Evaluation of residual patient position variation for spinal radiosurgery using the Novalis image guided system

Purpose: The Novalis system has been demonstrated to achieve accurate target localization on anthropomorphic phantoms. However, other factors, such as rotational deviation, patient intrafraction motion, and image fusion uncertainty due to patient body deformation, could contribute additional position uncertainty for actual patients. This study evaluates such position uncertainty for spinal radiosurgery patients. Materials and Methods: Fifty-two consecutive spinal radiosurgery patients were included in the study. Rotational deviation was evaluated from 6-deg of freedom (6D) fusion results for all patients. The combined uncertainty of patient motion and image fusion was determined from fusion results of additional kV x-ray images acquired before, during, and after treatment for 25 of the 52 patients. The uncertainty of image fusion was also evaluated by performing 6D fusion ten different times with various regions of interest in the images selected for fusion. This was performed for two patients with L3 and T2 lesions, respectively, for comparison. Results: The mean rotational deviation was 0.7 +/- 1.8, 0.7 +/- 1.5, and 0.7 +/- 1.6 deg along the yaw, roll, and pitch directions, respectively. The combined uncertainty from patient motion and image fusion was 0.1 +/- 0.9, 0.2 +/- 1.2, and 0.2 +/- 1.0 mm in the anteroposterior (AP), longitudinal, and lateral directions, respectively. The uncertainty (standard deviation) due to image fusion was less than 0.28 mm in any direction for the L3 lesion and 0.8 mm in the AP direction for the T2 lesion. Conclusion: Overall position uncertainty for spinal radiosurgery patients has been evaluated. Rotational deviation and patient motion were the main factors contributed to position uncertainty for actual patient treatment. (C) 2008 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.