Abstract:
Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of dose calculation using three types of image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) imaging modalities, namely cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), image-guided kilovoltage computed tomography (IG-kVCT), and megavoltage computed tomography (MVCT). The calculated doses were compared with those obtained from the reference computed tomography simulation (CT-sim) and validated against patient-specific quality assurance (QA) results for head and neck and prostate cancer treatment plans, aiming to establish essential evidence for the clinical application of IGRT images in adaptive radiotherapy (ART) dose calculation Methods: HU-to-density calibration curves were generated for each imaging modality by correlating Hounsfield unit (HU) values with electron density, using the Tomo Phantom HE and CIRS Thorax Phantom. IGRT images were acquired from an Elekta Synergy XVI system (CBCT) and a Radixact X9 system (IG-kVCT and MVCT). Dose distributions calculated using IGRT images were compared with those calculated on the reference CT-sim for the phantoms. Additionally, treatment plans for ten patients with head and neck cancer and prostate cancer were recalculated on IGRT images and compared with the reference CT-sim plans. Measured dose distributions were obtained using the ArcCHECK™ phantom, and gamma passing rates (GPR) were evaluated with 3%/3 mm and 3%/2 mm criteria to assess dose calculation accuracy. Results: The results demonstrated that IG-kVCT provided the closest agreement with CT-sim, with mean GPRs of 99.8% ± 0.3% for the 3%/3 mm criterion and 98.5% ± 0.7% for the 3%/2 mm criterion. The dose deviations were within 1%. In contrast, CBCT and MVCT showed slightly lower agreement but remained clinically acceptable, with mean GPRs of 99.4% ± 0.7% and 97.7% ± 1.4%, respectively, under the 3%/2 mm criterion. The maximum dose differences did not exceed 2%. Furthermore, dose calculations based on all three IGRT modalities showed good agreement with measured dose distributions, with all GPR values meeting clinical acceptance criteria. No statistically significant differences were observed when compared with CT-sim-based calculations. Conclusion: Dose calculations based on IGRT images from CBCT, IG-kVCT, and MVCT demonstrated acceptable clinical accuracy in both phantom studies and patient-specific QA. The calculated dose distributions were consistent with those obtained from the reference CT-sim, supporting the feasibility of utilizing IGRT images for dose calculation in adaptive radiotherapy (ART).