Aims: To establish a framework to implement the 4D integrated extended cardiac torso (XCAT) digital phantom for 4D radiotherapy (RT) research.
Materials and methods: A computer program was developed to facilitate the characterization and implementation of the 4D XCAT phantom. The program can (1) generate 4D XCAT images with customized parameter files; (2) review 4D XCAT images; (3) generate composite images from 4D XCAT images; (4) track motion of selected region-of-interested (ROI); (5) convert XCAT raw binary images into DICOM format; (6) analyse clinically acquired 4DCT images and real-time position management (RPM) respiratory signal. Motion tracking algorithm was validated by comparing with manual method. Major characteristics of the 4D XCAT phantom were studied.
Results: The comparison between motion tracking and manual measurements of lesion motion trajectory showed a small difference between them (mean difference in motion amplitude: 1.2 mm). The maximum lesion motion decreased nearly linearly (R 2 = 0.97) as its distance to the diaphragm (DD) increased. At any given DD, lesion motion amplitude increased nearly linearly (R 2 range: 0.89 to 0.95) as the inputted diaphragm motion increased. For a given diaphragm motion, the lesion motion is independent of the lesion size at any given DD. The 4D XCAT phantom can closely reproduce irregular breathing profile. The end-to-end test showed that clinically comparable treatment plans can be generated successfully based on 4D XCAT images.
Conclusions: An integrated computer program has been developed to generate, review, analyse, process, and export the 4D XCAT images. A framework has been established to implement the 4D XCAT phantom for 4D RT research.