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A model for the physical optimization of external beam radiotherapy
Author(s) -
Holmes Timothy William
Publication year - 1996
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 - 10.1118/1.597821
Subject(s) - tomotherapy , radiation therapy , radiation treatment planning , medical physics , dosimetry , medical imaging , scanner , image guided radiation therapy , computer science , nuclear medicine , physics , medicine , radiology , artificial intelligence
A model for optimizing conformal radiotherapy dose distributions was developed based on the analogy between rotational radiotherapy and single photon emission computed tomography image reconstruction. The optimization model predicts that a large number of intensity modulated beam profiles are required to maximize conformation of the dose distribution to the dose prescription—a solution not practically feasible using early 1990s treatment delivery technology. A new method of treatment realization similar to spiral CT scanning called tomotherapy is described. The tomotherapy unit would incorporate a diagnostic CT scanner for acquiring tomographic images prior to and during a treatment for optimized treatment planning and treatment verification, respectively. The tomotherapy concept represents the first truly integrated approach to optimized treatment planning, delivery, and verification of external beam radiotherapy and could significantly advance the state‐of‐the‐art in radiotherapy.