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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2020

Adaptive Hexapod Simulator Motion Based on Aircraft Stability

This paper determined the feasibility of an adaptive hexapod simulator motion algorithm based on aircraft roll stability. An experiment was conducted that used a transport aircraft model in the Vertical Motion Simulator at NASA Ames Research Center. Eighteen general aviation pilots flew a heading-capture task and a stall task consecutively under four motion configurations: baseline hexapod, adaptive hexapod, optimized hexapod, and full motion. The adaptive motion was more similar to the baseline hexapod motion in the heading-capture task when the aircraft was more stable, and more similar to the optimized hexapod motion in the stall task when the aircraft was more unstable. Pilot motion ratings and task performance in the heading-capture task under the adaptive hexapod motion were more similar to baseline hexapod motion compared to optimized hexapod motion. However, motion ratings and task performance in the stall task under the adaptive motion were not significantly more similar to the optimized hexapod motion compared to baseline hexapod motion. Motion ratings and overall task performance under optimized hexapod motion as opposed to baseline hexapod motion were always more similar to the full motion condition. This paper showed that adaptive motion based on aircraft stability is feasible and can be implemented in a straightforward way. More research is required to test the adaptive motion algorithm in different tasks.

Zaal, Peter M. T.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Improved frame-based estimation of head motion in PET brain imaging

Purpose: Head motion during PET brain imaging can cause significant degradation of image quality. Several authors have proposed ways to compensate for PET brain motion to restore image quality and improve quantitation. Head restraints can reduce movement but are unreliable; thus the need for alternative strategies such as data-driven motion estimation or external motion tracking. Herein, the authors present a data-driven motion estimation method using a preprocessing technique that allows the usage of very short duration frames, thus reducing the intraframe motion problem commonly observed in the multiple frame acquisition method. Methods: The list mode data for PET acquisition is uniformly divided into 5-s frames and images are reconstructed without attenuation correction. Interframe motion is estimated using a 3D multiresolution registration algorithm and subsequently compensated for. For this study, the authors used 8 PET brain studies that used F-18 FDG as the tracer and contained minor or no initial motion. After reconstruction and prior to motion estimation, known motion was introduced to each frame to simulate head motion during a PET acquisition. To investigate the trade-off in motion estimation and compensation with respect to frames of different length, the authors summed 5-s frames accordingly to produce 10 and 60 s frames. Summed images generated from the motion-compensated reconstructed frames were then compared to the original PET image reconstruction without motion compensation. Results: The authors found that our method is able to compensate for both gradual and step-like motions using frame times as short as 5 s with a spatial accuracy of 0.2 mm on average. Complex volunteer motion involving all six degrees of freedom was estimated with lower accuracy (0.3 mm on average) than the other types investigated. Preprocessing of 5-s images was necessary for successful image registration. Since their method utilizes nonattenuation corrected frames, it is not susceptible to motion introduced between CT and PET acquisitions. Conclusions: The authors have shown that they can estimate motion for frames with time intervals as short as 5 s using nonattenuation corrected reconstructed FDG PET brain images. Intraframe motion in 60-s frames causes degradation of accuracy to about 2 mm based on the motion type.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

SU-F-T-560: Measurement of Dose Blurring Effect Due to Respiratory Motion for Lung Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) Using Monte Carlo Based Calculation Algorithm

Purpose: Intra-fractional tumor motion due to respiration may potentially compromise dose delivery for SBRT of lung tumors. Even sufficient margins are used to ensure there is no geometric miss of target volume, there is potential dose blurring effect may present due to motion and could impact the tumor coverage if motions are larger. In this study we investigated dose blurring effect of open fields as well as Lung SBRT patients planned using 2 non-coplanar dynamic conformal arcs(NCDCA) and few conformal beams(CB) calculated with Monte Carlo (MC) based algorithm utilizing phantom with 2D-diode array(MapCheck) and ion-chamber. Methods: SBRT lung patients were planned on Brainlab-iPlan system using 4D-CT scan and ITV were contoured on MIP image set and verified on all breathing phase image sets to account for breathing motion and then 5mm margin was applied to generate PTV. Plans were created using two NCDCA and 4-5 CB 6MV photon calculated using XVMC MC-algorithm. 3 SBRT patients plans were transferred to phantom with MapCheck and 0.125cc ion-chamber inserted in the middle of phantom to calculate dose. Also open field 3×3, 5×5 and 10×10 were calculated on this phantom. Phantom was placed on motion platform with varying motion from 5, 10, 20 and 30 mm with duty cycle of 4 second. Measurements were carried out for open fields as well 3 patients plans at static and various degree of motions. MapCheck planar dose and ion-chamber reading were collected and compared with static measurements and computed values to evaluate the dosimetric effect on tumor coverage due to motion. Results: To eliminate complexity of patients plan 3 simple open fields were also measured to see the dose blurring effect with the introduction of motion. All motion measured ionchamber values were normalized to corresponding static value. For open fields 5×5 and 10×10 normalized central axis ion-chamber values were 1.00 for all motions but for 3×3 they were 1 up to 10mm motion and 0.97 and 0.87 for 20 and 30mm motion respectively. For SBRT plans central axis dose values were within 1% upto 10mm motions but decreased to average of 5% for 20mm and 8% for 30mm motion. Mapcheck comparison with static showed penumbra enlargement due to motion blurring at the edges of the field for 3×3,5×5,10×10 pass rates were 88% to 12%, 100% to 43% and 100% to 63% respectively as motion increased from 5 to 30mm. For SBRT plans MapCheck mean pass rate were decreased from 73.8% to 39.5% as motion increased from 5mm to 30mm. Conclusion: Dose blurring effect has been seen in open fields as well as SBRT lung plans using NCDCA with CB which worsens with increasing respiratory motion and decreasing field size(tumor size). To reduce this effect larger margins and appropriate motion reduction techniques should be utilized.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2018

Time-Varying Manual Control Identification in a Stall Recovery Task Under Different Simulator Motion Conditions

This paper adds data to help the development of simulator motion cueing guidelines for stall recovery training by identifying time-varying manual control behavior in a stall recovery task under different simulator motion conditions. A study was conducted with seventeen general aviation pilots in the NASA Ames Vertical Motion Simulator. Pilots had to follow a flight director through four stages of a high-altitude stall task. A time-varying identification method was used to quantify how pilot manual control parameters change throughout different stages of the task in both roll and pitch. Four motion configurations were used: no motion, generic hexapod motion, enhanced hexapod motion and full motion. Pilot performance was highest for the enhanced hexapod and full motion configurations in both roll and pitch, and the lowest without motion. In the roll axis, the pilot position gain did not significantly change throughout the stall task, but was the lowest for the condition with no motion. The pilot roll velocity gain was significantly different between motion conditions, the largest difference being found close to the stall point. The enhanced hexapod motion condition had the highest pilot roll velocity gain. In the pitch axis, the pilot position gain was significantly different between time segments but not between motion conditions. The pilot pitch velocity gain was highest for the full motion condition and increased close to the stall point, but did not change significantly for the other motion conditions. Overall, pilot control behavior under enhanced hexapod motion was most similar to that under full aircraft motion. This indicates that motion cueing for stall recovery training on hexapod simulators might be improved by using the principles behind the enhanced hexapod motion configuration.

manual control↗
DOE OSTI2014

SU-E-T-520: Four-Dimensional Dose Calculation Algorithm Considering Variations in Dose Distribution Induced by Sinusoidal One-Dimensional Motion Patterns

Purpose: To investigate quantitatively the variations in dose-distributions induced by motion by measurements and modeling. A four-dimensional (4D) motion model of dose distributions that accounts for different motion parameters was developed. Methods: Variations in dose distributions induced by sinusoidal phantom motion were measured using a multiple-diode-array-detector (MapCheck2). MapCheck2 was mounted on a mobile platform that moves with adjustable calibrated motion patterns in the superior-inferior direction. Various plans including open and intensity-modulated fields were used to irradiate MapCheck2. A motion model was developed to predict spatial and temporal variations in the dose-distributions and dependence on the motion parameters using pencil-beam spread-out superposition function. This model used the superposition of pencil-beams weighted with a probability function extracted from the motion trajectory. The model was verified with measured dose-distributions obtained from MapCheck2. Results: Dose-distribution varied considerably with motion where in the regions between isocenter and 50% isodose-line, dose decreased with increase of the motion amplitude. Dose levels increased with increase in the motion amplitude in the region beyond 50% isodose-line. When the range of motion (ROM=twice amplitude) was smaller than the field length both central axis dose and the 50% isodose-line did not change with variation of motion amplitude and remained equal to the dose of stationary phantom. As ROM became larger than the field length, the dose level decreased at central axis dose and 50% isodose-line. Motion frequency and phase did not affect the dose distributions which were delivered over an extended time longer than few motion cycles, however, they played an important role for doses delivered with high-dose-rates within one motion cycle . Conclusion: A 4D-dose motion model was developed to predict and correct variations in dose distributions induced by one-dimensional sinusoidal motion. This model was verified with measured dose-distributions and can be expanded to consider complicated patient motion patterns.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

MO-FG-BRA-07: Intrafractional Motion Effect Can Be Minimized in Tomotherapy Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT)

Purpose: Tomotherapy has unique challenges in handling intrafractional motion compared to conventional LINAC. In this study, we analyzed the impact of intrafractional motion on cumulative dosimetry using actual patient motion data and investigated real time jaw/MLC compensation approaches to minimize the motion-induced dose discrepancy in Tomotherapy SBRT treatment. Methods: Intrafractional motion data recorded in two CyberKnife lung treatment cases through fiducial tracking and two LINAC prostate cases through Calypso tracking were used in this study. For each treatment site, one representative case has an average motion (6mm) and one has a large motion (10mm for lung and 15mm for prostate). The cases were re-planned on Tomotherapy for SBRT. Each case was planned with 3 different jaw settings: 1cm static, 2.5cm dynamic, and 5cm dynamic. 4D dose accumulation software was developed to compute dose with the recorded motions and theoretically compensate motions by modifying original jaw and MLC to track the trajectory of the tumor. Results: PTV coverage in Tomotherapy SBRT for patients with intrafractional motion depends on motion type, amplitude and plan settings. For the prostate patient with large motion, PTV coverage changed from 97.2% (motion-free) to 47.1% (target motion-included), 96.6% to 58.5% and 96.3% to 97.8% for the 1cm static jaw, 2.5cm dynamic jaw and 5cm dynamic jaw setting, respectively. For the lung patient with large motion, PTV coverage discrepancies showed a similar trend of change. When the jaw and MLC compensation program was engaged, the motion compromised PTV coverage was recovered back to >95% for all cases and plans. All organs at risk (OAR) were spared with < 5% increase from original motion-free plans. Conclusion: Tomotherapy SBRT is less motion-impacted when 5cm dynamic jaw is used. Once the motion pattern is known, the jaw and MLC compensation program can largely minimize the compromised target coverage and OAR sparing.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Developing a Motion-Based System for Lunar Vehicle Handling Qualities Testing

— Motion and visual cue influences are critical in any simulator system, as they impact multiple aspects of the human’s neurovestibular and visual systems. Cues of real motion proceeds to the brain before cues of visual change. It is important therefore for simulator motion cues to exist and to match those realistically with those of the real vehicle to provide transferable training of the activity for operations. The United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force Institute of Aviation Medicine (1989)[1] stated that motion platforms are the only simulation devices capable of fully stimulating the body motion sensors. They confirmed that motion platforms can impart accelerations to the whole body and therefore exercise the automatic motion feedback-loop that operators are used to. With both visual and motion cues handling the vehicle becomes more realistic. Strachan (2019)[1] confirms motion cueing from a well set-up motion platform has been found to be important especially in conditions such as night or reduced visibility where motion cues may be more relied upon. As of this writing, the only lunar rover motion simulator is housed at the General Motors (GM) Milford Proving Ground, which only simulates the motions of a traditional car. A NASA Test Team proposed to complete a motion-based simulation system for NASA’s Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) which resides at Johnson Space Center’s Systems Engineering Simulator facility. This activity integrated existing fixed base simulation capabilities with a newly procured six-degree of freedom motion base platform for the design, development, evaluation, and training associated with the LTV project. This would incorporate a South Pole Lunar virtual reality simulation using Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter 5m/pixel high-resolution imagery and Unreal 5.2 Virtual Shadow Maps, combined with a virtual reality (VR) headset, integrated within a rover cockpit on a Mikrolar Motion Platform for evaluating human performance and vehicle handling qualities for concept roving vehicle designs. The motion-based system received its Human Rating Certification on March 2023. To begin testing the new facility, a preliminary handling qualities study was conducted. The objectives were to determine if there is a correlation amongst three handling quality methods of performance for a lunar vehicle and to understand the effects of a simulated 1/6-g loads and visuals with a motion platform on the operator while in a 1-g physical environment. The capability this system provides directly benefits the NASA’s Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program and NASA’s Flight Operations Directorate in evaluating the driving qualities of vehicle concepts, human performance related to the operating of a lunar surface vehicle, and assessment of suit related driving impacts. It would also provide direct operational benefit by providing a first-in class and unique simulation platform for the lunar astronaut training curriculum. The empirical knowledge of rover and human performance on this scale is paramount as there is currently no other lunar surface simulator with these capabilities. The result of this study ensures a broadly applicable method of testing for shirtsleeve, unpressurized and pressurized suited rover handling qualities.

Test Track↗
DOE OSTI2015

Cardiac motion correction based on partial angle reconstructed images in x-ray CT

Purpose: Cardiac x-ray CT imaging is still challenging due to heart motion, which cannot be ignored even with the current rotation speed of the equipment. In response, many algorithms have been developed to compensate remaining motion artifacts by estimating the motion using projection data or reconstructed images. In these algorithms, accurate motion estimation is critical to the compensated image quality. In addition, since the scan range is directly related to the radiation dose, it is preferable to minimize the scan range in motion estimation. In this paper, the authors propose a novel motion estimation and compensation algorithm using a sinogram with a rotation angle of less than 360°. The algorithm estimates the motion of the whole heart area using two opposite 3D partial angle reconstructed (PAR) images and compensates the motion in the reconstruction process. Methods: A CT system scans the thoracic area including the heart over an angular range of 180° + α + β, where α and β denote the detector fan angle and an additional partial angle, respectively. The obtained cone-beam projection data are converted into cone-parallel geometry via row-wise fan-to-parallel rebinning. Two conjugate 3D PAR images, whose center projection angles are separated by 180°, are then reconstructed with an angular range of β, which is considerably smaller than a short scan range of 180° + α. Although these images include limited view angle artifacts that disturb accurate motion estimation, they have considerably better temporal resolution than a short scan image. Hence, after preprocessing these artifacts, the authors estimate a motion model during a half rotation for a whole field of view via nonrigid registration between the images. Finally, motion-compensated image reconstruction is performed at a target phase by incorporating the estimated motion model. The target phase is selected as that corresponding to a view angle that is orthogonal to the center view angles of two conjugate PAR images. To evaluate the proposed algorithm, digital XCAT and physical dynamic cardiac phantom datasets are used. The XCAT phantom datasets were generated with heart rates of 70 and 100 bpm, respectively, by assuming a system rotation time of 300 ms. A physical dynamic cardiac phantom was scanned using a slowly rotating XCT system so that the effective heart rate will be 70 bpm for a system rotation speed of 300 ms. Results: In the XCAT phantom experiment, motion-compensated 3D images obtained from the proposed algorithm show coronary arteries with fewer motion artifacts for all phases. Moreover, object boundaries contaminated by motion are well restored. Even though object positions and boundary shapes are still somewhat different from the ground truth in some cases, the authors see that visibilities of coronary arteries are improved noticeably and motion artifacts are reduced considerably. The physical phantom study also shows that the visual quality of motion-compensated images is greatly improved. Conclusions: The authors propose a novel PAR image-based cardiac motion estimation and compensation algorithm. The algorithm requires an angular scan range of less than 360°. The excellent performance of the proposed algorithm is illustrated by using digital XCAT and physical dynamic cardiac phantom datasets.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

Quantification of Pediatric Abdominal Organ Motion With a 4-Dimensional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Method

Purpose: To characterize respiration-induced abdominal organ motion in children receiving radiation treatment with a 4-dimensional (4D) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method. Methods and Materials: We analyzed free-breathing coronal 4D MRI datasets acquired from 35 patients (aged 1-20 years) with abdominal tumors. A deformable image registration of the 4D MRI datasets was performed to derive motion trajectories of selected anatomic landmarks, from which organ motions were quantified. The association between organ motion and patient characteristics was investigated and compared with previous studies. The relation between patient height and organ motion was further investigated to predict organ motion in prospective patients. Results: Organ motion and its individual variation were reduced in younger patients (eg, kidney peak-to-peak motion <5 mm for all but 1 patient aged ≤8 years), although special motion management may be warranted in some adolescents. The liver and spleen exhibited greater motion than did the kidneys, while intraorgan variation was present. The motions in the liver and kidneys agreed with those reported by the previous 4D computed tomography studies. Individual variations of organ motion in younger patients were due, in part, to changes in respiration rate, which ostensibly reflected the effect of anesthesia. The prediction of organ motion was limited by large individual variations, particularly for older patients. Conclusions: The 4D MRI acquisition method and motion analysis described in this study provide a nonionizing approach to understand age-associated organ motion, which aids in the planning of abdominal radiation therapy for pediatric patients. Use of 4D MRI facilitates monitoring of changes in target motion patterns during treatment courses and in various studies of the effect of organ motion on radiation treatment.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Motion as a perturbation: Measurement-guided dose estimates to moving patient voxels during modulated arc deliveries

Purpose: To present a framework for measurement-guided VMAT dose reconstruction to moving patient voxels from a known motion kernel and the static phantom data, and to validate this perturbation-based approach with the proof-of-principle experiments. Methods: As described previously, the VMAT 3D dose to a static patient can be estimated by applying a phantom measurement-guided perturbation to the treatment planning system (TPS)-calculated dose grid. The fraction dose to any voxel in the presence of motion, assuming the motion kernel is known, can be derived in a similar fashion by applying a measurement-guided motion perturbation. The dose to the diodes in a helical phantom is recorded at 50 ms intervals and is transformed into a series of time-resolved high-density volumetric dose grids. A moving voxel is propagated through this 4D dose space and the fraction dose to that voxel in the phantom is accumulated. The ratio of this motion-perturbed, reconstructed dose to the TPS dose in the phantom serves as a perturbation factor, applied to the TPS fraction dose to the similarly situated voxel in the patient. This approach was validated by the ion chamber and film measurements on four phantoms of different shape and structure: homogeneous and inhomogeneous cylinders, a homogeneous cube, and an anthropomorphic thoracic phantom. A 2D motion stage was used to simulate the motion. The stage position was synchronized with the beam start time with the respiratory gating simulator. The motion patterns were designed such that the motion speed was in the upper range of the expected tumor motion (1-1.4 cm/s) and the range exceeded the normally observed limits (up to 5.7 cm). The conformal arc plans for X or Y motion (in the IEC 61217 coordinate system) consisted of manually created narrow (3 cm) rectangular strips moving in-phase (tracking) or phase-shifted by 90 Degree-Sign (crossing) with respect to the phantom motion. The XY motion was tested with the computer-derived VMAT MLC sequences. For all phantoms and plans, time-resolved (10 Hz) ion chamber dose was collected. In addition, coronal (XY) films were exposed in the cube phantom to a VMAT beam with two different starting phases, and compared to the reconstructed motion-perturbed dose planes. Results: For the X or Y motions with the moving strip and geometrical phantoms, the maximum difference between perturbation-reconstructed and ion chamber doses did not exceed 1.9%, and the average for any motion pattern/starting phase did not exceed 1.3%. For the VMAT plans on the cubic and thoracic phantoms, one point exhibited a 3.5% error, while the remaining five were all within 1.1%. Across all the measurements (N = 22), the average disagreement was 0.5 {+-} 1.3% (1 SD). The films exhibited {gamma}(3%/3 mm) passing rates {>=}90%. Conclusions: The dose to an arbitrary moving voxel in a patient can be estimated with acceptable accuracy for a VMAT delivery, by performing a single QA measurement with a cylindrical phantom and applying two consecutive perturbations to the TPS-calculated patient dose. The first one accounts for the differences between the planned and delivered static doses, while the second one corrects for the motion.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2013

Monitoring internal organ motion with continuous wave radar in CT

Purpose: To avoid motion artifacts in medical imaging or to minimize the exposure of healthy tissues in radiation therapy, medical devices are often synchronized with the patient's respiratory motion. Today's respiratory motion monitors require additional effort to prepare the patients, e.g., mounting a motion belt or placing an optical reflector on the patient's breast. Furthermore, they are not able to measure internal organ motion without implanting markers. An interesting alternative to assess the patient's organ motion is continuous wave radar. The aim of this work is to design, implement, and evaluate such a radar system focusing on application in CT.Methods: The authors designed a radar system operating in the 860 MHz band to monitor the patient motion. In the intended application of the radar system, the antennas are located close to the patient's body inside the table of a CT system. One receive and four transmitting antennas are used to avoid the requirement of exact patient positioning. The radar waves propagate into the patient's body and are reflected at tissue boundaries, for example at the borderline between muscle and adipose tissue, or at the boundaries of organs. At present, the authors focus on the detection of respiratory motion. The radar system consists of the hardware mentioned above as well as of dedicated signal processing software to extract the desired information from the radar signal. The system was evaluated using simulations and measurements. To simulate the radar system, a simulation model based on radar and wave field equations was designed and 4D respiratory-gated CT data sets were used as input. The simulated radar signals and the measured data were processed in the same way. The radar system hardware and the signal processing algorithms were tested with data from ten volunteers. As a reference, the respiratory motion signal was recorded using a breast belt simultaneously with the radar measurements.Results: Concerning the measurements of the test persons, there is a very good correlation (ρ= 0.917) between the respiratory motion phases received by the radar system and the external motion monitor. Our concept of using an array of transmitting antennas turned out to be widely insensitive to the positioning of the test persons. A time shift between the respiratory motion curves recorded with the radar system and the motion curves from the external respiratory monitor was observed which indicates a slight difference between internal organ motion and motion detected by the external respiratory monitor. The simulations were in good accordance with the measurements.Conclusions: A continuous wave radar operating in the near field of the antennas can be used to determine the respiratory motion of humans accurately. In contrast to trigger systems used today, the radar system is able to measure motion inside the body. If such a monitor was routinely available in clinical CT, it would be possible optimizing the scan start with respect to the respiratory state of the patient. Breathing commands would potentially widely be avoided, and as far as uncooperative patients or children are concerned, less sedation might be necessary. Further applications of the radar system could be in radiation therapy or interventional imaging for instance.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Simultaneous motion estimation and image reconstruction (SMEIR) for 4D cone-beam CT

Purpose: Image reconstruction and motion model estimation in four-dimensional cone-beam CT (4D-CBCT) are conventionally handled as two sequential steps. Due to the limited number of projections at each phase, the image quality of 4D-CBCT is degraded by view aliasing artifacts, and the accuracy of subsequent motion modeling is decreased by the inferior 4D-CBCT. The objective of this work is to enhance both the image quality of 4D-CBCT and the accuracy of motion model estimation with a novel strategy enabling simultaneous motion estimation and image reconstruction (SMEIR).Methods: The proposed SMEIR algorithm consists of two alternating steps: (1) model-based iterative image reconstruction to obtain a motion-compensated primary CBCT (m-pCBCT) and (2) motion model estimation to obtain an optimal set of deformation vector fields (DVFs) between the m-pCBCT and other 4D-CBCT phases. The motion-compensated image reconstruction is based on the simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique (SART) coupled with total variation minimization. During the forward- and backprojection of SART, measured projections from an entire set of 4D-CBCT are used for reconstruction of the m-pCBCT by utilizing the updated DVF. The DVF is estimated by matching the forward projection of the deformed m-pCBCT and measured projections of other phases of 4D-CBCT. The performance of the SMEIR algorithm is quantitatively evaluated on a 4D NCAT phantom. The quality of reconstructed 4D images and the accuracy of tumor motion trajectory are assessed by comparing with those resulting from conventional sequential 4D-CBCT reconstructions (FDK and total variation minimization) and motion estimation (demons algorithm). The performance of the SMEIR algorithm is further evaluated by reconstructing a lung cancer patient 4D-CBCT.Results: Image quality of 4D-CBCT is greatly improved by the SMEIR algorithm in both phantom and patient studies. When all projections are used to reconstruct a 3D-CBCT by FDK, motion-blurring artifacts are present, leading to a 24.4% relative reconstruction error in the NACT phantom. View aliasing artifacts are present in 4D-CBCT reconstructed by FDK from 20 projections, with a relative error of 32.1%. When total variation minimization is used to reconstruct 4D-CBCT, the relative error is 18.9%. Image quality of 4D-CBCT is substantially improved by using the SMEIR algorithm and relative error is reduced to 7.6%. The maximum error (MaxE) of tumor motion determined from the DVF obtained by demons registration on a FDK-reconstructed 4D-CBCT is 3.0, 2.3, and 7.1 mm along left–right (L-R), anterior–posterior (A-P), and superior–inferior (S-I) directions, respectively. From the DVF obtained by demons registration on 4D-CBCT reconstructed by total variation minimization, the MaxE of tumor motion is reduced to 1.5, 0.5, and 5.5 mm along L-R, A-P, and S-I directions. From the DVF estimated by SMEIR algorithm, the MaxE of tumor motion is further reduced to 0.8, 0.4, and 1.5 mm along L-R, A-P, and S-I directions, respectively.Conclusions: The proposed SMEIR algorithm is able to estimate a motion model and reconstruct motion-compensated 4D-CBCT. The SMEIR algorithm improves image reconstruction accuracy of 4D-CBCT and tumor motion trajectory estimation accuracy as compared to conventional sequential 4D-CBCT reconstruction and motion estimation.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Evaluation of image guided motion management methods in lung cancer radiotherapy

Purpose: To evaluate the accuracy and reliability of three target localization methods for image guided motion management in lung cancer radiotherapy. Methods: Three online image localization methods, including (1) 2D method based on 2D cone beam (CB) projection images, (2) 3D method using 3D cone beam CT (CBCT) imaging, and (3) 4D method using 4D CBCT imaging, have been evaluated using a moving phantom controlled by (a) 1D theoretical breathing motion curves and (b) 3D target motion patterns obtained from daily treatment of 3 lung cancer patients. While all methods are able to provide target mean position (MP), the 2D and 4D methods can also provide target motion standard deviation (SD) and excursion (EX). For each method, the detected MP/SD/EX values are compared to the analytically calculated actual values to calculate the errors. The MP errors are compared among three methods and the SD/EX errors are compared between the 2D and 4D methods. In the theoretical motion study (a), the dependency of MP/SD/EX error on EX is investigated with EX varying from 2.0 cm to 3.0 cm with an increment step of 0.2 cm. In the patient motion study (b), the dependency of MP error on target sizes (2.0 cm and 3.0 cm), motion patterns (four motions per patient) and EX variations is investigated using multivariant linear regression analysis. Results: In the theoretical motion study (a), the MP detection errors are −0.2 ± 0.2, −1.5 ± 1.1, and −0.2 ± 0.2 mm for 2D, 3D, and 4D methods, respectively. Both the 2D and 4D methods could accurately detect motion pattern EX (error < 1.2 mm) and SD (error < 1.0 mm). In the patient motion study (b), MP detection error vector (mm) with the 2D method (0.7 ± 0.4) is found to be significantly less than with the 3D method (1.7 ± 0.8,p < 0.001) and the 4D method (1.4 ± 1.0, p < 0.001) using paired t-test. However, no significant difference is found between the 4D method and the 3D method. Based on multivariant linear regression analysis, the variances of MP error in SI direction explained by target sizes, motion patterns, and EX variations are 9% with the 2D method, 74.4% with the 3D method, and 27% with the 4D method. The EX/SD detection errors are both < 1.0 mm for the 2D method and < 2.0 mm for the 4D method. Conclusions: The 2D method provides the most accurate MP detection regardless of the motion pattern variations, while its performance is limited by the accuracy of target identification in the projection images. The 3D method causes the largest error in MP determination, and its accuracy significantly depends on target sizes, motion patterns, and EX variations. The 4D method provides moderate MP detection results, while its accuracy relies on a regular motion pattern. In addition, the 2D and 4D methods both provide accurate measurement of the motion SD/EX, providing extra information for motion management.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Applicability of 1D site response analysis to shallow sedimentary basins: A critical evaluation through physics-based 3D ground motion simulations

One-dimensional site response analysis (1D SRA) remains the standard practice in considering the effect of local soil deposits and predicting site-specific ground motions, although its range of applicability to realistic seismic wavefields is still in question. In this 1D approach, horizontal and vertical ground shaking are assumed to be induced by vertically propagating shear and compressional waves, respectively. A recent study based on analytical two-dimensional (2D) plane waves and simple point source earthquake simulations has shown two mechanistic limitations in this 1D modelling technique for general inclined seismic waves, that is, systematic over-prediction of the vertical motion and wave trapping in the 1D soil column. In this article, we evaluate in detail the applicability of this 1D modelling approach to realistic three-dimensional (3D) simulated seismic wavefields in shallow sedimentary basins. Linear-viscoelastic 1D SRA predictions using two types of input motions that are commonly used in practice—rock outcrop and in-column motions, are compared with the reference true site response results from 3D earthquake simulations in terms of various measures in the frequency and time domain. It is shown that the horizontal motion in the 3D seismic wavefield exhibits dominant shear wave propagation phenomenon, while the vertical motion is a combined effect of compressional and shear waves and can be over-predicted by the 1D approach when the incident seismic waves are inclined. Direct evidence of the wave refraction process that leads to the vertical motion over-prediction is provided. 1D SRA with in-column inputs can yield motions that have significantly longer duration compared to the true 3D site response solution due to trapped waves, casting in doubt the frequent need for increased soil damping in existing site studies to compensate for wave attenuation due to scattering alone. Sensitivity investigation on the increase of soil profile damping by a multiplier D mul shows D mul values compatible with those found in the literature for both horizontal and vertical motions. It is shown that the level of D mul optimized for a best match of the spectral acceleration is dependent on the characteristic of the input motion and a larger D mul is typically required for the vertical component. In contrast, 1D SRA with outcrop motions predicts motions with shorter significant duration due to its inability to capture the basin-edge generated surface waves. A suite of ground motion simulations was performed to assess the sensitivity of the observations to the basin geologic structure including the velocity gradient, rock-basin impedance contrast and basin depth. The analysis results show that the accuracy of the simplified 1D procedure is dependent on the wavefield composition of both the input motions and the true 3D site response solution. While the horizontal motions in shallow sedimentary basins can, to the first order, be reasonably captured by the simplified 1D approach, 1D SRA for the vertical component is in general not reliable and contributions from inclined shear waves should be accounted for in site-specific evaluation of the vertical design ground motion.

1D assumption↗
NASA NTRS1994

Full-wave and half-wave rectification in second-order motion perception

Microbalanced stimuli are dynamic displays which do not stimulate motion mechanisms that apply standard (Fourier-energy or autocorrelational) motion analysis directly to the visual signal. In order to extract motion information from microbalanced stimuli, Chubb and Sperling [(1988) Journal of the Optical Society of America, 5, 1986-2006] proposed that the human visual system performs a rectifying transformation on the visual signal prior to standard motion analysis. The current research employs two novel types of microbalanced stimuli: half-wave stimuli preserve motion information following half-wave rectification (with a threshold) but lose motion information following full-wave rectification; full-wave stimuli preserve motion information following full-wave rectification but lose motion information following half-wave rectification. Additionally, Fourier stimuli, ordinary square-wave gratings, were used to stimulate standard motion mechanisms. Psychometric functions (direction discrimination vs stimulus contrast) were obtained for each type of stimulus when presented alone, and when masked by each of the other stimuli (presented as moving masks and also as nonmoving, counterphase-flickering masks). RESULTS: given sufficient contrast, all three types of stimulus convey motion. However, only one-third of the population can perceive the motion of the half-wave stimulus. Observers are able to process the motion information contained in the Fourier stimulus slightly more efficiently than the information in the full-wave stimulus but are much less efficient in processing half-wave motion information. Moving masks are more effective than counterphase masks at hampering direction discrimination, indicating that some of the masking effect is interference between motion mechanisms, and some occurs at earlier stages. When either full-wave and Fourier or half-wave and Fourier gratings are presented simultaneously, there is a wide range of relative contrasts within which the motion directions of both gratings are easily determinable. Conversely, when half-wave and full-wave gratings are combined, the direction of only one of these gratings can be determined with high accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: the results indicate that three motion computations are carried out, any two in parallel: one standard ("first order") and two non-Fourier ("second-order") computations that employ full-wave and half-wave rectification.

Motion Perception/physiology↗
DOE OSTI2016

A Novel Respiratory Motion Perturbation Model Adaptable to Patient Breathing Irregularities

Purpose: To develop a physical, adaptive motion perturbation model to predict tumor motion using feedback from dynamic measurement of breathing conditions to compensate for breathing irregularities. Methods and Materials: A novel respiratory motion perturbation (RMP) model was developed to predict tumor motion variations caused by breathing irregularities. This model contained 2 terms: the initial tumor motion trajectory, measured from 4-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) images, and motion perturbation, calculated from breathing variations in tidal volume (TV) and breathing pattern (BP). The motion perturbation was derived from the patient-specific anatomy, tumor-specific location, and time-dependent breathing variations. Ten patients were studied, and 2 amplitude-binned 4DCT images for each patient were acquired within 2 weeks. The motion trajectories of 40 corresponding bifurcation points in both 4DCT images of each patient were obtained using deformable image registration. An in-house 4D data processing toolbox was developed to calculate the TV and BP as functions of the breathing phase. The motion was predicted from the simulation 4DCT scan to the treatment 4DCT scan, and vice versa, resulting in 800 predictions. For comparison, noncorrected motion differences and the predictions from a published 5-dimensional model were used. Results: The average motion range in the superoinferior direction was 9.4 ± 4.4 mm, the average ΔTV ranged from 10 to 248 mm{sup 3} (−26% to 61%), and the ΔBP ranged from 0 to 0.2 (−71% to 333%) between the 2 4DCT scans. The mean noncorrected motion difference was 2.0 ± 2.8 mm between 2 4DCT motion trajectories. After applying the RMP model, the mean motion difference was reduced significantly to 1.2 ± 1.8 mm (P=.0018), a 40% improvement, similar to the 1.2 ± 1.8 mm (P=.72) predicted with the 5-dimensional model. Conclusions: A novel physical RMP model was developed with an average accuracy of 1.2 ± 1.8 mm for interfraction motion prediction, similar to that of a published lung motion model. This physical RMP was analytically derived and is able to adapt to breathing irregularities. Further improvement of this RMP model is under investigation.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2012

Liver motion during cone beam computed tomography guided stereotactic body radiation therapy

Purpose: Understanding motion characteristics of liver such as, interfractional and intrafractional motion variability, difference in motion within different locations in the organ, and their complex relationship with the breathing cycles are particularly important for image-guided liver SBRT. The purpose of this study was to investigate such motion characteristics based on fiducial markers tracked with the x-ray projections of the CBCT scans, taken immediately prior to the treatments. Methods: Twenty liver SBRT patients were analyzed. Each patient had three fiducial markers (2 Multiplication-Sign 5-mm gold) percutaneously implanted around the gross tumor. The prescription ranged from 2 to 8 fractions per patient. The CBCT projections data for each fraction ({approx}650 projections/scan), for each patient, were analyzed and the 2D positions of the markers were extracted using an in-house algorithm. In total, >55 000 x-ray projections were analyzed from 85 CBCT scans. From the 2D extracted positions, a 3D motion trajectory of the markers was constructed, from each CBCT scans, resulting in left-right (LR), anterior-posterior (AP), and cranio-caudal (CC) location information of the markers with >55 000 data points. The authors then analyzed the interfraction and intrafraction liver motion variability, within different locations in the organ, and as a function of the breathing cycle. The authors also compared the motion characteristics against the planning 4DCT and the RPM Trade-Mark-Sign (Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, CA) breathing traces. Variations in the appropriate gating window (defined as the percent of the maximum range at which 50% of the marker positions are contained), between fractions were calculated as well. Results: The range of motion for the 20 patients were 3.0 {+-} 2.0 mm, 5.1 {+-} 3.1 mm, and 17.9 {+-} 5.1 mm in the planning 4DCT, and 2.8 {+-} 1.6 mm, 5.3 {+-} 3.1 mm, and 16.5 {+-} 5.7 mm in the treatment CBCT, for LR, AP, and CC directions, respectively. The range of respiratory period was 3.9 {+-} 0.7 and 4.2 {+-} 0.8 s during the 4DCT simulation and the CBCT scans, respectively. The authors found that breathing-induced AP and CC motions are highly correlated. That is, all markers moved cranially also moved posteriorly and vice versa, irrespective of the location. The LR motion had a more variable relationship with the AP/CC motions, and appeared random with respect to the location. That is, when the markers moved toward cranial-posterior direction, 58% of the markers moved to the patient-right, 22% of the markers moved to the patient-left, and 20% of the markers had minimal/none motion. The absolute difference in the motion magnitude between the markers, in different locations within the liver, had a positive correlation with the absolute distance between the markers (R{sup 2}= 0.69, linear-fit). The interfractional gating window varied significantly for some patients, with the largest having 29.4%-56.4% range between fractions. Conclusions: This study analyzed the liver motion characteristics of 20 patients undergoing SBRT. A large variation in motion was observed, interfractionally and intrafractionally, and that as the distance between the markers increased, the difference in the absolute range of motion also increased. This suggests that marker(s) in closest proximity to the target be used.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2013

Improving best-phase image quality in cardiac CT by motion correction with MAM optimization

Purpose: Research in image reconstruction for cardiac CT aims at using motion correction algorithms to improve the image quality of the coronary arteries. The key to those algorithms is motion estimation, which is currently based on 3-D/3-D registration to align the structures of interest in images acquired in multiple heart phases. The need for an extended scan data range covering several heart phases is critical in terms of radiation dose to the patient and limits the clinical potential of the method. Furthermore, literature reports only slight quality improvements of the motion corrected images when compared to the most quiet phase (best-phase) that was actually used for motion estimation. In this paper a motion estimation algorithm is proposed which does not require an extended scan range but works with a short scan data interval, and which markedly improves the best-phase image quality. Methods: Motion estimation is based on the definition of motion artifact metrics (MAM) to quantify motion artifacts in a 3-D reconstructed image volume. The authors use two different MAMs, entropy, and positivity. By adjusting the motion field parameters, the MAM of the resulting motion-compensated reconstruction is optimized using a gradient descent procedure. In this way motion artifacts are minimized. For a fast and practical implementation, only analytical methods are used for motion estimation and compensation. Both the MAM-optimization and a 3-D/3-D registration-based motion estimation algorithm were investigated by means of a computer-simulated vessel with a cardiac motion profile. Image quality was evaluated using normalized cross-correlation (NCC) with the ground truth template and root-mean-square deviation (RMSD). Four coronary CT angiography patient cases were reconstructed to evaluate the clinical performance of the proposed method. Results: For the MAM-approach, the best-phase image quality could be improved for all investigated heart phases, with a maximum improvement of the NCC value by 100% and of the RMSD value by 81%. The corresponding maximum improvements for the registration-based approach were 20% and 40%. In phases with very rapid motion the registration-based algorithm obtained better image quality, while the image quality of the MAM algorithm was superior in phases with less motion. The image quality improvement of the MAM optimization was visually confirmed for the different clinical cases. Conclusions: The proposed method allows a software-based best-phase image quality improvement in coronary CT angiography. A short scan data interval at the target heart phase is sufficient, no additional scan data in other cardiac phases are required. The algorithm is therefore directly applicable to any standard cardiac CT acquisition protocol.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗