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Computerized patient contours using the scanning arm of a compound B‐scanner
Author(s) -
Hills John F.,
Ibbott Geoffrey S.,
Hendee William R.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
medical physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.473
H-Index - 180
eISSN - 2473-4209
pISSN - 0094-2405
DOI - 10.1118/1.594587
Subject(s) - scanner , plotter , computer science , distortion (music) , computer vision , position (finance) , interface (matter) , artificial intelligence , optics , computer graphics (images) , physics , amplifier , computer network , bandwidth (computing) , finance , bubble , maximum bubble pressure method , parallel computing , economics
Full utilization of the precision of newer radiation therapy devices requires patient contours drawn with greater accuracy than is possible with the conventional lead wire technique. Polaroid photographs can introduce large errors due to distortion and small image size. Techniques including electromechanical or optical devices and CT scans offer improved accuracy, but often at added expense. A method for obtaining contours has been developed which utilizes a treatment planning minicomputer (equipped with an analog‐to‐digital converter and plotter) and a commercially available ultrasound B‐scanning arm. Voltages corresponding to the X – Y position of the tip of the scanning arm are fed from the scanner to the A/D interface, smoothed, scaled, and plotted. The resulting drawing is a full scale external patient contour. The accuracy of this method is compared to alternative techniques.