Accuracy of patient specific organ-dose estimates obtained using an automated image segmentation algorithm

Taly Gilat-Schmidt; Adam Wang; Thomas Coradi; Benjamin Haas; Josh Star-Lack

doi:10.1117/12.2217374

Translator Disclaimer

22 March 2016 Accuracy of patient specific organ-dose estimates obtained using an automated image segmentation algorithm

Taly Gilat-Schmidt, Adam Wang, Thomas Coradi, Benjamin Haas, Josh Star-Lack

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9783, Medical Imaging 2016: Physics of Medical Imaging; 978311 (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2217374
Event: SPIE Medical Imaging, 2016, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The overall goal of this work is to develop a rapid, accurate and fully automated software tool to estimate patient-specific organ doses from computed tomography (CT) scans using a deterministic Boltzmann Transport Equation solver and automated CT segmentation algorithms. This work quantified the accuracy of organ dose estimates obtained by an automated segmentation algorithm. The investigated algorithm uses a combination of feature-based and atlas-based methods. A multiatlas approach was also investigated. We hypothesize that the auto-segmentation algorithm is sufficiently accurate to provide organ dose estimates since random errors at the organ boundaries will average out when computing the total organ dose. To test this hypothesis, twenty head-neck CT scans were expertly segmented into nine regions. A leave-one-out validation study was performed, where every case was automatically segmented with each of the remaining cases used as the expert atlas, resulting in nineteen automated segmentations for each of the twenty datasets. The segmented regions were applied to gold-standard Monte Carlo dose maps to estimate mean and peak organ doses. The results demonstrated that the fully automated segmentation algorithm estimated the mean organ dose to within 10% of the expert segmentation for regions other than the spinal canal, with median error for each organ region below 2%. In the spinal canal region, the median error was 7% across all data sets and atlases, with a maximum error of 20%. The error in peak organ dose was below 10% for all regions, with a median error below 4% for all organ regions. The multiple-case atlas reduced the variation in the dose estimates and additional improvements may be possible with more robust multi-atlas approaches. Overall, the results support potential feasibility of an automated segmentation algorithm to provide accurate organ dose estimates.

Citation Download Citation

Taly Gilat-Schmidt, Adam Wang, Thomas Coradi, Benjamin Haas, and Josh Star-Lack "Accuracy of patient specific organ-dose estimates obtained using an automated image segmentation algorithm", Proc. SPIE 9783, Medical Imaging 2016: Physics of Medical Imaging, 978311 (22 March 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2217374

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE