title: Multi-institutional quantitative evaluation and clinical validation of Smart Probabilistic Image Contouring Engine (SPICE) autosegmentation of target structures and normal tissues on computer tomography images in the head and neck, thorax, liver, and male pelvis areas.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Clinical validation and quantitative evaluation of computed tomography (CT) image autosegmentation using Smart Probabilistic Image Contouring Engine (SPICE).
  
  
  METHODS
  CT images of 125 treated patients (32 head and neck [HN], 40 thorax, 23 liver, and 30 prostate) in 7 independent institutions were autosegmented using SPICE and computational times were recorded. The number of structures autocontoured were 25 for the HN, 7 for the thorax, 3 for the liver, and 6 for the male pelvis regions. Using the clinical contours as reference, autocontours of 22 selected structures were quantitatively evaluated using Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) and Mean Slice-wise Hausdorff Distance (MSHD). All 40 autocontours were evaluated by a radiation oncologist from the institution that treated the patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean computational times to autosegment all the structures using SPICE were 3.1 to 11.1 minutes per patient. For the HN region, the mean DSC was >0.70 for all evaluated structures, and the MSHD ranged from 3.2 to 10.0 mm. For the thorax region, the mean DSC was 0.95 for the lungs and 0.90 for the heart, and the MSHD ranged from 2.8 to 12.8 mm. For the liver region, the mean DSC was >0.92 for all structures, and the MSHD ranged from 5.2 to 15.9 mm. For the male pelvis region, the mean DSC was >0.76 for all structures, and the MSHD ranged from 4.8 to 10.5 mm. Out of the 40 autocontoured structures reviews by experts, 25 were scored useful as autocontoured or with minor edits for at least 90% of the patients and 33 were scored useful autocontoured or with minor edits for at least 80% of the patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Compared with manual contouring, autosegmentation using SPICE for the HN, thorax, liver, and male pelvis regions is efficient and shows significant promise for clinical utility.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.
authors.forename: Mingyao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bzdusek
authors.forename: Carsten
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brink
authors.forename: Jesper Grau
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Eriksen
authors.forename: Olfred
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: Helle Anita
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: Hiram A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Gay
authors.forename: Wade
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Thorstad
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Widder
authors.forename: Charlotte L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Brouwer
authors.forename: Roel J H M
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Steenbakkers
authors.forename: Hubertus A M
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Vanhauten
authors.forename: Jeffrey Q
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Gail
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McBrayne
authors.forename: Salil H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Donald M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Cannon
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hardcastle
authors.forename: Wolfgang A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Tomé
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guckenberg
authors.forename: Parag J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Parikh
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D006257:Head / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D009333:Neck / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D010388:Pelvis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011467:Prostate / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic / Q000379:methods; D011880:Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D050397:Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated / Q000379:methods*; D012984:Software; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*