Automatic quality assessment of rigid registration of ultrasound images for radiotherapy

放射治疗（RT）的目标是最大限度地增加对肿瘤的辐射剂量，同时最大限度地减少对健康人的辐射剂量。 组织中立体定向体部放射治疗（SBRT）的出现有望缩短治疗时间， 几个星期到几天，这在偏远和农村地区尤其重要，因为那里的通勤时间很长。 需要参加RT会议。许多器官，如前列腺、肝脏、肺和乳房， 在RT期间，由于呼吸、消化、膀胱充盈等因素， 目标的定位在SBRT中特别重要。超声波是一种安全的实时成像 该成像模式通常用于软组织的成像。它也明显比磁性更便宜 磁共振（MR）和计算机断层扫描（CT）。超声波组织跟踪可以用什么来进行 在医学成像领域被称为图像配准，这是一个活跃的研究领域。的 跟踪信息可用于补偿治疗期间的运动。既然追踪已经完成 自动地，重要的是开发质量评估（QA）技术，以减少遗漏的机会 目标.我们建议开发新的图像处理和机器学习技术， 自动执行配准结果的QA，以便RT可以暂时暂停，直到高 质量跟踪恢复。Elekta是开发先进RT解决方案的全球领导者， 在加拿大的研究和开发。这里开发的工具最终可以实现更高效的 RT方法，显着缩短治疗时间从每天访问RT中心从3-5周， 几天这对于居住在加拿大偏远地区的人来说尤其重要， 需要长时间搬迁才能接受RT治疗。此外，超声波明显较少 与MR和CT相比，价格昂贵且速度更快，可靠的基于超声的跟踪系统导致 为我们的医疗保健系统节省了大量资金。

The goal of radiotherapy (RT) is to maximize radiation dose to the tumour while minimizing dose to healthy tissues. The emergence of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) promises to shorten treatment time from a few weeks to a few days, which is especially significant in remote and rural areas where long commutes are required to attend an RT session. Many organs, such as prostate, liver, lungs and breast, can move substantially during RT due to factors such as breathing, digestion, bladder filling, etc. Therefore, accurate continuous localization of the target is of particular importance in SBRT. Ultrasound is a safe and real-time imaging modality and is commonly used for imaging of soft tissue. It is also significantly less expensive than magnetic resonance (MR) and computed tomography (CT). Tissue tracking with ultrasound can be performed with what is known as image registration in the medical imaging community, which is an active field of research. The tracking information can be used to compensate for motion during treatment. Since the tracking is done automatically, it is important to develop quality assessment (QA) techniques to reduce the chance of missing the target. We propose to develop novel image processing and machine learning techniques that will automatically perform QA of the registration outcome, so that the RT can be temporarily suspended until high quality tracking is restored. Elekta is a world leader in development of advanced RT solutions with strong research and development presence in Canada. The tools developed here may eventually enable more efficient RT methods that significantly shorten the treatment time from daily visits to RT centers from 3-5 weeks to just few days. This is particularly important for individuals who reside in remote areas of Canada, where patients have to be relocated for a long time to receive RT treatment. Furthermore, ultrasound is significantly less expensive and faster compared to MR and CT, and a reliable ultrasound-based tracking system leads to substantial saving for our healthcare system.