Auto-Segmentation and Auto-Planning in Automated Radiotherapy for Prostate Cancer

<b>Objective:</b> The objective of this study was to develop and assess the clinical feasibility of auto-segmentation and auto-planning methodologies for automated radiotherapy in prostate cancer. <b>Methods</b>: A total of 166 patients were used to train a 3D Unet model for...

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Main Authors: Sijuan Huang, Jingheng Wu, Xi Lin, Guangyu Wang, Ting Song, Li Chen, Lecheng Jia, Qian Cao, Ruiqi Liu, Yang Liu, Xin Yang, Xiaoyan Huang, Liru He
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Bioengineering
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5354/12/6/620
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author Sijuan Huang
Jingheng Wu
Xi Lin
Guangyu Wang
Ting Song
Li Chen
Lecheng Jia
Qian Cao
Ruiqi Liu
Yang Liu
Xin Yang
Xiaoyan Huang
Liru He
author_facet Sijuan Huang
Jingheng Wu
Xi Lin
Guangyu Wang
Ting Song
Li Chen
Lecheng Jia
Qian Cao
Ruiqi Liu
Yang Liu
Xin Yang
Xiaoyan Huang
Liru He
author_sort Sijuan Huang
collection DOAJ
description <b>Objective:</b> The objective of this study was to develop and assess the clinical feasibility of auto-segmentation and auto-planning methodologies for automated radiotherapy in prostate cancer. <b>Methods</b>: A total of 166 patients were used to train a 3D Unet model for segmentation of the gross tumor volume (GTV), clinical tumor volume (CTV), nodal CTV (CTVnd), and organs at risk (OARs). Performance was assessed by the Dice similarity coefficient (<i>DSC</i>), the <i>Recall</i>, <i>Precision</i>, <i>Volume Ratio (VR)</i>, the 95% Hausdorff distance (<i>HD95</i>%), and the volumetric revision degree (<i>VRD</i>). An auto-planning network based on a 3D Unet was trained on 77 treatment plans derived from the 166 patients. Dosimetric differences and clinical acceptability of the auto-plans were studied. The effect of OAR editing on dosimetry was also evaluated. <b>Results</b>: On an independent set of 50 cases, the auto-segmentation process took 1 min 20 s per case. The <i>DSCs</i> for GTV, CTV, and CTVnd were 0.87, 0.88, and 0.82, respectively, with <i>VRD</i>s ranging from 0.09 to 0.14. The segmentation of OARs demonstrated high accuracy (<i>DSC</i> ≥ 0.83, <i>Recall/Precision</i> ≈ 1.0). The auto-planning process required 1–3 optimization iterations for 50%, 40%, and 10% of cases, respectively, and exhibited significant better conformity (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.01) and OAR sparing (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.03) while maintaining comparable target coverage. Only 6.7% of auto-plans were deemed unacceptable compared to 20% of manual plans, with 75% of auto-plans considered superior. Notably, the editing of OARs had no significant impact on doses. <b>Conclusions:</b> The accuracy of auto-segmentation is comparable to that of manual segmentation, and the auto-planning offers equivalent or better OAR protection, meeting the requirements of online automated radiotherapy and facilitating its clinical application.
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spelling doaj-art-8a62f3414883418d8a43bf0cfd151a322025-08-20T02:24:22ZengMDPI AGBioengineering2306-53542025-06-0112662010.3390/bioengineering12060620Auto-Segmentation and Auto-Planning in Automated Radiotherapy for Prostate CancerSijuan Huang0Jingheng Wu1Xi Lin2Guangyu Wang3Ting Song4Li Chen5Lecheng Jia6Qian Cao7Ruiqi Liu8Yang Liu9Xin Yang10Xiaoyan Huang11Liru He12Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, ChinaSun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, ChinaSun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, ChinaSun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, ChinaSchool of Biomedical Engineering, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, ChinaSun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, ChinaShanghai United Imaging Healthcare Co., Ltd., Shanghai 201807, ChinaShanghai United Imaging Healthcare Co., Ltd., Shanghai 201807, ChinaSun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, ChinaSun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, ChinaSun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, ChinaSun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, ChinaSun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, China<b>Objective:</b> The objective of this study was to develop and assess the clinical feasibility of auto-segmentation and auto-planning methodologies for automated radiotherapy in prostate cancer. <b>Methods</b>: A total of 166 patients were used to train a 3D Unet model for segmentation of the gross tumor volume (GTV), clinical tumor volume (CTV), nodal CTV (CTVnd), and organs at risk (OARs). Performance was assessed by the Dice similarity coefficient (<i>DSC</i>), the <i>Recall</i>, <i>Precision</i>, <i>Volume Ratio (VR)</i>, the 95% Hausdorff distance (<i>HD95</i>%), and the volumetric revision degree (<i>VRD</i>). An auto-planning network based on a 3D Unet was trained on 77 treatment plans derived from the 166 patients. Dosimetric differences and clinical acceptability of the auto-plans were studied. The effect of OAR editing on dosimetry was also evaluated. <b>Results</b>: On an independent set of 50 cases, the auto-segmentation process took 1 min 20 s per case. The <i>DSCs</i> for GTV, CTV, and CTVnd were 0.87, 0.88, and 0.82, respectively, with <i>VRD</i>s ranging from 0.09 to 0.14. The segmentation of OARs demonstrated high accuracy (<i>DSC</i> ≥ 0.83, <i>Recall/Precision</i> ≈ 1.0). The auto-planning process required 1–3 optimization iterations for 50%, 40%, and 10% of cases, respectively, and exhibited significant better conformity (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.01) and OAR sparing (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.03) while maintaining comparable target coverage. Only 6.7% of auto-plans were deemed unacceptable compared to 20% of manual plans, with 75% of auto-plans considered superior. Notably, the editing of OARs had no significant impact on doses. <b>Conclusions:</b> The accuracy of auto-segmentation is comparable to that of manual segmentation, and the auto-planning offers equivalent or better OAR protection, meeting the requirements of online automated radiotherapy and facilitating its clinical application.https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5354/12/6/620auto-segmentationauto-planningautomated radiotherapyprostate cancer
spellingShingle Sijuan Huang
Jingheng Wu
Xi Lin
Guangyu Wang
Ting Song
Li Chen
Lecheng Jia
Qian Cao
Ruiqi Liu
Yang Liu
Xin Yang
Xiaoyan Huang
Liru He
Auto-Segmentation and Auto-Planning in Automated Radiotherapy for Prostate Cancer
Bioengineering
auto-segmentation
auto-planning
automated radiotherapy
prostate cancer
title Auto-Segmentation and Auto-Planning in Automated Radiotherapy for Prostate Cancer
title_full Auto-Segmentation and Auto-Planning in Automated Radiotherapy for Prostate Cancer
title_fullStr Auto-Segmentation and Auto-Planning in Automated Radiotherapy for Prostate Cancer
title_full_unstemmed Auto-Segmentation and Auto-Planning in Automated Radiotherapy for Prostate Cancer
title_short Auto-Segmentation and Auto-Planning in Automated Radiotherapy for Prostate Cancer
title_sort auto segmentation and auto planning in automated radiotherapy for prostate cancer
topic auto-segmentation
auto-planning
automated radiotherapy
prostate cancer
url https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5354/12/6/620
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