Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42131765›Full record

ArticleNeuro-oncology practice2026

AI-based framework to fuse pre-RT brain metastases contours with follow-up MRI to improve post-RT assessment.

Yogesh Kumar, Kayla L Steed, Ho-Hsin Chang, Udbhav Ram, Gaurav N Rathi, Katherine A Heinzman, Ritish Nedunoori, Farnaz Rahim Li, Richard A Popple, Rex Cardan and 4 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neuro-oncology practice, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Yogesh KumarDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2800-0235
Kayla L SteedDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8757-7296
Ho-Hsin ChangDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0005-2117-2148
Udbhav RamDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0457-7259
Gaurav N RathiDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2220-6046
Katherine A HeinzmanDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5768-123X
Ritish NedunooriDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0004-3804-6095
Farnaz Rahim LiDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5617-9615
Richard A PoppleDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1252-738X
Rex CardanDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9483-1398
Christopher D WilleyDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9953-0279
Drexell H BoggsDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1046-1671
John B FiveashDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1129-2884
Carlos E CardenasDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1414-3849

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Brain metastases (BMs) patients often receive multiple courses of radiotherapy (RT). Comparing follow-up imaging with RT plans is time-intensive and currently not possible in picture archiving and communication system (PACS). In this study, we aim to develop an automated tool to overlay pre-RT tumor contours onto follow-up MRI in the PACS to support response assessment and identification of untreated metastases, reducing review complexity and time. Methods: We built an AI-driven workflow that registers planning CT to follow-up MRI and propagates treated-lesion contours; outputs are exported as PACS-compliant DICOM. Performance was evaluated in 40 patients: 20 underwent quantitative comparison between manual and automated registrations using Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and mean surface distance (MSD), following AAPM TG-132 guidelines; 20 additional patients (5-35 lesions per patient) underwent clinical evaluation of follow-up and pre-RT lesions contours visualization in PACS. Three physicians assessed these cases to measure review time and inter-observer agreement in treatment response classification (improved/stable vs indeterminate). Results: The workflow successfully registered all CT-MRI pairs. Mean DSC/MSD was: brain 0.97 ± 0.01/0.0 ± 0.0 mm, brainstem 0.89 ± 0.03/0.1 ± 0.1 mm, and gross tumor volumes 0.65 ± 0.18/0.6 ± 0.4 mm. Average physician review time per case decreased from 7.97 to 3.95 min with the automated workflow, and full inter-physician agreement increased from 72.4% to 93.5%. Conclusion: We developed and validated an AI-based tool that accurately fuses pre-RT contours with follow-up MRI for BMs, addressing a key gap in current PACS systems. The workflow significantly reduced review time per lesion and enhanced inter-physician agreement, and has the potential to enable faster, more consistent multidisciplinary follow-up assessment.

Indexed as

AI-based medical imagingbrain metastasesPACS integrationradiotherapy follow-up

Identifiers

PMID42131765
PMCPMC13161908

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.