Real Time Lung Tumor Tracking

• Abstract

  Radiotherapy is an effective treatment technique for lung cancer. However, the movement of lung tumors during normal respiration makes it difficult to accurately irradiate the tumor. Precise lung tumor localization is vital to efficiently treating the tumor and avoiding unnecessary radiation exposure of normal tissues.

• Description

  Radiotherapy is an effective treatment technique for lung cancer. However, the movement of lung tumors during normal respiration makes it difficult to accurately irradiate the tumor. Precise lung tumor localization is vital to efficiently treating the tumor and avoiding unnecessary radiation exposure of normal tissues. Estimating the motion model of the tumor may lead to improved treatment planning and dose calculation throughout the therapy. 4D Computed Tomography (CT) images taken prior to treatment (to develop the patient\'s treatment plan) provide valuable information about the movement of the thoracic organs and the tumor. For each radiotherapy treatment session, a set of kilovoltage X-ray images (kV images) are acquired to aid in the alignment of the treatment target relative to the radiation beam. This project focuses on real time lung tumor tracking by incorporating information and labels from 4DCT on kV x-ray videos for treatment-day specific tumor motion models.

• Team Members