Image Fusion Improves Interdisciplinary Communication in the Treatment of Head and Neck Cancer.

INTRODUCTION

The diagnosis and therapy of oral squamous cell carcinoma (Osee) in Germany is according to guidelines and relies on interdisciplinary board meetings. Standard examination techniques are computed tomography (CT) and magnet resonance imaging (MRI). These technologies are used as objective tools for serial presentation in an oncologic board meeting. The presentation of multiple series at different time points can be time consuming and might not often depict a patients case clearly for all involved disciplinaries. A conclusive image fusion could improve the communication. Thus, this study aims to introduce a novel idea of image fusion into the field of craniomaxillofacial surgery in order to ease understanding and improve therapy in complex Osee patients' cases.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

Three key data sets of a patient with OSCC at the right tongue have been merged by image fusion of 3 MRi of head and neck with 3 CT thorax and abdomen using Syngo via (Siemens). Fused images were used as at a glance picture for presenting and discussion a patients case. Focus was on presenting a case of a primary manifestation of OSCC with the potential of a local relapse and distant metastases in an interdisciplinary oncol-ogic board meeting.

RESULTS

Image fusion enabled to visualize the primary tumor, local relapse as well as distant pulmonary metastasis and within the suprarenal gland, which have been occurred in a linear time line of 13 months.

DISCUSSION: Image fusion of different modalities that is CT and MRi, which were gathered at different time points, presents a new approach within the field of craniomaxillofacial surgery and helped to understand cancer localization and relapse at 1 glance. This new approach will enable a compact data set of patients oncological history as a more decisive tool for all involved disciplinaries.

CONCLUSIONS

Image fusion might have the potential to become a standard approach in order to ease multiple therapists to make therapy decisions in oncologic board meetings on basis of current three-dimensional ready CT imaging and MRI.