Author: Zhitao Dai 👨🔬
Affiliation: Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Cancer Hospital Shenzhen Hospital 🌍
Purpose: To investigate the accuracy of 3D printed individualized vaginal template assisted pre-planning in the interstitial implantation of cervical cancer, to examine the advantages when compared with traditional interstitial brachytherapy.
Methods: The target area is delineated according to the pre-scanned CT image of the patient. A pre-plan formed after the needle insertion point, the dwell point and the dwell time were preset by the system automatically. The individualized vagina template was designed according to the pre-planning by the 3D printing technology. D90, D98, V6 for the target and D2cc, D1cc, D0.1cc for the normal organs (bladder, rectum, sigmoid, small intestine) were compared between the actual treatment plan and the pre-plan. And compared these parameters and the number of CT scanning times between 3D printed group and the traditional interstitial group.
Results: In this study, a total of 10 individualized vaginal templates for implantation were designed, and 7 patients were implanted with 3D printed individualized template for a total of 22 times. The position of the implanted needle under the template guide was the same as the preset needle. there were no statistical difference in P value between the actual treatment plan and the pre-planned target area D90, D98, V6 (all P>0.05). However, the number of CT scans and the time of implantation 3D printed group was significantly lower than that in the traditional interstitial group. D2cc of rectum and sigmoid of the 3D printed group was statistically significant.
Conclusion: According to the pre-planned individualized vaginal template for the treatment of cervical cancer, the treatment plan is basically consistent with the pre-planning to ensure the accurate implementation of the pre-plan. Compared with the traditional implantion, the number of scan CTs is reduced, and whether the dosimetry is superior to the traditional interstitial still needs to be expanded to further observation.