Radiotherapy planning of the pelvis using distortion corrected MR images: the removal of system distortions

Image distortion is an important consideration in the use of magnetic resonance (MR) images for radiotherapy planning. The distortion is a consequence of system distortion (arising from main magnetic field inhomogeneity and nonlinearities in the applied magnetic field gradients) and of effects arising from the object/patient being imaged. A two-stage protocol has been developed to correct both system- and object-induced distortion in pelvic images which incorporates measures to maintain the quality, accuracy and consistency of the imaging and correction procedures. The first stage of the correction procedure is described here and involves the removal of system distortion. Object- (patient-) induced effects will be described in a subsequent work. Images are acquired with the patient lying on a flat rigid bed, which reproduces treatment conditions. A frame of marker tubes surrounding the patient and attached to the bed provides quality assurance data in each image. System distortions in the three orthogonal planes are mapped using a separate phantom, which fits closely within the quality control frame. Software has been written which automates the measurement and checking of the many marker positions which the test objects generate and which ensures that patient data are acquired using a consistent imaging protocol. Results are presented which show that the scanner and the phantoms used in measuring distortion give highly reproducible results with mean changes of the order of 0.1 mm between repeated measurements of marker positions in the same imaging session. Effective correction for in-plane components of system distortion is demonstrated. (author)