Image quality and radiation dose in spinal surgery: a comparison of three imaging systems in phantom.

Purpose: Using optimal settings for x-ray scans is crucial for obtaining three-dimensional images of high quality while keeping the patient dose low. Our work compares dose and image quality (IQ) of three intraoperative imaging systems [O-arm cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), ClarifEye C-arm CBCT, and Airo computed tomography] used for spinal surgery.

Approach: Patients of 70, 90, and 110 kg were simulated with an anthropomorphic phantom by adding tissue-equivalent material.

Plan quality and consistency in spine radiosurgery treatment planning: comparison between automatic treatment planning with Elements Spine SRS and manual inverse planning with Varian Eclipse.

Spine radiosurgery treatment planning can be a challenging task since a high radiation dose is delivered to target volumes close to the spinal cord, therefore a steep dose gradient is required. Plan quality is greatly influenced by the planner skills, so automatic treatment planning has been proposed to overcome this issue and assure high-quality plans. The Brainlab Elements Spine SRS treatment planning system is specially designed for spine radiosurgery treatments.

Effective dose and image quality for intraoperative imaging with a cone-beam CT and a mobile multi-slice CT in spinal surgery: A phantom study.

Purpose: To compare the effective dose (ED) and image quality (IQ) of O-arm cone-beam CT (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN, USA) and Airo multi-slice CT (Brainlab AG, Munich, Germany) for intraoperative-CT (i-CT) in spinal surgery.

Methods: The manufacturer-defined protocols available in the O-arm and Airo systems for three-dimensional lumbar spine imaging were compared. Organ dose was measured both with thermo-luminescent dosimeters and GafChromic films in the Alderson RadiationTherapy anthropomorphic phantom.

Cone-beam computed tomography-based radiomics in prostate cancer: a mono-institutional study.

Purpose: The purpose of the reported study was to investigate the value of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT)-based radiomics for risk stratification and prediction of biochemical relapse in prostate cancer.

Methods: The study population consisted of 31 prostate cancer patients. Radiomics features were extracted from weekly CBCT scans performed for verifying treatment position.

Patient-based low dose cone beam CT acquisition settings for prostate image-guided radiotherapy treatments on a Varian TrueBeam linear accelerator.

Objective: To evaluate the performance of low dose cone beam CT (CBCT) acquisition protocols for image-guided radiotherapy of prostate cancer.

Methods: CBCT images of patients undergoing prostate cancer radiotherapy were acquired with the settings currently used in our department and two low dose settings at 50% and 63% lower exposure. Four experienced radiation oncologists and two radiation therapy technologists graded the images on five image quality characteristics.