SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Target tracking”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 361 records · Page 20

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS1993

The star identification, pointing and tracking system of UVSTAR, an attached payload instrument system for the Shuttle Hitchhiker-M platform

We describe an algorithm for star identification and pointing/tracking of a spaceborne electro-optical system and simulation analyses to test the algorithm. The algorithm will be implemented in the guiding system of UVSTAR, a spectrographic telescope for observations of astronomical and planetary sources operating in the 500-1250 A waveband at approximately 1 A resolution. The experiment is an attached payload and will fly as a Hitchhiker-M payload on the Shuttle. UVSTAR includes capabilities for independent target acquisition and tracking. The spectrograph package has internal gimbals that allow angular movement of plus or minus 3 deg from the central position. Rotation about the azimuth axis (parallel to the Shuttle z axis) and elevation axis (parallel to the Shuttle x axis) will actively position the field of view to center the target of interest in the fields of the spectrographs. The algorithm is based on an on-board catalog of stars. To identify star fields, the algorithm compares the positions of stars recorded by the guiding imager to positions computed from the on-board catalog. When the field has been identified, its position within the guiding imager field of view can be used to compute the pointing corrections necessary to point to a target of interest. In tracking mode, the software uses the past history to predict the quasi-periodic attitude control motions of the shuttle and sends pointing commands to cancel the motion and stabilize UVSTAR on the target. The guiding imager (guider) will have an 80-mm focal length and f/1.4 optics giving a field of view of 6 deg x 4.5 deg using a 385 x 288 pixel intensified CCD. It will be capable of providing high accuracy (better than 2 arc-sec) attitude determination from coarse (6 deg x 4.5 deg) initial knowledge of the pointing direction; and of pointing toward the target. It will also be capable of tracking at the same high accuracy with a processing time of less than a few hundredths of a second.

Decarlo, Francesco↗

DOE OSTI2015

MO-F-CAMPUS-J-02: Commissioning of Radiofrequency Tracking for Gated SBRT of the Liver Using Novel Motion System

Purpose: Tracking soft tissue targets has recently been approved as a new application of the Calypso radiofrequency tracking system allowing for gated treatment of the liver based on the motion of the target volume itself. As part of the commissioning process, an end-to-end test was performed using a 3D diode array and 6D motion platform to verify the dosimetric accuracy and establish the workflow of gated SBRT treatment of the liver using Calypso. Methods: A 4DCT scan of the ScandiDos Delta4 phantom was acquired using the HexaMotion motion platform to simulate realistic breathing motion. A VMAT plan was optimized on the end of inspiration phase of the 4DCT scan and delivered to the Delta4 phantom using the Varian TrueBeam. The treatment beam was gated by Calypso to deliver dose at the end of inspiration. The expected dose was compared to the delivered dose using gamma analysis. In addition, gating limits were investigated to determine how large the gating range can be while still maintaining dosimetric accuracy. Results: The 3%/3mm and 2%/2mm gamma pass rate for the gated treatment delivery was 100% and 98.4%, respectively. When increasing the gating limits beyond the known extent of planned motion from the 4DCT, the gamma pass rates decreased as expected. The 3%/3mm gamma pass rate for a 1, 2, and 3mm increase in gating limits were measured to be 96.0%, 92.7%, and 78.8%, respectively. Conclusion: Radiofrequency tracking was shown to be an effective way to provide gated SBRT treatment of the liver. Baseline gating limits should be determined by measuring the extent of target motion during the respiratory phases used for planning. We recommend adding 1mm to the baseline limits to provide the proper balance between treatment efficiency and dosimetric accuracy.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS1987

Solar object tracking for the Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is designed to carry five major scientific instruments to collect imagery, spectrographic, and photometric astronomical data. The Pointing Control System is to achieve pointing accuracies and line of sight jitter levels an order of magnitude less than can be achieved with ground mounted telescopes. In addition, the HST must be able to acquire and track solar system targets with apparent motion up to 0.21 arcsec/s. Such targets include planetary satellites, planetary surface features and comets. It is to perform this tracking with an accuracy under 0.03 arcsec at the maximum rate. Tracking of solar objects by the Space Telescope accounts for the effects of velocity aberration and parallax, as well as solar targeting a celestial object in a science instrument aperture. The design of the Pointing Control System solar object tracking features is discussed, with emphasis on the special timing and granulation problems inherent with a sampled-data, multirate digital control system.

Rodden, J. J.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Early experience with a highly mobile Lageos ranging system

Two portions of the University of Texas Transportable Laser Ranging System (TLRS) are presented: the beam director and the burst mode single photon laser ranging system. The system, optimized for the Lageos target, has satellite track rates varying from approximately 1800 arcsec per sec on low targets to a few arcsec per sec on the highest. Using full aperture, approximately 3 millijoules of laser power per shot can be transmitted without exceeding the eye damage threshold, and a beam divergence of less than 30 arcsec is dictated by these parameters. Position loop response is optimized, and the instrument is capable of tracking the satellite from nearly any firm, flat position. The laser ranging system uses a multiple pulse laser, and power restrictions result in an average return of less than one photoelectron per shot. The use of a simple laser for ranging has virtually eliminated the high percentage of down time.

Silverberg, E. C.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Vestibular and Non-vestibular Contributions to Eye Movements that Compensate for Head Rotations during Viewing of Near Targets

We studied horizontal eye movements induced by en-bloc yaw rotation, over a frequency range 0.2 - 2.8 Hz, in 10 normal human subjects as th ey monocularly viewed a target located at their near point of focus. We measured gain and phase relationships between eye-in-head velocity and head velocity when the near target was either earth-fixed or head-fixed. During viewing of the earth-fixed near target,median gain was 1.49 (range 1.24 - 1.87) at 0.2 Hz for the group of subjects, but decl ined at higher frequencies, so that at 2.8 Hz median gain was 1.08 (r ange 0.68 - 1.67). During viewing of the head-fixed near target, median gain was 0.03 (range 0.01 - 0.10) at 0.2 Hz for the group of subjec ts, but increased at higher frequencies, so that at 2.8 Hz median gai n was 0.71 (range 0.28 - 0.94). We estimated the vestibular contribution to these responses (vestibulo-ocular reflex gain, Gvor) by applyin g transient head perturbations (peak acceleration> 1,000 deg's(exp 2) ) during sinusoidal rotation under the two viewing conditions. Median Gvor, estimated < 70m after the onset of head perturbation, was 0.98 (range 0.39 - 1.42) while viewing the earth-fixed near target, and 0. 97 (range 0.37 - 1.33) while viewing the head-fixed near target. For the group of subjects, 9 out of 10 subjects showed no sigificant diff erence of Gvor between the two viewing conditions ( p > 0.053 ) at all test frequencies. Since Gvor accounted for only approximately 73% of the overall response gain during viewing of the earth-fixed target, we investigated the relative contributions of non-vestibular factors. When subjects viewed the earth-fixed target under strobe illumination , to eliminate retinal image slip information, the gain of compensato ry eye movements declined compared with viewing in ambient room light . During sum-of-sine head rotations, while viewing the earth-fixed target, to minimize contributions from predictive mechanisms, gain also declined Nonetheless, simple superposition of smooth-pursuit tracking of sinusoidal target motion could not fully account for the overall r esponse at higher frequencies, suggesting other non-vestibular contributions. During binocular viewing conditions when vergence angle was s ignificantly greater than monocular viewing (p < 0.001), this gain of compensatory eye movements did not show proportional change; indeed, gain could not be correlated with vergence angle during monocular or binocular viewing. We conclude that several separate factors contribute to generate eye rotations during sinusoidal yaw head rotations whi le viewing a near target; these include the VOR, visual-tracking eye movements that utilize retinal image motion, predictive eye movements and, possibly, other unidentified nonvestibular factors. For these experiments, vergence was not an important determinant of response gain .

Han, Yanning H.↗

NASA NTRS2007

Hydra Rendezvous and Docking Sensor

The U.S. technology to support a CEV AR&D activity is mature and was developed by NASA and supporting industry during an extensive research and development program conducted during the 1990's and early 2000 time frame at the Marshall Space Flight Center. Development and demonstration of a rendezvous/docking sensor was identified early in the AR&D Program as the critical enabling technology that allows automated proxin~ity operations and docking. A first generation rendezvous/docking sensor, the Video Guidance Sensor (VGS) was developed and successfully flown on STS 87 and again on STS 95, proving the concept of a video-based sensor. Advances in both video and signal processing technologies and the lessons learned from the two successful flight experiments provided a baseline for the development of a new generation of video based rendezvous/docking sensor. The Advanced Video Guidance Sensor (AVGS) has greatly increased performance and additional capability for longer-range operation. A Demonstration Automatic Rendezvous Technology (DART) flight experiment was flown in April 2005 using AVGS as the primary proximity operations sensor. Because of the absence of a docking mechanism on the target satellite, this mission did not demonstrate the ability of the sensor to co~ltrold ocking. Mission results indicate that the rendezvous sensor operated successfully in "spot mode" (2 km acquisition of the target, bearing data only) but was never commanded to "acquire and track" the docking target. Parts obsolescence issues prevent the construction of current design AVGS units to support the NASA Exploration initiative. This flight proven AR&D technology is being modularized and upgraded with additional capabilities through the Hydra project at the Marshall Space Flight Center. Hydra brings a unique engineering approach and sensor architecture to the table, to solve the continuing issues of parts obsolescence and multiple sensor integration. This paper presents an approach to sensor hardware trades, to address the needs of future vehicles that may rendezvous and dock with the International Space Station (ISS). It will also discuss approaches for upgrading AVGS to address parts obsolescence, and concepts for modularizing the sensor to provide configuration flexibility for multiple vehicle applications. Options for complementary sensors to be integrated into the multi-head Hydra system will also be presented. Complementary sensor options include ULTOR, a digital image correlator system that could provide relative six-degree-of-freedom information independently from AVGS, and time-of-flight sensors, which determine the range between vehicles by timing pulses that travel from the sensor to the target and back. Common targets and integrated targets, suitable for use with the multi-sensor options in Hydra, will also be addressed.

Roe, Fred↗

NASA NTRS2009

Aerobot Autonomy Architecture

An architecture for autonomous operation of an aerobot (i.e., a robotic blimp) to be used in scientific exploration of planets and moons in the Solar system with an atmosphere (such as Titan and Venus) is undergoing development. This architecture is also applicable to autonomous airships that could be flown in the terrestrial atmosphere for scientific exploration, military reconnaissance and surveillance, and as radio-communication relay stations in disaster areas. The architecture was conceived to satisfy requirements to perform the following functions: a) Vehicle safing, that is, ensuring the integrity of the aerobot during its entire mission, including during extended communication blackouts. b) Accurate and robust autonomous flight control during operation in diverse modes, including launch, deployment of scientific instruments, long traverses, hovering or station-keeping, and maneuvers for touch-and-go surface sampling. c) Mapping and self-localization in the absence of a global positioning system. d) Advanced recognition of hazards and targets in conjunction with tracking of, and visual servoing toward, targets, all to enable the aerobot to detect and avoid atmospheric and topographic hazards and to identify, home in on, and hover over predefined terrain features or other targets of scientific interest. The architecture is an integrated combination of systems for accurate and robust vehicle and flight trajectory control; estimation of the state of the aerobot; perception-based detection and avoidance of hazards; monitoring of the integrity and functionality ("health") of the aerobot; reflexive safing actions; multi-modal localization and mapping; autonomous planning and execution of scientific observations; and long-range planning and monitoring of the mission of the aerobot. The prototype JPL aerobot (see figure) has been tested extensively in various areas in the California Mojave desert.

Elfes, Alberto↗

NASA NTRS2011

Ultra-Wideband Tracking System Design for Relative Navigation

This presentation briefly discusses a design effort for a prototype ultra-wideband (UWB) time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA) tracking system that is currently under development at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC). The system is being designed for use in localization and navigation of a rover in a GPS deprived environment for surface missions. In one application enabled by the UWB tracking, a robotic vehicle carrying equipments can autonomously follow a crewed rover from work site to work site such that resources can be carried from one landing mission to the next thereby saving up-mass. The UWB Systems Group at JSC has developed a UWB TDOA High Resolution Proximity Tracking System which can achieve sub-inch tracking accuracy of a target within the radius of the tracking baseline [1]. By extending the tracking capability beyond the radius of the tracking baseline, a tracking system is being designed to enable relative navigation between two vehicles for surface missions. A prototype UWB TDOA tracking system has been designed, implemented, tested, and proven feasible for relative navigation of robotic vehicles. Future work includes testing the system with the application code to increase the tracking update rate and evaluating the linear tracking baseline to improve the flexibility of antenna mounting on the following vehicle.

Ni, Jianjun David↗

NASA NTRS1994

Real-time tracking of objects for space applications using a laser range scanner

Real-time tracking of multiple targets and three dimensional object features was demonstrated using a laser range scanner. The prototype was immune to ambient illumination and sun interference. Tracking error feedback was simultaneously obtained from individual targets, global predicted target position, and the human operator. A more complete study of calibration parameters and temperature variations on the scanner is needed to determine the exact performance of the sensor. Lissajous patterns used in three-dimensional real-time tracking prove helpful given their high resolution. The photogrammetry-based Advanced Space Vision System (ASVS) is discussed in combination with the laser range scanner.

Blais, F.↗

NASA NTRS1962

An Investigation of the Effects of the Time Lag Due to Long Transmission Distance upon Remote Control. Phase II - Vehicle Experiments. Phase III - Conclusions

An experimental program is undertaken to define the effects upon remote control of long transmission delays. Investigation centers around remote control of a ground vehicle, which is considered to be a representative remote control task. A series of pursuit tracking tests is performed with transport lags ranging from 0 to 6 seconds between the control and the controlled quantity. Various target speeds are tracked with both velocity and acceleration controls. Two types of tracking are performed in an attempt to bracket the actual vehicle situation. In the first the operator attempts to follow the target with his controlled quantity in real time, using the delayed position and rates as feedback. In the second he attempts to follow the target with the delayed controlled quantity. In addition, tests are performed substituting simple electronic models for the human in an attempt to gain an understanding of human response with time delays in the control loop. A series of tests with an actual vehicle are performed with the intent of relating the tracking tests to the actual situation of interest. Time delays of from 0 to 3 seconds are included in the control loop. Performance is scored at various speeds over both continuous and obstacle courses. Both two and four-wheel steering are investigated. In the experiments the effects of all variables except delay magnitude and target complexity are minimized. Curves are obtained showing performance as a function of time delay and target complexity. These curves are discussed. Correlation of the tracking and vehicle experiments is discussed. Comments are made concerning the design of a minimum control system for a remotely controlled lunar roving vehicle.

REMOTE CONTROL↗

DOE OSTI2016

SIFT-based dense pixel tracking on 0.35 T cine-MR images acquired during image-guided radiation therapy with application to gating optimization

Purpose: To first demonstrate the viability of applying an image processing technique for tracking regions on low-contrast cine-MR images acquired during image-guided radiation therapy, and then outline a scheme that uses tracking data for optimizing gating results in a patient-specific manner. Methods: A first-generation MR-IGRT system—treating patients since January 2014—integrates a 0.35 T MR scanner into an annular gantry consisting of three independent Co-60 sources. Obtaining adequate frame rates for capturing relevant patient motion across large fields-of-view currently requires coarse in-plane spatial resolution. This study initially (1) investigate the feasibility of rapidly tracking dense pixel correspondences across single, sagittal plane images (with both moderate signal-to-noise and spatial resolution) using a matching objective for highly descriptive vectors called scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT) descriptors associated to all pixels that describe intensity gradients in local regions around each pixel. To more accurately track features, (2) harmonic analysis was then applied to all pixel trajectories within a region-of-interest across a short training period. In particular, the procedure adjusts the motion of outlying trajectories whose relative spectral power within a frequency bandwidth consistent with respiration (or another form of periodic motion) does not exceed a threshold value that is manually specified following the training period. To evaluate the tracking reliability after applying this correction, conventional metrics—including Dice similarity coefficients (DSCs), mean tracking errors (MTEs), and Hausdorff distances (HD)—were used to compare target segmentations obtained via tracking to manually delineated segmentations. Upon confirming the viability of this descriptor-based procedure for reliably tracking features, the study (3) outlines a scheme for optimizing gating parameters—including relative target position and a tolerable margin about this position—derived from a probability density function that is constructed using tracking results obtained just prior to treatment. Results: The feasibility of applying the matching objective for SIFT descriptors toward pixel-by-pixel tracking on cine-MR acquisitions was first retrospectively demonstrated for 19 treatments (spanning various sites). Both with and without motion correction based on harmonic analysis, sub-pixel MTEs were obtained. A mean DSC value spanning all patients of 0.916 ± 0.001 was obtained without motion correction, with DSC values exceeding 0.85 for all patients considered. While most patients show accurate tracking without motion correction, harmonic analysis does yield substantial gain in accuracy (defined using HDs) for three particularly challenging subjects. An application of tracking toward a gating optimization procedure was then demonstrated that should allow a physician to balance beam-on time and tissue sparing in a patient-specific manner by tuning several intuitive parameters. Conclusions: Tracking results show high fidelity in assessing intrafractional motion observed on cine-MR acquisitions. Incorporating harmonic analysis during a training period improves the robustness of the tracking for challenging targets. The concomitant gating optimization procedure should allow for physicians to quantitatively assess gating effectiveness quickly just prior to treatment in a patient-specific manner.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

NASA NTRS2006

Vestibular and Non-vestibular Contributions to Eye Movements that Compensate for Head Rotations during Viewing of Near Targets

We studied horizontal eye movements induced by en-bloc yaw rotation, over a frequency range 0.2 - 2.8 Hz, in 10 normal human subjects as they monocularly viewed a target located at their near point of focus. We measured gain and phase relationships between eye-in-head velocity and head velocity when the near target was either earth-fixed or head-fixed. During viewing of the earth-fixed near target, median gain was 1.49 (range 1.24 - 1.87) at 0.2 Hz for the group of subjects, but declined at higher frequencies, so that at 2.8 Hz median gain was 1.08 (range 0.68 - 1.67). During viewing of the head-fixed near target , median gain was 0.03 (range 0.01 - 0.10) at 0.2 Hz for the group of subjects, but increased at higher frequencies, so that at 2.8 Hz median gain was 0.71 (range 0.28 - 0.94). We estimated the vestibular contribution to these responses vestibulo-ocular reflex gain (Gvor) by applying transient head perturbations (peak acceleration> 1,000 deg/s(exp 2)) during sinusoidal rotation under the two viewing conditions. Median Gvor, estimated < 70ms after the onset of head perturbation, was 0.98 (range 0.39 - 1.42) while viewing the earth-fixed near target, and 0.97 (range 0.37 - 1.33) while viewing the head-fixed near target. For the group of subjects, 9 out of 10 subjects showed no significant difference of Gvor between the two viewing conditions ( p > 0.053 ) at all test frequencies. Since Gvor accounted for only -73% of the overall response gain during viewing of the earth-fixed target, we investigated the relative contributions of non-vestibular factors. When subjects viewed the earth-fixed target under strobe illumination, to eliminate retinal image slip information, the gain of compensatory eye movements declined compared with viewing in ambient room light. During sum-of-sine head rotations, while viewing the earth-fixed target, to Han et al./VOR during near-viewing minimize contributions from predictive mechanisms, gain also declined Nonetheless, simple superposition of smooth-pursuit tracking of sinusoidal target motion could not fully account for the overall response at higher frequencies, suggesting other nonvestibular contributions. During binocular viewing conditions when vergence angle was significantly greater than monocular viewing (p < 0.00l), the gain of compensatory eye movements did not show proportional change; indeed, gain could not be correlated with vergence angle during monocular or binocular viewing. We conclude that several separate factors contribute to generate eye rotations during sinusoidal yaw head rotations while viewing a near target; these include the VOR, visual-tracking eye movements that utilize retinal image motion, predictive eye movements and, possibly, other unidentified non-vestibular factors. For these experiments, vergence was not an important determinant of response gam.

Han, Yanning H.↗

DOE OSTI2017

Global optimal energy management control strategies for connected four‐wheel‐drive hybrid electric vehicles

This study presents a novel decentralised hierarchical global energy management control strategy for a group of connected four‐wheel‐drive hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) in urban road conditions. In the higher level controller, signal phase and timing information and the optimal cruising velocity are combined to generate the target velocities for the HEVs. A model predictive control framework that focuses on the tracking of the target velocity and the associated desired control variable for every individual vehicle is proposed for the prediction of the optimal velocity that compromises fuel economy, mobility and safety. In the lower level controller, a dynamic programming problem is formulated that utilises the predicted velocity for the global energy management optimisation of every individual HEV. Simulation results validate the advantages of the proposed higher and lower level controllers.

Qiu, Lihong↗

NASA NTRS1971

Construction and testing of a Scanning Laser Radar (SLR), phase 2

The scanning laser radar overall system is described. Block diagrams and photographs of the hardware are included with the system description. Detailed descriptions of all the subsystems that make up the scanning laser radar system are included. Block diagrams, photographs, and detailed optical and electronic schematics are used to help describe such subsystem hardware as the laser, beam steerer, receiver optics and detector, control and processing electronics, visual data displays, and the equipment used on the target. Tests were performed on the scanning laser radar to determine its acquisition and tracking performance and to determine its range and angle accuracies while tracking a moving target. The tests and test results are described.

Flom, T.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Effects of uncertainty on manual tracking performance

Transient phenomena and target acquisition modes associated with interrupted observations during ground-to-air AA tracking were investigated. Using a two-axes control stick, the subjects tracked a computer-generated airplane image on a CRT display. The airplane image excuted a low-level straight pass. At certain pseudo-random times during each 25-second run, the screen was blanked for a period of one second. When the target image reappeared, the subjects reacquired it and continued tracking, attempting to minimize vector RMS error for the entire run (including the blanked period). The results reveal an increase both in tracking error and in error variance during the blanked period, only when the target disappears while in the crossover region. Blanking at other times effected increased variance but had no effect on the mean error. A blanking period just before crossover produced an increase lag while a blanking just after crossover resulted in a lead and thus made the error curve more symmetric.

Ephrath, A. R.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Visual fatigue - The need for an integrated model

Two experiments were conducted to examine possible decrements in performance over time on two visual tracking tasks. In Experiment 1, six subjects tracked a horizontal, sinusoidally moving target in the picture plane for 6.5 min. In Experiment 2, six subjects tracked a target sinusoidally changing focus in the depth plane between 0 and 4 D over 6.5 min. Results indicated a linearly decreasing amplitude of both pursuit eye movements (.29 deg of visual angle per minute) and accommodation (.11 D/min). These visual fatigue effects are discussed in the context of several competing explanations.

Malmstrom, F. V.↗

DOE OSTI2014

WE-G-BRF-06: Positron Emission Tomography (PET)-Guided Dynamic Lung Tumor Tracking for Cancer Radiotherapy: First Patient Simulations

Purpose: PET-guided dynamic tumor tracking is a novel concept of biologically targeted image guidance for radiotherapy. A dynamic tumor tracking algorithm based on list-mode PET data has been developed and previously tested on dynamic phantom data. In this study, we investigate if dynamic tumor tracking is clinically feasible by applying the method to lung cancer patient PET data. Methods: PET-guided tumor tracking estimates the target position of a segmented volume in PET images reconstructed continuously from accumulated coincidence events correlated with external respiratory motion, simulating real-time applications, i.e., only data up to the current time point is used to estimate the target position. A target volume is segmented with a 50% threshold, consistently, of the maximum intensity in the predetermined volume of interest. Through this algorithm, the PET-estimated trajectories are quantified from four lung cancer patients who have distinct tumor location and size. The accuracy of the PET-estimated trajectories is evaluated by comparing to external respiratory motion because the ground-truth of tumor motion is not known in patients; however, previous phantom studies demonstrated sub-2mm accuracy using clinically derived 3D tumor motion. Results: The overall similarity of motion patterns between the PET-estimated trajectories and the external respiratory traces implies that the PET-guided tracking algorithm can provide an acceptable level of targeting accuracy. However, there are variations in the tracking accuracy between tumors due to the quality of the segmentation which depends on target-to-background ratio, tumor location and size. Conclusion: For the first time, a dynamic tumor tracking algorithm has been applied to lung cancer patient PET data, demonstrating clinical feasibility of real-time tumor tracking for integrated PET-linacs. The target-to-background ratio is a significant factor determining accuracy: screening during treatment planning would enable appropriate patient selection for PET-guided dynamic tumor tracking in radiotherapy.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2014

The potential of positron emission tomography for intratreatment dynamic lung tumor tracking: A phantom study

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the potential and feasibility of positron emission tomography for dynamic lung tumor tracking during radiation treatment. The authors propose a center of mass (CoM) tumor tracking algorithm using gated-PET images combined with a respiratory monitor and investigate the geometric accuracy of the proposed algorithm. Methods: The proposed PET dynamic lung tumor tracking algorithm estimated the target position information through the CoM of the segmented target volume on gated PET images reconstructed from accumulated coincidence events. The information was continuously updated throughout a scan based on the assumption that real-time processing was supported (actual processing time at each frame ≈10 s). External respiratory motion and list-mode PET data were acquired from a phantom programmed to move with measured respiratory traces (external respiratory motion and internal target motion) from human subjects, for which the ground truth target position was known as a function of time. The phantom was cylindrical with six hollow sphere targets (10, 13, 17, 22, 28, and 37 mm in diameter). The measured respiratory traces consisted of two sets: (1) 1D-measured motion from ten healthy volunteers and (2) 3D-measured motion from four lung cancer patients. The authors evaluated the geometric accuracy of the proposed algorithm by quantifying estimation errors (Euclidean distance) between the actual motion of targets (1D-motion and 3D-motion traces) and CoM trajectories estimated by the proposed algorithm as a function of time. Results: The time-averaged error of 1D-motion traces over all trajectories of all targets was 1.6 mm. The error trajectories decreased with time as coincidence events were accumulated. The overall error trajectory of 1D-motion traces converged to within 2 mm in approximately 90 s. As expected, more accurate results were obtained for larger targets. For example, for the 37 mm target, the average error over all 1D-motion traces was 1.1 mm; and for the 10 mm target, the average error over all 1D-motion traces was 2.8 mm. The overall time-averaged error of 3D-motion traces was 1.6 mm, which was comparable to that of the 1D-motion traces. There were small variations in the errors between the 3D-motion traces, although the motion trajectories were very different. The accuracy of the estimates was consistent for all targets except for the smallest. Conclusions: The authors developed an algorithm for dynamic lung tumor tracking using list-mode PET data and a respiratory motion signal, and demonstrated proof-of-principle for PET-guided lung tumor tracking. The overall tracking error in phantom studies is less than 2 mm.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗