Lung motion prediction in radiotherapy

Context

Radiotherapy and Hadrontherapy are techniques which are efficient to cure local cancerous tumours. They consist in delivering a lethal dose of ionising beam to the cancerous volume, while reducing impact on surrounding healthy tissues. Such treatments need accurate targeting necessitating a precise knowledge of the shape and position of tumours.

Collaborations

This work is part of the ETOILE project a consortium team aiming to build a Hadrontherapy Centre in France.

Results

Lung model is customized to patient with 3D CT-Scan data and elasticity measurement [1, 2]. Breathing was simulated with continuous mechanics laws and solved with finite element method. The mesh was adapted to the context preserving the CT-scan voxel and presenting smooth edges for external geometry [3]. Boundary conditions were defined by anatomists and medical experts to actually reproduce lung behaviour during the respiration process [4, 5].
Finally, the model produces better results with regards to other 3D Bio-CAD models published in the literature [6]. Elsewhere, a tool has been developed to convert the predicted geometrical states into 4D CT-scan which is crucial information to plan the treatment sessions [7, 8].