3B02-Recent Advances in Radiation Therapy: Information management, MLC, EPID, Virtual Simulation

A.L. Boyer
Department of Radiation Oncology, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-5487, USA

Technical advances are continuing in the development of the hardware and software available commercially to support the planning and delivery of radiation medicine.  This lecture will provide an overview of such advances in four areas.   The transfer and handling of textual and graphical information throughout networked therapy departments is advancing rapidly, thanks in part to the development of the DICOM/RT standards.  The availability of large capacity servers and fast networks has provided the hardware foundation for this development.  The development of intuitive and user-friendly software is now in progress.  The simulation process has evolved from fluoroscopic and plane film simulators to CT, MRI, and PET scanners, sometimes configured specifically for radiotherapy treatment planning.  Multi-leaf collimators (MLC) have advanced from block replacement to the enabling of intensity-modulated radiation therapy.  The associated software and processes, including quality assurance measures, are in a rapid state of flux.  Electronic portal imaging devices (EPID) have evolved from high-voltage planar imagers into projection acquisition devices for cone-beam imaging for both megavoltage and kilovoltage reconstructions.   These developments are exciting, powerful, and - - - expensive.    

3B02-放射治疗进展：信息管理、MLC、EPID和虚拟模拟

A.L. Boyer
Department of Radiation Oncology, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-5487, USA

在放疗计划和实施软硬件的商业开发过程中不断取得新的技术进展。下面将提供一份关于四个方面进展的总结。网络化的治疗部门内文本和图像信息的传输和处理技术迅速发展，这要部分归功于DICOM/RT标准的发展。大容量服务器和快速网络的使用提供了这项发展的硬件基础。现在正在开发直观的、界面友好的软件。模拟过程已经从透视和平片模拟机过渡到CT、MRI和PET，有时专门配置用于放疗计划。多叶准直器（MLC）已经从铅挡块的替代物发展为调强的手段。包括质量保证措施在内的相关的软件和过程也在迅速发展。电子射野影像装置（EPID）已经从高压平面影像器发展到兆伏和千伏重建所使用的锥形束成像的投影采集装置。这些进展令人兴奋，非常有效，也很昂贵。