Geometrical imaging accuracy, image quality and plan quality for prostate cancer treatments on a 1.5 T MRLinac in patients with a unilateral hip implant

Abstract

Purpose. To assess the feasibility of prostate cancer radiotherapy for patients with a hip implant on an 1.5 T MRI-Linac (MRL) in terms of geometrical image accuracy, image quality, and plan quality. Methods. Pretreatment MRI images on a 1.5 T MRL and 3 T MRI consisting of a T2-weighted 3D delineation scan and main magnetic field homogeneity (B 0) scan were performed in six patients with a unilateral hip implant. System specific geometrical errors due to gradient nonlinearity were determined for the MRL. Within the prostate and skin contour, B 0 inhomogeneity, gradient nonlinearity error and the total geometrical error (vector summation of the prior two) was determined. Image quality was determined by visually scoring the extent of implant-born image artifacts. A treatment planning study was performed on five patients to quantify the impact of the implant on plan quality, in which conventional MRL IMRT plans were created, as well as plans which avoid radiation through the left or right femur. Results. The total maximum geometrical error in the prostate was <1 mm and the skin contour <1.7 mm; in all cases the machine-specific gradient error was most dominant. The B 0 error for the MRlinac MRI could partly be predicted based on the pre-treatment 3 T scan. Image quality for all patients was sufficient at 1.5 T MRL. Plan comparison showed that, even with avoidance of the hips, in all cases sufficient target coverage could be obtained with similar D1cc and D5cc to rectum and bladder, while V28Gy was slightly poorer in only the rectum for femur avoidance. Conclusion. We showed that geometrical accuracy, image quality and plan quality for six prostate patients with a hip implant or hip fixation treated on a 1.5 T MRL did not show relevant deterioration for the used image settings, which allowed safe treatment.