Computer-based radiological longitudinal evaluation of meningiomas following stereotactic radiosurgery

Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is a common treatment for intracranial meningiomas. SRS is planned on a pre-therapy gadolinium-enhanced T1-weighted MRI scan (Gd-T1w MRI) in which the meningioma contours have been delineated. Post-SRS therapy serial Gd-T1w MRI scans are then acquired for longitudinal treatment evaluation. Accurate tumor volume change quantification is required for treatment efficacy evaluation and for treatment continuation.

We present a new algorithm for the automatic segmentation and volumetric assessment of meningioma in post-therapy Gd-T1w MRI scans. The inputs are the pre- and post-therapy Gd-T1w MRI scans and the meningioma delineation in the pre-therapy scan. The output is the meningioma delineations and volumes in the post-therapy scan. The algorithm uses the pre-therapy scan and its meningioma delineation to initialize an extended Chan–Vese active contour method and as a strong patient-specific intensity and shape prior for the post-therapy scan meningioma segmentation. The algorithm is automatic, obviates the need for independent tumor localization and segmentation initialization, and incorporates the same tumor delineation criteria in both the pre- and post-therapy scans.

Our experimental results on retrospective pre- and post-therapy scans with a total of 32 meningiomas with volume ranges 0.4–26.5 cm\(^{3}\) yield a Dice coefficient of \(87.0\, \pm \, 6.2\)% with respect to ground-truth delineations in post-therapy scans created by two clinicians. These results indicate a high correspondence to the ground-truth delineations.

Our algorithm yields more reliable and accurate tumor volume change measurements than other stand-alone segmentation methods. It may be a useful tool for quantitative meningioma prognosis evaluation after SRS.