Assessment of image co-registration accuracy for frameless gamma knife surgery

PLoS One. 2018 Mar 2;13(3):e0193809. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0193809. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Image co-registration is used in frameless gamma knife radiosurgery (GKSRS) to assign a stereotactic coordinate system and verify patient setup before irradiation. The accuracy of co-registration with cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images of a Gamma Knife IconTM (GK Icon) was assessed, and the effects of the region of co-registration (ROC) were studied. CBCT-to-CBCT co-registration is used for patient setup verification, and its accuracy was examined by co-registering CBCT images taken at various configurations with a reference CBCT series. The accuracy of stereotactic coordinate assignment was investigated by co-registering stereotactic CT images with CBCT images taken at various configurations. An anthropomorphic phantom was used, and the coordinates of fifteen landmarks inside the phantom were measured. The co-registration accuracy between stereotactic magnetic resonance (MR) and CBCT images was evaluated using images from forty-one patients. The positions of the anterior and posterior commissures were measured in both a fiducial marker-based system and a co-registered system. To assess the effects of MR image distortions, co-registration was performed with four different ranges, and the accuracy of the results was compared. Co-registration between CBCT images gave a mean three-dimensional deviation of 0.2 ± 0.1 mm. The co-registration of stereotactic CT images with CBCT images produced a mean deviation of 0.5 ± 0.2 mm. The co-registration of MR images with CBCT images resulted in the smallest three-dimensional difference (0.8 ± 0.3 mm) when a co-registration region covering the skull base area was applied. The image co-registration errors in frameless GKSRS were similar to the imaging errors of frame-based GKSRS. The lower portion of the patient's head, including the base of the skull, is recommended for the ROC.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Brain / diagnostic imaging
  • Brain / radiation effects
  • Cone-Beam Computed Tomography / instrumentation
  • Cone-Beam Computed Tomography / methods*
  • Fiducial Markers
  • Head / diagnostic imaging
  • Humans
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional / instrumentation
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional / methods
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging / instrumentation
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods
  • Models, Anatomic
  • Phantoms, Imaging
  • Radiosurgery / instrumentation
  • Radiosurgery / methods*

Grants and funding

This study was supported by grant no. NRF-2015M2A2A4A02044802 from National Research Foundation of Korea (www.nrf.re.kr) (HTC) and grant no. 10069168 from Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (www.keit.re.kr) (KJC). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.