-based auto-segmentation framework. Methods: We used non-contrast enhanced planning CT scans from 40 patients with breast cancer. The heart, lungs, esophagus, spinal cord, and liver were manually delineated by two experienced radiation oncologists in a double-blind manner. The denoised CT images were used as input data for the AccuContourTM segmentation software to increase the signal difference between structures of interest and unwanted noise in non-contrast CT. The accuracy of the segmentation was assessed using the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), and the results were compared with those of conventional deep-learning-based auto-segmentation without denoising. Results: The average DSC outcomes were higher than 0.80 for all OARs except for the esophagus. AccuContourTM-based and denoising-based auto-segmentation demonstrated comparable performance for the lungs and spinal cord but showed limited performance for the esophagus. Denoising-based auto-segmentation for the liver was minimal but had statistically significantly better DSC than AccuContourTM-based auto-segmentation (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Denoising-based auto-segmentation demonstrated satisfactory performance in automatic liver segmentation from non-contrast enhanced CT scans. Further external validation studies with larger cohorts are needed to verify the usefulness of denoising-based auto-segmentation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jung Ho Im
- CHA Bundang Medical Center, Department of Radiation Oncology, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam 13496, Korea;
| | - Ik Jae Lee
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 03722, Korea; (I.J.L.); (J.S.)
| | - Yeonho Choi
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Seoul 06273, Korea; (Y.C.); (J.S.H.)
| | - Jiwon Sung
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 03722, Korea; (I.J.L.); (J.S.)
| | - Jin Sook Ha
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Seoul 06273, Korea; (Y.C.); (J.S.H.)
| | - Ho Lee
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 03722, Korea; (I.J.L.); (J.S.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +82-2-2228-8109; Fax: +82-2-2227-7823
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Wang J, Chen Z, Yang C, Qu B, Ma L, Fan W, Zhou Q, Zheng Q, Xu S. Evaluation Exploration of Atlas-Based and Deep Learning-Based Automatic Contouring for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma. Front Oncol 2022; 12:833816. [PMID: 35433460 PMCID: PMC9008357 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.833816] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2021] [Accepted: 02/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate and explore the difference between an atlas-based and deep learning (DL)-based auto-segmentation scheme for organs at risk (OARs) of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cases to provide valuable help for clinical practice. Methods 120 nasopharyngeal carcinoma cases were established in the MIM Maestro (atlas) database and trained by a DL-based model (AccuContour®), and another 20 nasopharyngeal carcinoma cases were randomly selected outside the atlas database. The experienced physicians contoured 14 OARs from 20 patients based on the published consensus guidelines, and these were defined as the reference volumes (Vref). Meanwhile, these OARs were auto-contoured using an atlas-based model, a pre-built DL-based model, and an on-site trained DL-based model. These volumes were named Vatlas, VDL-pre-built, and VDL-trained, respectively. The similarities between Vatlas, VDL-pre-built, VDL-trained, and Vref were assessed using the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), Jaccard coefficient (JAC), maximum Hausdorff distance (HDmax), and deviation of centroid (DC) methods. A one-way ANOVA test was carried out to show the differences (between each two of them). Results The results of the three methods were almost similar for the brainstem and eyes. For inner ears and temporomandibular joints, the results of the pre-built DL-based model are the worst, as well as the results of atlas-based auto-segmentation for the lens. For the segmentation of optic nerves, the trained DL-based model shows the best performance (p < 0.05). For the contouring of the oral cavity, the DSC value of VDL-pre-built is the smallest, and VDL-trained is the most significant (p < 0.05). For the parotid glands, the DSC of Vatlas is the minimum (about 0.80 or so), and VDL-pre-built and VDL-trained are slightly larger (about 0.82 or so). In addition to the oral cavity, parotid glands, and the brainstem, the maximum Hausdorff distances of the other organs are below 0.5 cm using the trained DL-based segmentation model. The trained DL-based segmentation method behaves well in the contouring of all the organs that the maximum average deviation of the centroid is no more than 0.3 cm. Conclusion The trained DL-based segmentation performs significantly better than atlas-based segmentation for nasopharyngeal carcinoma, especially for the OARs with small volumes. Although some delineation results still need further modification, auto-segmentation methods improve the work efficiency and provide a level of help for clinical work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinyuan Wang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Medical Center of the Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | | | | | - Baolin Qu
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Medical Center of the Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Lin Ma
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Medical Center of the Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Wenjun Fan
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Medical Center of the Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Qichao Zhou
- Manteia Technologies Co., Ltd., Xiamen, China
| | - Qingzeng Zheng
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Beijing Geriatric Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Shouping Xu
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Medical Center of the Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
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Ma CY, Zhou JY, Xu XT, Guo J, Han MF, Gao YZ, Du H, Stahl JN, Maltz JS. Deep learning-based auto-segmentation of clinical target volumes for radiotherapy treatment of cervical cancer. J Appl Clin Med Phys 2021; 23:e13470. [PMID: 34807501 PMCID: PMC8833283 DOI: 10.1002/acm2.13470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2021] [Revised: 10/17/2021] [Accepted: 10/21/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Objectives Because radiotherapy is indispensible for treating cervical cancer, it is critical to accurately and efficiently delineate the radiation targets. We evaluated a deep learning (DL)‐based auto‐segmentation algorithm for automatic contouring of clinical target volumes (CTVs) in cervical cancers. Methods Computed tomography (CT) datasets from 535 cervical cancers treated with definitive or postoperative radiotherapy were collected. A DL tool based on VB‐Net was developed to delineate CTVs of the pelvic lymph drainage area (dCTV1) and parametrial area (dCTV2) in the definitive radiotherapy group. The training/validation/test number is 157/20/23. CTV of the pelvic lymph drainage area (pCTV1) was delineated in the postoperative radiotherapy group. The training/validation/test number is 272/30/33. Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), mean surface distance (MSD), and Hausdorff distance (HD) were used to evaluate the contouring accuracy. Contouring times were recorded for efficiency comparison. Results The mean DSC, MSD, and HD values for our DL‐based tool were 0.88/1.32 mm/21.60 mm for dCTV1, 0.70/2.42 mm/22.44 mm for dCTV2, and 0.86/1.15 mm/20.78 mm for pCTV1. Only minor modifications were needed for 63.5% of auto‐segmentations to meet the clinical requirements. The contouring accuracy of the DL‐based tool was comparable to that of senior radiation oncologists and was superior to that of junior/intermediate radiation oncologists. Additionally, DL assistance improved the performance of junior radiation oncologists for dCTV2 and pCTV1 contouring (mean DSC increases: 0.20 for dCTV2, 0.03 for pCTV1; mean contouring time decrease: 9.8 min for dCTV2, 28.9 min for pCTV1). Conclusions DL‐based auto‐segmentation improves CTV contouring accuracy, reduces contouring time, and improves clinical efficiency for treating cervical cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen-Ying Ma
- Department of Radiation Oncology, First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China
| | - Ju-Ying Zhou
- Department of Radiation Oncology, First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China
| | - Xiao-Ting Xu
- Department of Radiation Oncology, First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China
| | - Jian Guo
- Department of Radiation Oncology, First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China
| | - Miao-Fei Han
- Shanghai United Imaging Healthcare, Co. Ltd., Jiading, China
| | - Yao-Zong Gao
- Shanghai United Imaging Healthcare, Co. Ltd., Jiading, China
| | - Hui Du
- Shanghai United Imaging Healthcare, Co. Ltd., Jiading, China
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Liu Z, Chen W, Guan H, Zhen H, Shen J, Liu X, Liu A, Li R, Geng J, You J, Wang W, Li Z, Zhang Y, Chen Y, Du J, Chen Q, Chen Y, Wang S, Zhang F, Qiu J. An Adversarial Deep-Learning-Based Model for Cervical Cancer CTV Segmentation With Multicenter Blinded Randomized Controlled Validation. Front Oncol 2021; 11:702270. [PMID: 34490103 PMCID: PMC8417437 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2021.702270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2021] [Accepted: 07/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose To propose a novel deep-learning-based auto-segmentation model for CTV delineation in cervical cancer and to evaluate whether it can perform comparably well to manual delineation by a three-stage multicenter evaluation framework. Methods An adversarial deep-learning-based auto-segmentation model was trained and configured for cervical cancer CTV contouring using CT data from 237 patients. Then CT scans of additional 20 consecutive patients with locally advanced cervical cancer were collected to perform a three-stage multicenter randomized controlled evaluation involving nine oncologists from six medical centers. This evaluation system is a combination of objective performance metrics, radiation oncologist assessment, and finally the head-to-head Turing imitation test. Accuracy and effectiveness were evaluated step by step. The intra-observer consistency of each oncologist was also tested. Results In stage-1 evaluation, the mean DSC and the 95HD value of the proposed model were 0.88 and 3.46 mm, respectively. In stage-2, the oncologist grading evaluation showed the majority of AI contours were comparable to the GT contours. The average CTV scores for AI and GT were 2.68 vs. 2.71 in week 0 (P = .206), and 2.62 vs. 2.63 in week 2 (P = .552), with no significant statistical differences. In stage-3, the Turing imitation test showed that the percentage of AI contours, which were judged to be better than GT contours by ≥5 oncologists, was 60.0% in week 0 and 42.5% in week 2. Most oncologists demonstrated good consistency between the 2 weeks (P > 0.05). Conclusions The tested AI model was demonstrated to be accurate and comparable to the manual CTV segmentation in cervical cancer patients when assessed by our three-stage evaluation framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhikai Liu
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Wanqi Chen
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China
| | - Hui Guan
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Hongnan Zhen
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Jing Shen
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Xia Liu
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - An Liu
- Department of Radiation Oncology, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, United States
| | - Richard Li
- Department of Radiation Oncology, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, United States
| | - Jianhao Geng
- Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education/Beijing), Department of Radiation Oncology, Peking University Cancer Hospital and Institute, Beijing, China
| | - Jing You
- Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education/Beijing), Department of Radiation Oncology, Peking University Cancer Hospital and Institute, Beijing, China
| | - Weihu Wang
- Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education/Beijing), Department of Radiation Oncology, Peking University Cancer Hospital and Institute, Beijing, China
| | - Zhouyu Li
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Affiliated Cancer Hospital & Institute of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yongfeng Zhang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The Fourth Hospital of Jilin University (FAW General Hospital), Jilin, China
| | - Yuanyuan Chen
- Oncology Department, Cangzhou Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Hebei, China
| | - Junjie Du
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Yangquan First People's Hospital, Shanxi, China
| | - Qi Chen
- Research and Development Department, MedMind Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing, China
| | - Yu Chen
- Research and Development Department, MedMind Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing, China
| | - Shaobin Wang
- Research and Development Department, MedMind Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing, China
| | - Fuquan Zhang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Jie Qiu
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
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Guo H, Wang J, Xia X, Zhong Y, Peng J, Zhang Z, Hu W. The dosimetric impact of deep learning-based auto-segmentation of organs at risk on nasopharyngeal and rectal cancer. Radiat Oncol 2021; 16:113. [PMID: 34162410 PMCID: PMC8220801 DOI: 10.1186/s13014-021-01837-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2021] [Accepted: 06/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose To investigate the dosimetric impact of deep learning-based auto-segmentation of organs at risk (OARs) on nasopharyngeal and rectal cancer. Methods and materials Twenty patients, including ten nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients and ten rectal cancer patients, who received radiotherapy in our department were enrolled in this study. Two deep learning-based auto-segmentation systems, including an in-house developed system (FD) and a commercial product (UIH), were used to generate two auto-segmented OARs sets (OAR_FD and OAR_UIH). Treatment plans based on auto-segmented OARs and following our clinical requirements were generated for each patient on each OARs sets (Plan_FD and Plan_UIH). Geometric metrics (Hausdorff distance (HD), mean distance to agreement (MDA), the Dice similarity coefficient (DICE) and the Jaccard index) were calculated for geometric evaluation. The dosimetric impact was evaluated by comparing Plan_FD and Plan_UIH to original clinically approved plans (Plan_Manual) with dose-volume metrics and 3D gamma analysis. Spearman’s correlation analysis was performed to investigate the correlation between dosimetric difference and geometric metrics. Results FD and UIH could provide similar geometric performance in parotids, temporal lobes, lens, and eyes (DICE, p > 0.05). OAR_FD had better geometric performance in the optic nerves, oral cavity, larynx, and femoral heads (DICE, p < 0.05). OAR_UIH had better geometric performance in the bladder (DICE, p < 0.05). In dosimetric analysis, both Plan_FD and Plan_UIH had nonsignificant dosimetric differences compared to Plan_Manual for most PTV and OARs dose-volume metrics. The only significant dosimetric difference was the max dose of the left temporal lobe for Plan_FD vs. Plan_Manual (p = 0.05). Only one significant correlation was found between the mean dose of the femoral head and its HD index (R = 0.4, p = 0.01), there is no OARs showed strong correlation between its dosimetric difference and all of four geometric metrics. Conclusions Deep learning-based OARs auto-segmentation for NPC and rectal cancer has a nonsignificant impact on most PTV and OARs dose-volume metrics. Correlations between the auto-segmentation geometric metric and dosimetric difference were not observed for most OARs. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13014-021-01837-y.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongbo Guo
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, 200032, China.,Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China.,Shanghai Key Laboratory of Radiation Oncology, Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Jiazhou Wang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, 200032, China.,Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China.,Shanghai Key Laboratory of Radiation Oncology, Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Xiang Xia
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, 200032, China.,Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China.,Shanghai Key Laboratory of Radiation Oncology, Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Yang Zhong
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, 200032, China.,Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China.,Shanghai Key Laboratory of Radiation Oncology, Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Jiayuan Peng
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, 200032, China.,Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China.,Shanghai Key Laboratory of Radiation Oncology, Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Zhen Zhang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, 200032, China. .,Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China. .,Shanghai Key Laboratory of Radiation Oncology, Shanghai, 200032, China.
| | - Weigang Hu
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, 200032, China. .,Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China.
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Ju Z, Guo W, Gu S, Zhou J, Yang W, Cong X, Dai X, Quan H, Liu J, Qu B, Liu G. CT based automatic clinical target volume delineation using a dense-fully connected convolution network for cervical Cancer radiation therapy. BMC Cancer 2021; 21:243. [PMID: 33685404 PMCID: PMC7938586 DOI: 10.1186/s12885-020-07595-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2020] [Accepted: 10/30/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND It is very important to accurately delineate the CTV on the patient's three-dimensional CT image in the radiotherapy process. Limited to the scarcity of clinical samples and the difficulty of automatic delineation, the research of automatic delineation of cervical cancer CTV based on CT images for new patients is slow. This study aimed to assess the value of Dense-Fully Connected Convolution Network (Dense V-Net) in predicting Clinical Target Volume (CTV) pre-delineation in cervical cancer patients for radiotherapy. METHODS In this study, we used Dense V-Net, a dense and fully connected convolutional network with suitable feature learning in small samples to automatically pre-delineate the CTV of cervical cancer patients based on computed tomography (CT) images and then we assessed the outcome. The CT data of 133 patients with stage IB and IIA postoperative cervical cancer with a comparable delineation scope was enrolled in this study. One hundred and thirteen patients were randomly designated as the training set to adjust the model parameters. Twenty cases were used as the test set to assess the network performance. The 8 most representative parameters were also used to assess the pre-sketching accuracy from 3 aspects: sketching similarity, sketching offset, and sketching volume difference. RESULTS The results presented that the DSC, DC/mm, HD/cm, MAD/mm, ∆V, SI, IncI and JD of CTV were 0.82 ± 0.03, 4.28 ± 2.35, 1.86 ± 0.48, 2.52 ± 0.40, 0.09 ± 0.05, 0.84 ± 0.04, 0.80 ± 0.05, and 0.30 ± 0.04, respectively, and the results were greater than those with a single network. CONCLUSIONS Dense V-Net can correctly predict CTV pre-delineation of cervical cancer patients and can be applied in clinical practice after completing simple modifications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhongjian Ju
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Medical Center, People's Liberation Army General Hospital, No. 28 Fuxing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100853, China
| | - Wen Guo
- School of Physics Science and Technology, Wuhan University, No. 299, Bayi Road, Luojiashan Street, Wuhan, 430072, China
- Department of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, No. 1 Jianshe East Road, Zhengzhou, 450003, China
| | - Shanshan Gu
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Medical Center, People's Liberation Army General Hospital, No. 28 Fuxing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100853, China
| | - Jin Zhou
- School of Physics Science and Technology, Wuhan University, No. 299, Bayi Road, Luojiashan Street, Wuhan, 430072, China
| | - Wei Yang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Medical Center, People's Liberation Army General Hospital, No. 28 Fuxing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100853, China
| | - Xiaohu Cong
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Medical Center, People's Liberation Army General Hospital, No. 28 Fuxing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100853, China
| | - Xiangkun Dai
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Medical Center, People's Liberation Army General Hospital, No. 28 Fuxing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100853, China
| | - Hong Quan
- School of Physics Science and Technology, Wuhan University, No. 299, Bayi Road, Luojiashan Street, Wuhan, 430072, China
| | - Jie Liu
- Beijing Eastraycloud Technology Inc. Chengdu R&D Center.Suite, 1405-1406,Building Guannan Shangyu,NO.1,Xingguang Road,Wuhou District, Chengdu, 610094, China
| | - Baolin Qu
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Medical Center, People's Liberation Army General Hospital, No. 28 Fuxing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100853, China.
| | - Guocai Liu
- College of Electrical and Information Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China
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Kalendralis P, Eyssen D, Canters R, Luk SM, Kalet AM, van Elmpt W, Fijten R, Dekker A, Zegers CM, Bermejo I. External validation of a Bayesian network for error detection in radiotherapy plans. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON RADIATION AND PLASMA MEDICAL SCIENCES 2021. [DOI: 10.1109/trpms.2021.3070656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Petros Kalendralis
- Department of Radiation Oncology (Maastro), GROW School for Oncology, Maastricht University Medical Centre+, 6229 ET Maastricht, The Netherlands. (e-mail: )
| | - Denis Eyssen
- Department of Radiation Oncology (Maastro), GROW School for Oncology, Maastricht University Medical Centre+, 6229 ET Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Richard Canters
- Department of Radiation Oncology (Maastro), GROW School for Oncology, Maastricht University Medical Centre+, 6229 ET Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Samuel M.H. Luk
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA 98195-6043, USA
| | - Alan M. Kalet
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA 98195-6043, USA
| | - Wouter van Elmpt
- Department of Radiation Oncology (Maastro), GROW School for Oncology, Maastricht University Medical Centre+, 6229 ET Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Rianne Fijten
- Department of Radiation Oncology (Maastro), GROW School for Oncology, Maastricht University Medical Centre+, 6229 ET Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Andre Dekker
- Department of Radiation Oncology (Maastro), GROW School for Oncology, Maastricht University Medical Centre+, 6229 ET Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Catharina M.L. Zegers
- Department of Radiation Oncology (Maastro), GROW School for Oncology, Maastricht University Medical Centre+, 6229 ET Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Inigo Bermejo
- Department of Radiation Oncology (Maastro), GROW School for Oncology, Maastricht University Medical Centre+, 6229 ET Maastricht, The Netherlands
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