A large screen digitizer system for radiation therapy treatment planning

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Radiation Oncology
• Computer-Aided Diagnosis

Background:

• Accurate delineation of anatomical structures from medical images is crucial for effective radiation therapy planning.
• Manual contouring of organs and tumors on serial computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance (MR) images is time-consuming.
• Traditional methods often require outlining structures on 30 or more image slices, representing a significant portion of treatment planning time.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a new technique for manually drawing anatomical contours on image data.
• To improve the speed and ease of contour entry for 3-dimensional (3D) radiation therapy planning.
• To present a system that facilitates the delineation of critical organs and target volumes.

Main Methods:

• Utilizes a large-area, rear-projectible digitizer tablet integrated with a projection television system.
• Displays large-format computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance (MR) cross-sectional images.
• Employs digitizer menus for image selection, structure definition, grayscale adjustment, zooming, and roaming.

Main Results:

• The described device has been in clinical use for many years, demonstrating substantial increases in efficiency.
• Clinical usage studies show up to a tenfold improvement in the speed of contour entry for serial CT image sets.
• The technique streamlines the process of defining cross-sectional outlines for radiation therapy planning.

Conclusions:

• Manual contour entry for 3D radiation therapy planning is a critical yet time-intensive step.
• The developed technique significantly enhances both the ease and speed of manual contour entry.
• This method is vital for accurately delineating tumor volumes and critical organs in 3D radiation therapy.