A 3D semi-automated co-segmentation method for improved tumor target delineation in 3D PET/CT imaging

The planning of radiotherapy is increasingly based on multi-modal imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography (PET)-computed tomography (CT), since PET/CT provides not only anatomical but also functional assessment of the tumor. In this work, we propose a novel co-segmentation method, utilizing both the PET and CT images, to localize the tumor. The method constructs the segmentation problem as minimization of a Markov random field model, which encapsulates features from both imaging modalities. The minimization problem can then be solved by the maximum flow algorithm, based on graph cuts theory. The proposed tumor delineation algorithm was validated in both a phantom, with a high-radiation area, and in patient data. The obtained results show significant improvement compared to existing segmentation methods, with respect to various qualitative and quantitative metrics.