Physiological and Biomechanical Model of Patient Specific Lung Motion Based on 4D CT Images

International audiencePrediction of respiratory motion has the potential tosubstantially improve cancer radiation therapy. Tumor motionduring irradiation reduces the target coverage and increasesdose to healthy tissues. In this paper, we have developed anew dynamic biomechanical model of the respiratory system,permitting the simulation of a complete cycle of respiratorymotion, based on the finite element method (FEM), includingthe real boundary conditions of the organs (the diaphragm, thethorax, mediastinum and skin behaviors) to predict the lungtumor displacement and deformation. The model is monitored bytwo muscles: the diaphragm and the rib kinematics. We validateour approach with real 4D CT images. The results demonstratethat the proposed approach is able to predict the respiratorymotion with an average error less than 2.0 mm in the differentlobes