@article {Pompeu-Robinson2011,
	title = {Immobilization and Catheter Guidance for Breast Brachytherapy},
	journal = {International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery},
	volume = {Online First},
	year = {2011},
	month = {05/2011},
	abstract = {<p>Purpose: Brachytherapy is an important mode of breast cancer treatment; however, improvements in both treatment planning and delivery are needed. In order to meet these specific needs, integration of pre-operative imaging, supplemented by computerized surgical planning and mathematical optimization were used to develop and test an intra-operative immobilization and catheter guidance system. Method: A custom template specific to each patient with optimally placed guide holes for catheter insertion was designed and fabricated. Creation of the template is based on a virtual reality reconstruction of the patient{\textquoteright}s anatomy from computed tomography imaging. The template fits on the patient{\textquoteright}s breast, immobilizing the soft tissue, and provides pre-planned catheter insertion holes for guidance to the tumor site. Agar-based phantom and target models were used for quantitative validation of the template by ascertaining the precision and accuracy of the templates. Results: Tests were performed on agar-based tissue models using computed tomography imaging for template planning and validation. Planned catheter tracks were compared to post-insertion image data and distance measurements from target location were used to create an error measure. Initial results yielded an average error of 4.5 mm. Once the workflow and template design were improved, an average error of 2.6 mm was observed, bringing the error close to a clinically acceptable range. Conclusion: Use of a patient-specific template for breast brachytherapy is feasible and may improve the procedure accuracy and outcome.</p>
},
	keywords = {Brachytherapy, Breast cancer, Guidance, Immobilization, Radiotherapy},
	doi = {DOI 10.1007/s11548-011-0600-6},
	author = {Alexandra M. Pompeu-Robinson and M. Kunz and Conrad Falkson and John Schreiner and C.P. Joshi and Gabor Fichtinger}
}
@article {Hall2010a,
	title = {Compilation of a pathological validation database for ultrasound monitoring of tumour ablation},
	year = {2010},
	month = {09/2010},
	address = {Trondheim, Norway, September 2-4, 2010},
	author = {Jena Hall and Andras Lasso and Hamed Peikari and Alexandra M. Pompeu-Robinson and Gabor Fichtinger}
}
@conference {Pompeu-Robinson2010,
	title = {Validation platform for ultrasound-based monitoring of thermal ablation},
	booktitle = {SPIE - Medical Imaging},
	year = {2010},
	address = {San Diego},
	abstract = {<p>PURPOSE: A ground-truth validation platform was developed to provide spatial correlation between ultrasound (US), temperature measurements and histopathology images to validate US based thermal ablation monitoring methods. METHOD: The test-bed apparatus consists of a container box with integrated fiducial lines. Tissue samples are suspended within the box using agar gel as the fixation medium. Following US imaging, the gel block is sliced and pathology images are acquired. Interactive software segments the fiducials as well as structures of interest in the pathology and US images. The software reconstructs the regions in 3D space and performs analysis and comparison of the features identified from both imaging modalities. RESULTS: The apparatus and software were constructed to meet technical requirements. Tissue samples were contoured, reconstructed and registered in the common coordinate system of fiducials. There was agreement between the sample shapes, but systematic shift of several millimeters was found between histopathology and US. This indicates that during pathology slicing shear forces tend to dislocate the fiducial lines. Softer fiducial lines and harder gel material can eliminate this problem. CONCLUSION: Viability of concept was presented. Despite our straightforward approach, further experimental work is required to optimize all materials and customize software.</p>
},
	doi = {10.1117/12.844053},
	author = {Alexandra M. Pompeu-Robinson and James Gray and Joshua Marble and Hamed Peikari and Jena Hall and Paweena U-Thainual and Mohammad Aboofazeli and Andras Lasso and Gabor Fichtinger}
}
