Accuracy of patient setup positioning using surface‐guided radiotherapy with deformable registration in cases of surface deformation

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The Catalyst™ HD (C‐RAD Positioning AB, Uppsala, Sweden) is surface‐guided radiotherapy (SGRT) equipment that adopts a deformable model. The challenge in applying the SGRT system is accurately correcting the setup error using a deformable model when the body of the patient is deformed. This study evaluated the effect of breast deformation on the accuracy of the setup correction of the SGRT system. Physical breast phantoms were used to investigate the relationship between the mean deviation setup error obtained from the SGRT system and the breast deformation. Physical breast phantoms were used to simulate extension and shrinkage deformation (−30 to 30 mm) by changing breast pieces. Three‐dimensional (3D) Slicer software was used to evaluate the deformation. The maximum deformations in <jats:italic>X</jats:italic>, <jats:italic>Y</jats:italic>, and <jats:italic>Z</jats:italic> directions were obtained as the differences between the original and deformed breasts. We collected the mean deviation setup error from the SGRT system by replacing the original breast part with the deformed breast part. The mean absolute difference of lateral, longitudinal, vertical, pitch, roll, and yaw, between the rigid and deformable registrations was 2.4 ± 1.7 mm, 1.3 ± 1.2 mm, 6.4 ± 5.2 mm, 2.5° ± 2.5°, 2.2° ± 2.4°, and 1.0° ± 1.0°, respectively. Deformation in the <jats:italic>Y</jats:italic> direction had the best correlation with the mean deviation translation error (<jats:italic>R</jats:italic> = 0.949) and rotation error (<jats:italic>R</jats:italic> = 0.832). As the magnitude of breast deformation increased, both mean deviation setup errors increased, and there was greater error in translation than in rotation. Large deformation of the breast surface affects the setup correction. Deformation in the <jats:italic>Y</jats:italic> direction most affects translation and rotation errors.</jats:p>