Joel Haskin Saltz MD, PhD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Ashish Sharma, Presenter: Nothing to Disclose

Tony C. Pan MS, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Walter R. Bosch DSc, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Joseph O. Deasy PhD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

James A. Purdy PhD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Image Guided Therapy QA Center (ITC), a member of the NCI sponsored Advanced Technology QA Consortium (ATC), facilitates cooperative group RT clinical trials quality assurance, including credentialing of participating institutions and case review of radiation therapy (RT) treatment planning data. Following ITC data integrity checks, submitted volumetric CT images, target-volume/organ-at-risk (TV/OAR) contours, treatment plans, and 3D dose distributions are converted to Matlab format using the CERR package. CERR datasets are then used by study chairs and cooperative-group dosimetrists for distributed protocol compliance review of segmentation and dosimetry. To facilitate distributed review of the CERR datasets, a secure grid-based infrastructure is used for distribution of data sets and collection of reports.

The GridIMAGE client provides secure, distributed review of a variety of image related information in Radiology and Pathology. We adapt GridIMAGE to manage the RT treatment planning image segmentation and dosimetry compliance review. It was also extended to support the current ITC Matlab interface used to view CERR datasets.

GridIMAGE supports assignment of review tasks and also supports caGrid security mechanisms to limit access to datasets. Users employ GridIMAGE to browse the ITC archive for CERR datasets of a particular RT clinical trial, and retrieve the data. Using the rich set of tools in CERR, reviewers can display images, TV/OAR contours and doses in multiple plans, calculate dose-volume histograms, and modify structure contours to maximize consistency in reporting dose-volume statistics. Contours modified or added by reviewers can be saved in the ITC repository using Grid services.

The caGrid middleware allows the deployment of existing CERR software as an integrated communications and review tool for RT clinical trials institutional credentialing and case quality assurance. It greatly simplifies the distribution of data to reviewers and allows reviewer modifications to be captured for later analysis.

ATC utilizes caGrid middleware and GridIMAGE to provide distributed access and review of radiotherapy planning datasets by remote experts.

Saltz, J, Sharma, A, Pan, T, Bosch, W, Deasy, J, Purdy, J, Application of caGridŽ Middleware to Facilitate Quality Assurance for Advanced Technology Radiation Therapy Clinical Trials.  Radiological Society of North America 2007 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, November 25 - November 30, 2007 ,Chicago IL. http://archive.rsna.org/2007/5015603.html