Assessment of IGRT variability for lung SBRT

Purpose The purpose of this project was to assess factors that may influence variability in the pre-treatment kilovoltage cone beam computed tomography (kV CBCT) image matching process for lung stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). Methods and materials Pre-treatment CBCT and planning CT data sets of previously-treated lung SBRT patients were gathered and anonymized from four radiotherapy centers in Alberta. Eight radiation therapists (RTTs) and four radiation oncologists (ROs) were recruited from the same four cancer centers for image matching. Identical data sets were provided to each user, but the order of image sets was randomized independently for each user to remove any learning bias. Inter-user variabilities were then investigated as functions of various factors, including image origin (source institution/machine), user's institution (local matching protocol), profession (RTT vs. RO), years of experience and image quality (presence/absence of added noise). Results Very little variation in image matching between different users was observed. The mean differences from the consensus means for different image sets were less than 1 mm in all directions, and cases that exceeded 3 mm (i.e. clinically significant differences) were extremely rare. Image origin, user's institution, and profession (RTT vs. RO) didn't lead to any meaningful clinical differences, while image quality didn't introduce any statistically significant differences. In addition, no discernible trend was seen between user's experience and deviation from the user mean. Overall, no meaningful differences in inter-user variabilities for the different factors investigated were found in this study. Conclusions There appears to be an adequate standardization across the province of Alberta in terms of CBCT image matching process. No clinically significant differences were observed as functions of various factors investigated in this study. Consistency in matching between RTTs and ROs in this study suggests that RTTs do not need systematic RO approval of their lung CBCT match. It should be noted that RTTs at the centers in this study receive comprehensive training in CBCT-based image matching.