Three-dimensional trans-rectal and trans-abdominal ultrasound image fusion for the guidance of gynecologic brachytherapy procedures: a proof of concept study

High dose-rate brachytherapy is a treatment technique for gynecologic cancers where intracavitary applicators are placed within the patient’s pelvic cavity. To ensure accurate radiation delivery, localization of the applicator at the time of insertion is vital. This study proposes a novel method for acquiring, registering, and fusing three-dimensional (3D) trans-abdominal and 3D trans-rectal ultrasound (US) images for visualization of the pelvic anatomy and applicators during gynecologic brachytherapy. The workflow was validated using custom multi-modal pelvic phantoms and demonstrated during two patient procedures. Experiments were performed for three types of intracavitary applicators: ring-and-tandem, ring-and-tandem with interstitial needles, and tandem-and-ovoids. Fused 3D US images were registered to magnetic resonance (MR) and computed tomography (CT) images for validation. The target registration error (TRE) and fiducial localization error (FLE) were calculated to quantify the accuracy of our fusion technique. For both phantom and patient images, TRE and FLE across all modality registrations (3D US versus MR or CT) resulted in mean ± standard deviation of 4.01 ± 1.01 mm and 0.43 ± 0.24 mm, respectively. This work indicates proof of concept for conducting further clinical studies leveraging 3D US imaging as an accurate, accessible alternative to advanced modalities for localizing brachytherapy applicators.