Automated tracking of morphologic changes in weekly magnetic resonance imaging during head and neck radiotherapy Journal Article
| Authors: | Aliotta, E.; Hu, Y. C.; Zhang, P.; Lichtenwalner, P.; Caringi, A.; Allgood, N.; Tsai, C. J.; Zakeri, K.; Lee, N.; Zhang, P.; Cerviño, L.; Aristophanous, M. |
| Article Title: | Automated tracking of morphologic changes in weekly magnetic resonance imaging during head and neck radiotherapy |
| Abstract: | Background and Purpose: Anatomic changes during head and neck radiotherapy can impact dose delivery, necessitate adaptive replanning, and indicate patient-specific response to treatment. We have developed an automated system to track these changes through longitudinal MRI scans to aid identification and clinical intervention. The purpose of this article is to describe this tracking system and present results from an initial cohort of patients. Materials and Methods: The Automated Watchdog in Adaptive Radiotherapy Environment (AWARE) was developed to process longitudinal MRI data for radiotherapy patients. AWARE automatically identifies and collects weekly scans, propagates radiotherapy planning structures, computes structure changes over time, and reports important trends to the clinical team. AWARE also incorporates manual structure review and revision from clinical experts and dynamically updates tracking statistics when necessary. AWARE was applied to patients receiving weekly T2-weighted MRI scans during head and neck radiotherapy. Changes in nodal gross tumor volume (GTV) and parotid gland delineations were tracked over time to assess changes during treatment and identify early indicators of treatment response. Results: N = 91 patients were tracked and analyzed in this study. Nodal GTVs and parotids both shrunk considerably throughout treatment (−9.7 ± 7.7% and −3.7 ± 3.3% per week, respectively). Ipsilateral parotids shrunk significantly faster than contralateral (−4.3 ± 3.1% vs. −2.9 ± 3.3% per week, p = 0.005) and increased in distance from GTVs over time (+2.7 ± 7.2% per week, p < 1 × 10−5). Automatic structure propagations agreed well with manual revisions (Dice = 0.88 ± 0.09 for parotids and 0.80 ± 0.15 for GTVs), but for GTVs the agreement degraded 4–5 weeks after the start of treatment. Changes in GTV volume observed by AWARE as early as one week into treatment were predictive of large changes later in the course (AUC = 0.79). Conclusion: AWARE automatically identified longitudinal changes in GTV and parotid volumes during radiotherapy. Results suggest that this system may be useful for identifying rapidly responding patients as early as one week into treatment. © 2023 The Authors. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, LLC on behalf of The American Association of Physicists in Medicine. |
| Keywords: | treatment response; nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; magnetic resonance imaging; radiotherapy dosage; diagnostic imaging; head and neck neoplasms; neck; radiotherapy planning, computer-assisted; head and neck; head and neck tumor; head; procedures; adaptive radiotherapy; humans; mri-guidance; human |
| Journal Title: | Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics |
| Volume: | 24 |
| Issue: | 7 |
| ISSN: | 1526-9914 |
| Publisher: | American College of Medical Physics |
| Date Published: | 2023-07-01 |
| Start Page: | e13959 |
| Language: | English |
| DOI: | 10.1002/acm2.13959 |
| PUBMED: | 37147912 |
| PROVIDER: | scopus |
| PMCID: | PMC10338763 |
| DOI/URL: | |
| Notes: | Article -- MSK Cancer Center Support Grant (P30 CA008748) acknowledged in PubMed and PDF -- MSK corresponding author is Eric Aliotta -- Source: Scopus |
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