Image Processing In Radiation Therapy

Images from CT, MRI, PET, and other medical instrumentation have become central to the radiotherapy process in the past two decades, thus requiring medical physicists, clinicians, dosimetrists, radiation therapists, and trainees to integrate and segment these images efficiently and accurately in a clinical environment. Image Processing in Radiation Therapy presents an up-to-date, detailed treatment of techniques and algorithms for the registration, segmentation, reconstruction, and evaluation of imaging data. It describes how these tools are used in radiation planning, treatment delivery, and outcomes assessment. The book spans deformable registration, segmentation, and image reconstruction and shows how to incorporate these practices in radiation therapy. The first section explores image processing in adaptive radiotherapy, online monitoring and tracking, dose accumulation, and accuracy assessment. The second section describes the mathematical approach to deformable registration. The book presents similarity metrics used for registration techniques, discussing their effectiveness and applicability in radiation therapy. It also evaluates parametric and nonparametric image registration techniques and their applications in radiation therapy processes. The third section assesses the efficiency, robustness, and breadth of application of image segmentation approaches, including atlas-based, level set, and registration-based techniques. The fourth section focuses on advanced imaging techniques for radiotherapy, such as 3D image reconstruction and image registration using a graphics processor unit. With contributions from an international group of renowned authors, this book provides a comprehensive description of image segmentation and registration, in-room imaging, and advanced reconstruction techniques. Through many practical examples, it illustrates the clinical rationale and implementation of the techniques.

Image-Guided Radiation Therapy presents key image-guided radiation treatment (IGRT) technologies for external beam radiotherapy. The book explores the decades-long technological developments that have occurred in the realm of image-guided conformal, customized radiation treatment. Expert authors, all of whom have actively participated in the development or implementation of IGRT, imaging, and enabling technologies, share their first-hand experiences on the science, clinical uses, and impact of these technologies. They describe kilovoltage and megavoltage imaging as well as radiological, ultrasound, and optical technologies for determining and validating target and patient positioning. The book examines how anatomical and biological imaging using CT and PET has contributed to the understanding of target volume boundaries and biological behavior. It also explores such innovations as 4D PET/CT and digital tomosynthesis. Advancing patient care, this book focuses on a wealth of hybrid IGRT technologies and devices for coupled imaging and treatment inside the radiation treatment room. It thoroughly covers the modalities, software tools, and imaging treatment geometries that constitute IGRT.

Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), one of the most important developments in radiation oncology in the past 25 years, involves technology to deliver radiation to tumors in the right location, quantity and time. Unavoidable irradiation of surrounding normal tissues is distributed so as to preserve their function. The achievements and future directions in the field are grouped in the three sections of the book, each suitable for supporting a teaching course. Part 1 contains topical reviews of the basic principles of IMRT, part 2 describes advanced techniques such as image-guided and biologically based approaches, and part 3 focuses on investigation of IMRT to improve outcome at various cancer sites.

On-treatment verification imaging has developed rapidly in recent years and is now at the heart of image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) and all aspects of radiotherapy planning and treatment delivery. This is the first book dedicated to just this important topic, which is written in an accessible manner for undergraduate and graduate therapeutic radiography (radiation therapist) students and trainee medical physicists and clinicians. The later sections of the book will also help established medical physicists, therapeutic radiographers, and radiation therapists familiarise themselves with developing and cutting-edge techniques in IGRT. Features: Clinically focused and internationally applicable; covering a wide range of topics related to on-treatment verification imaging for the study of IGRT Accompanied by a library of electronic teaching and assessment resources for further learning and understanding Authored by experts in the field with over 18 years’ experience of pioneering the original forms of on-treatment verification imaging in radiotherapy (electronic portal imaging) in clinical practice, as well as substantial experience of teaching the techniques to trainees

IGRT covers nearly every aspect of radiation treatment planning and delivery in radiation therapy and explains both the "why" and the "how," the art and the science of IGRT. Image Guided Radiation Therapy: A Clinical Perspective provides an overview of the basic concepts of IGRT and includes a review of its history and present status. Additionally, Image-Guided Target Delineation Technologies presents an in-depth overview of the main imaging modalities used for target delineation, namely computed tomography (CT) including 4-dimensional (4D) CT, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and positron emission tomography (PET). Image Guided Treatment Technologies systemically introduces the reader to the major in-room IGRT treatment technologies available today, including video, ultrasound, planar and volumetric-based imaging systems. Organized anatomically, Clinical Sites and Case Studies is a comprehensive overview of the clinical applications of IGRT. Within each section, traditional overview chapters are paired with case studies of actual treated patients, focusing on image-guided target delineation and image-guided treatment delivery.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art computational intelligence research and technologies in computer-assisted radiation therapy based on image engineering. It also traces major technical advancements and research findings in the field of image-based computer-assisted radiation therapy. In high-precision radiation therapies, novel approaches in image engineering including computer graphics, image processing, pattern recognition, and computational anatomy play important roles in improving the accuracy of radiation therapy and assisting decision making by radiation oncology professionals, such as radiation oncologists, radiation technologists, and medical physicists, in each phase of radiation therapy. All the topics presented in this book broaden understanding of the modern medical technologies and systems for image-based computer-assisted radiation therapy. Therefore this volume will greatly benefit not only radiation oncologists and radiologists but also radiation technologists, professors in medical physics or engineering, and engineers involved in the development of products to utilize this advanced therapy.

Digital image processing can refer to a wide variety of techniques, concepts, and applications of different types of processing for different purposes. This book provides examples of digital image processing applications and presents recent research on processing concepts and techniques. Chapters cover such topics as image processing in medical physics, binarization, video processing, and more.

- Summarizes the state of the art in the most relevant areas of medical physics and engineering applied to radiation oncology - Covers all relevant areas of the subject in detail, including 3D imaging and image processing, 3D treatment planning, modern treatment techniques, patient positioning, and aspects of verification and quality assurance - Conveys information in a readily understandable way that will appeal to professionals and students with a medical background as well as to newcomers to radiation oncology from the field of physics