Investigation of clinical applicability of multi-parametric 4D-MRI for radiotherapy in liver cancer

Motivation: Although many methods for generating 4D-MRI have been studied, there are few clinical applications for radiotherapy based on 4D-MRI. Goal(s): To investigate the clinical potential of multi-parametric 4D-MRI in liver cancer radiotherapy. Approach: Target contours were delineated on the planning CT with assisted by 3D-MRI and multi-parametric 4D-MRI. Clinical plans were designed based on these contours respectively. Target volume and contours in three different hepatic lobes and target dose were compared and evaluated. Results: 3D image-guided target delineation may be more likely to underestimate target volume and compromise dose coverage. Impact: Multi-parametric 4D-MRI can be applied in clinical radiotherapy, which provides more accurate target delineation and dose coverage.