Markerless Four-Dimensional-Cone Beam Computed Tomography Projection-Phase Sorting Using Prior Knowledge and Patient Motion Modeling: A Feasibility Study

AIM: During cancer radiotherapy treatment, on-board four-dimensional-cone beam computed tomography (4D-CBCT) provides important patient 4D volumetric information for tumor target verification. Reconstruction of 4D-CBCT images requires sorting of acquired projections into different respiratory phases. Traditional phase sorting methods are either based on external surrogates, which might miscorrelate with internal structures; or on 2D internal structures, which require specific organ presence or slow gantry rotations. The aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility of a 3D motion modeling-based method for markerless 4D-CBCT projection-phase sorting. METHODS: Patient 4D-CT images acquired during simulation are used as prior images. Principal component analysis (PCA) is used to extract three major respiratory deformation patterns. On-board patient image volume is considered as a deformation of the prior CT at the end-expiration phase. Coefficients of the principal deformation patterns are solved for each on-board projection by matching it with the digitally reconstructed radiograph (DRR) of the deformed prior CT. The primary PCA coefficients are used for the projection-phase sorting. RESULTS: PCA coefficients solved in nine digital phantoms (XCATs) showed the same pattern as the breathing motions in both the anteroposterior and superoinferior directions. The mean phase sorting differences were below 2% and percentages of phase difference < 10% were 100% for all the nine XCAT phantoms. Five lung cancer patient results showed mean phase difference ranging from 1.62% to 2.23%. The percentage of projections within 10% phase difference ranged from 98.4% to 100% and those within 5% phase difference ranged from 88.9% to 99.8%. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated the feasibility of using PCA coefficients for 4D-CBCT projection-phase sorting. High sorting accuracy in both digital phantoms and patient cases was achieved. This method provides an accurate and robust tool for automatic 4D-CBCT projection sorting using 3D motion modeling without the need of external surrogate or internal markers.