Use of deformable image registration techniques to estimate dose to organs at risk following prostate external beam radiation therapy and high-dose-rate brachytherapy

PURPOSE: The purpose of this investigation was to examine differences in estimates of accumulated rectal dose when using deformable image registration (DIR) compared with rigid image registration (RIR) methods, and parameter addition methods for combined transrectal ultrasound (TRUS)-based high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT) and external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) treatments of prostate cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this retrospective study, data from 10 patients who had previously received HDR-BT in one 15 Gy fraction, followed by 46 Gy EBRT in twenty-three fractions were used. To estimate total combined dose to the rectum, dose accumulation using both DIR and RIR methods were compared with parameter addition methods, which assume the same region of rectal anatomy receives the maximum dose from both treatment modalities. For both rigid and deformable image registration techniques, the quality of image registration was evaluated through metrics, including mean distance to agreement and dice similarity coefficient of prostate contours. Total D(1cc) and D(2cc) for the rectum was calculated and compared using each method. RESULTS: The parameter addition methods predicted the highest accumulated dose to the rectum. On average, the predicted D(2cc) dose was higher than that calculated by the DIR method by 6.59 Gy EQD(2) (range, –3.03 to 13.68 Gy EQD(2)) for partial parameter addition (PPA), and 4.88 Gy EQD(2) (range, –3.41 to 11.97 Gy EQD(2)) for the full parameter addition (FPA) methods. Similarly, RIR predicted higher average doses compared with DIR, with a difference of 3.46 Gy EQD(2) (range, –5.50 to 7.90 Gy EQD(2)). The results showed a significant difference between DIR and parameter addition methods for dose estimation. CONCLUSIONS: This retrospective study demonstrates significant differences in accumulated rectal dose prediction using different image registration methods. Each method has limitations in its application, and when used with real-time HDR-BT dose planning, awareness of these limitations is essential.