A New Workflow for Image-Guided Intraoperative Electron Radiotherapy Using Projection-based Pose Tracking

A new workflow is proposed to update the intraoperative electron radiotherapy (IOERT) planning refreshing the position and orientation (pose) of a virtual applicator with respect to the preoperative computed tomography (CT) with the actual pose during surgery. The workflow proposed relies on a robust registration of the preoperative CT and intraoperative projection radiographs acquired with a C-arm system. The workflow initially performs a geometric calibration of the C-arm using fiducials placed on the applicator. In the next step, a point-based 2D-3D registration based on fiducials positioned on the patient's skin is performed, followed by an intensity-based registration that refines the point-based registration result. The performance of the workflow has been evaluated using a realistic physical phantom consisting of a pig lower limb and its corresponding CT and 7 C-arm projections at different poses. The accuracy has been measured with respect to the applicator origin and axis before and after the registration refinement process. A feasibility study with human data is also included. Error analysis revealed angular accuracy of 0.9 ± 0.7 degrees and translational accuracy of 1.9 ± 1 mm. Our experiments demonstrated that the proposed workflow can achieve subdegree angular accuracy in locating the applicator with respect to the preoperative CT to update and supervise the IOERT planning right before radiation delivery. The proposed workflow could be easily implementable in a routine, corresponding to a significant improvement in quality assurance during IOERT procedures.