Template Matching Can Accurately Track Tumor Motion in Cine MRI Images from Lung Cancer Patients

Xiutao Shi¹, Tejan Diwanji¹, Karen E. Mooney¹, Warren D. D'Souza¹, Nilesh Mistry¹

Accurate tracking of tumors in lung cancer is crucial for safe and effective delivery of radiation treatment. In the current study, an automated template matching technique has been applied to track respiration induced tumor motion based on cine MRI images. The performance of the technique is compared to manual estimates of tumor position. For tumors smaller than 50 mm in the longest dimension, the prediction error is < 3.9 mm (less than two pixels) and is in the order of intra-operator or inter-operator variability during manual tracking. Further hardware developments can enable clinical translation.