Editorial: Image-Guided Radiotherapy for Effective Radiotherapy Delivery

A feasibility study on the development and use of a deep learning model to automate real-time monitoring of tumor position and assessment of interfraction fiducial marker migration in prostate radiotherapy patients

PurposeThe aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of the development and training of a deep learning object detection model for automating the assessment of fiducial marker migration and tracking of the prostate in radiotherapy patients.Methods and MaterialsA fiducial marker detection model was trained on the YOLO v2 detection framework using approximately 20,000 pelvis kV projection images with fiducial markers labelled. The ability of the trained model to detect marker positions was validated by tracking the motion of markers in a respiratory phantom and comparing detection data with the expected displacement from a reference position. Marker migration was then assessed in 14 prostate radiotherapy patients using the detector for comparison with previously conducted studies. This was done by determining variations in intermarker distance between the first and subsequent fractions in each patient.ResultsOn completion of training, a detection model was developed that operated at a 96% detection efficacy and with a root mean square error of 0.3 pixels. By determining the displacement from a reference position in a respiratory phantom, experimentally and with the detector it was found that the detector was able to compute displacements with a mean accuracy of 97.8% when compared to the actual values. Interfraction marker migration was measured in 14 patients and the average and maximum ± standard deviation marker migration were found to be 2.0±0.9 mm and 2.3±0.9 mm, respectively.ConclusionThis study demonstrates the benefits of pairing deep learning object detection, and image-guided radiotherapy and how a workflow to automate the assessment of organ motion and seed migration during prostate radiotherapy can be developed. The high detection efficacy and low error make the advantages of using a pre-trained model to automate the assessment of the target volume positional variation and the migration of fiducial markers between fractions.

Effect of image-guided hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy on peripheral non-small-cell lung cancer

The objective of this study was to compare the effects of image-guided hypofractionated radiotherapy and conventional fractionated radiotherapy on non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Fifty stage- and age-matched cases with NSCLC were randomly divided into two groups (A and B). There were 23 cases in group A and 27 cases in group B. Image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) and stereotactic radiotherapy were conjugately applied to the patients in group A. Group A patients underwent hypofractionated radiotherapy (6–8 Gy/time) three times per week, with a total dose of 64–66 Gy; group B received conventional fractionated radiotherapy, with a total dose of 68–70 Gy five times per week. In group A, 1-year and 2-year local failure survival rate and 1-year local failure-free survival rate were significantly higher than in group B (P<0.05). The local failure rate (P<0.05) and distant metastasis rate (P>0.05) were lower in group A than in group B. The overall survival rate of group A was significantly higher than that of group B (P=0.03), and the survival rate at 1 year was 87% vs 63%, (P<0.05). The median survival time of group A was longer than that of group B. There was no significant difference in the incidence of complications between the two groups (P>0.05). Compared with conventional fractionated radiation therapy, image-guided hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy in NSCLC received better treatment efficacy and showed good tolerability.