'Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)'
Doi
Abstract
[EN] The impact of positron emission tomography (PET)
on radiation therapy is held back by poor methods of defining functional
volumes of interest. Many new software tools are being proposed
for contouring target volumes but the different approaches
are not adequately compared and their accuracy is poorly evaluated
due to the ill-definition of ground truth. This paper compares
the largest cohort to date of established, emerging and proposed
PET contouring methods, in terms of accuracy and variability.
We emphasize spatial accuracy and present a new metric
that addresses the lack of unique ground truth. Thirty methods
are used at 13 different institutions to contour functional volumes
of interest in clinical PET/CT and a custom-built PET phantom representing typical problems in image guided radiotherapy. Contouring
methods are grouped according to algorithmic type, level
of interactivity and how they exploit structural information in hybrid
images. Experiments reveal benefits of high levels of user interaction,
as well as simultaneous visualization of CT images and
PET gradients to guide interactive procedures. Method-wise evaluation
identifies the danger of over-automation and the value of
prior knowledge built into an algorithm.For retrospective patient data and manual ground truth delineation, the authors wish to thank S. Suilamo, K. Lehtio, M. Mokka, and H. Minn at the Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy, Turku University Hospital, Finland. This study was funded by the Finnish Cancer Organisations.Shepherd, T.; Teräs, M.; Beichel, RR.; Boellaard, R.; Bruynooghe, M.; Dicken, V.; Gooding, MJ.... (2012). Comparative Study With New Accuracy Metrics for Target Volume Contouring in PET Image Guided Radiation Therapy. IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging. 31(12):2006-2024. doi:10.1109/TMI.2012.2202322S20062024311