Delineation of a Cardiac Planning Organ-At-Risk Volume Using Real-Time Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Cardiac Protection in Thoracic and Breast Radiation Therapy.

Purpose: Cardiac radiation is associated with cardiotoxicity in patients with thoracic and breast malignancies. We conducted a prospective study using cine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to evaluate heart motion. We hypothesized that cine MRI could be used to define population-based cardiac planning organ-at-risk volumes (PRV).

A deep Boltzmann machine-driven level set method for heart motion tracking using cine MRI images.

Heart motion tracking for radiation therapy treatment planning can result in effective motion management strategies to minimize radiation-induced cardiotoxicity. However, automatic heart motion tracking is challenging due to factors that include the complex spatial relationship between the heart and its neighboring structures, dynamic changes in heart shape, and limited image contrast, resolution, and volume coverage. In this study, we developed and evaluated a deep generative shape model-driven level set method to address these challenges.