AI Automation in Treatment Planning and Segmentation
The "administrative" burden of radiation oncology—specifically contouring (drawing) the tumor and organs on every slice of a scan—has been revolutionized by Deep Learning.
Auto-Segmentation: AI models trained on millions of anatomical datasets can now contour 50+ organs-at-risk (OARs) in under 60 seconds. A task that once took a physician 2–4 hours is now a 5-minute "review and approve" workflow.
Predictive Dosimetry: AI can now predict the optimal dose distribution for a new patient by looking at similar "historical twins." This ensures that every patient receives a "Gold Standard" plan, regardless of the individual dosimetrist's experience level.
Radiomics: In 2026, we don't just look at the image; we mine it for data. Radiomic features (texture, heterogeneity, and shape) are extracted from scans to predict which tumors are likely to be resistant to radiation, allowing for personalized "dose-painting" to the most aggressive parts of a mass.
