CT based prostate cancer patient-specific transperineal ultrasound probe setups for image guided radiotherapy
Radiotherapy aims at irradiating tumor tissue, while sparing normal tissue as much as possible and it is a suitable treatment option for prostate cancer. A crucial aspect of the radiotherapy workflow is patient positioning. It has been shown that frequent imaging during the course of the treatment (image guided radiotherapy) can improve this positioning accuracy. Despite the many advantages of ultrasound imaging (high soft tissue contrast, 4D imaging, etc.) its use in image guided radiotherapy workflows is not widespread. This can be primarily attributed to the need for a trained operator during image acquisition. In this study, patient-specific transperineal ultrasound probe setups were automatically calculated based on CT scans of prostate cancer patients. These setups seem to meet clinical requirements and their use can potentially minimize operator dependence and improve usability for relatively untrained operators. In the end, this could allow patients to fully benefit from the unique characteristics of this imaging modality.