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Multimodal Cross-Device and Marker-Free Co-Registration of Preclinical Imaging Modalities

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Beam coordinate transformations from DICOM to DOSXYZnrc.

Lixin Zhan¹, Runqing Jiang, Ernest K Osei

¹Department of Medical Physics, Grand River Regional Cancer Centre, Kitchener, Ontario N2G 1G3, Canada. lixin.zhan@grhosp.on.ca

Physics in Medicine and Biology

|November 24, 2012

Summary

This study introduces simplified coordinate transformation equations for radiotherapy. These equations facilitate accurate dose calculations by aligning Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) beam orientations with the BEAMnrc/DOSXYZnrc Monte Carlo system.

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Area of Science:

Medical Physics
Radiotherapy Physics
Computational Dosimetry

Background:

Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) is the standard for medical imaging and data exchange.
Treatment planning systems (TPS) generate radiotherapy plans often exported in DICOM format.
BEAMnrc/DOSXYZnrc is a Monte Carlo (MC) tool for simulating dose delivery, but uses a different beam orientation system than DICOM.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a new, simplified set of coordinate transformation equations.
To improve the computational implementation of beam orientation alignment between DICOM and BEAMnrc/DOSXYZnrc.
To facilitate accurate MC dose calculations from TPS-generated plans.

Main Methods:

Derived new transformation equations for polar (θ) and azimuthal (φ) angles by applying rotations to DICOM patient coordinates.
Developed a novel method for calculating the BEAMnrc/DOSXYZnrc beam rotation (ϕ(col)) by combining collimator and couch rotations.
Verified the transformation equations using clinical radiotherapy plans.

Main Results:

The new transformation equations are more compact and easier to implement computationally than previous methods.
Clinical plan verification showed excellent geometrical agreement for field placements between TPS and MC results.
Good agreement was observed in dose distributions when comparing TPS and MC calculations.

Conclusions:

The derived transformation equations provide a more accessible and accurate method for integrating DICOM data into BEAMnrc/DOSXYZnrc simulations.
This work simplifies the process of performing MC dose calculations for radiotherapy, enhancing accuracy and efficiency.
The findings support improved consistency between treatment planning and dose verification in radiation oncology.