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Analysis of dose heterogeneity using a subvolume-DVH

Said, M. ; Nilsson, P. LU orcid and Ceberg, C. LU orcid (2017) In Physics in Medicine and Biology 62(21). p.517-524
Abstract

The dose-volume histogram (DVH) is universally used in radiation therapy for its highly efficient way of summarizing three-dimensional dose distributions. An apparent limitation that is inherent to standard histograms is the loss of spatial information, e.g. it is no longer possible to tell where low- and high-dose regions are, and whether they are connected or disjoint. Two methods for overcoming the spatial fragmentation of low- and high-dose regions are presented, both based on the gray-level size zone matrix, which is a two-dimensional histogram describing the frequencies of connected regions of similar intensities. The first approach is a quantitative metric which can be likened to a homogeneity index. The large cold spot metric... (More)

The dose-volume histogram (DVH) is universally used in radiation therapy for its highly efficient way of summarizing three-dimensional dose distributions. An apparent limitation that is inherent to standard histograms is the loss of spatial information, e.g. it is no longer possible to tell where low- and high-dose regions are, and whether they are connected or disjoint. Two methods for overcoming the spatial fragmentation of low- and high-dose regions are presented, both based on the gray-level size zone matrix, which is a two-dimensional histogram describing the frequencies of connected regions of similar intensities. The first approach is a quantitative metric which can be likened to a homogeneity index. The large cold spot metric (LCS) is here defined to emphasize large contiguous regions receiving too low a dose; emphasis is put on both size, and deviation from the prescribed dose. In contrast, the subvolume-DVH (sDVH) is an extension to the standard DVH and allows for a qualitative evaluation of the degree of dose heterogeneity. The information retained from the two-dimensional histogram is overlaid on top of the DVH and the two are presented simultaneously. Both methods gauge the underlying heterogeneity in ways that the DVH alone cannot, and both have their own merits - the sDVH being more intuitive and the LCS being quantitative.

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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
dose inhomogeneity, DVH, GLSZM, texture analysis, treatment plan comparison
in
Physics in Medicine and Biology
volume
62
issue
21
pages
517 - 524
publisher
IOP Publishing
external identifiers
  • scopus:85032701468
  • wos:000413341800001
  • pmid:29047454
ISSN
0031-9155
DOI
10.1088/1361-6560/aa8b0a
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
8fad82fe-6627-4b3a-b39d-54fa7c6dec3d
date added to LUP
2017-11-23 08:00:43
date last changed
2024-03-01 09:36:36
@article{8fad82fe-6627-4b3a-b39d-54fa7c6dec3d,
  abstract     = {{<p>The dose-volume histogram (DVH) is universally used in radiation therapy for its highly efficient way of summarizing three-dimensional dose distributions. An apparent limitation that is inherent to standard histograms is the loss of spatial information, e.g. it is no longer possible to tell where low- and high-dose regions are, and whether they are connected or disjoint. Two methods for overcoming the spatial fragmentation of low- and high-dose regions are presented, both based on the gray-level size zone matrix, which is a two-dimensional histogram describing the frequencies of connected regions of similar intensities. The first approach is a quantitative metric which can be likened to a homogeneity index. The large cold spot metric (LCS) is here defined to emphasize large contiguous regions receiving too low a dose; emphasis is put on both size, and deviation from the prescribed dose. In contrast, the subvolume-DVH (sDVH) is an extension to the standard DVH and allows for a qualitative evaluation of the degree of dose heterogeneity. The information retained from the two-dimensional histogram is overlaid on top of the DVH and the two are presented simultaneously. Both methods gauge the underlying heterogeneity in ways that the DVH alone cannot, and both have their own merits - the sDVH being more intuitive and the LCS being quantitative.</p>}},
  author       = {{Said, M. and Nilsson, P. and Ceberg, C.}},
  issn         = {{0031-9155}},
  keywords     = {{dose inhomogeneity; DVH; GLSZM; texture analysis; treatment plan comparison}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{10}},
  number       = {{21}},
  pages        = {{517--524}},
  publisher    = {{IOP Publishing}},
  series       = {{Physics in Medicine and Biology}},
  title        = {{Analysis of dose heterogeneity using a subvolume-DVH}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1361-6560/aa8b0a}},
  doi          = {{10.1088/1361-6560/aa8b0a}},
  volume       = {{62}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}