Patient set-up verification by infrared optical localization and body surface sensing in breast radiation therapy

The aim of the study was to investigate the clinical application of a technique for patient set-up verification in breast cancer radiotherapy, based on the 3D localization of a hybrid configuration of surface control points.

An infrared optical tracker provided the 3D position of two passive markers and 10 laser spots placed around and within the irradiation field on nine patients. A fast iterative constrained minimization procedure was applied to detect and compensate patient set-up errors, through the control points registration with reference data coming from treatment plan (markers reference position, CT-based surface model).

The application of the corrective spatial transformation estimated by the registration procedure led to significant improvement of patient set-up. Median value of 3D errors affecting three additional verification markers within the irradiation field decreased from 5.7 to 3.5 mm. Errors variability (25-75%) decreased from 3.2 to 2.1 mm. Laser spots registration on the reference surface model was documented to contribute substantially to set-up errors compensation.

Patient set-up verification through a hybrid set of control points and constrained surface minimization algorithm was confirmed to be feasible in clinical practice and to provide valuable information for the improvement of the quality of patient set-up, with minimal requirement of operator-dependant procedures. The technique combines conveniently the advantages of passive markers based methods and surface registration techniques, by featuring immediate and robust estimation of the set-up accuracy from a redundant dataset.