A new algorithm for autoreconstruction of catheters in computed tomography-based brachytherapy treatment planning

This paper describes innovative software for automatic reconstruction, which we term autoreconstruction, of plastic and metallic brachytherapy catheters using computed tomography (CT) data. No such automatic facility has previously existed in any treatment planning software. The patient data consists of a set of post-implantation CT images with the catheters in situ in their final positions. This new software solves those difficulties which arise when the catheters are intersecting or when loop techniques are used. With the software algorithms, catheter reconstruction time is significantly reduced and accuracy is also improved when compared with that achieved using the classical manual method of CT-slice-by-CT-slice reconstruction.