Automatic Contouring of Vital Swallowing Structures using an Atlas-based Segmentation Method: A Time Saving and Toxicity Assessment

Purpose/Objective(s): Long-term dysphagia after radiation therapy has been associated with high doses to the pharyngeal constrictor muscles and larynx and efforts to decrease the dose to these structures have been studied. In addition, radiation-induced dysphagia has been shown to cause increased thickness of these muscles. Properly contouring these structures on CT is difficult and time consuming. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the utility of atlas-based segmentation (ABS) in time saving in the pretreatment patient and in the assessment of toxicity in the post-treatment patient.