Improvement prediction on contour deformation accuracy using deformable image registration results compared to rigid image registration results

The aim of this study was to analyze improvement prediction on contour deformation, accuracy using deformable image registration (DIR) results compared to rigid image registration (RIR) results. Radiotherapy plans for 31 cases (seven head and neck cases,10 chest cases, six abdomen cases and eight female pelvis cases) from the privately open database for DIR were used. These cases used at least two radiotherapy plans, and registration was performed using two plans, not only for one case but also for different cases. The DIR and RIR were performed using the DIR software MIM Maestro (MIM software Inc., Cleveland, USA). The registration results for the following organs were analyzed: eye balls, optic nerves, brain stem, spinal cord and right and left parotid glands for head and neck; right and left lungs for chest; liver and right and left kidneys for abdomen; and rectum and bladder for pelvis. Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) for the organs was calculated from the results of RIR and DIR. The improvement in the DSC was observed. DIR improved the DSC values by more than 0.2 for simple shapes, well-defined boundaries and large volumes such as eye balls, brain stem, lungs and liver. The minimum DSC for these organs was approximately 0.7. The improvement in DSC for the organs eye balls, brain stem, lungs and liver had ceiling values 0.95, 0.90, 1.0 and 1.0, respectively. DSC for the spinal cord, parotid gland, bladder and kidney also improved by DIR compared to RIR; however, DIR could not improve the DSC value for rectum compared to RIR because of a large difference in the position, shape and size due to stool and gas. (author)