Adaptive radiation therapy is a closed-loop radiation treatment process where the treatment plan can be modified using a systematic feedback of measurements. Adaptive radiation therapy intends to improve radiation treatment by systematically monitoring treatment variations and incorporating them to re-optimize the treatment plan early on during the course of treatment. In this process, field margin and treatment dose can be routinely customized to each individual patient to achieve a safe dose escalation.
Introduction:
Medical imaging systems are widely used in radiological diagnosis. Their main benefits are more accurate and faster exams, elimination of exploratory surgery, availability of post processing and computed aided detection, …show more content…
Surgery is the most successful treatment but is only beneficial in the minority of patients with early disease . Radiotherapy can benefit the patient with early disease. Radiation therapy for cancer of the cervix usually involves a combination of external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) and intracavitary brachytherapy (ICBT), two distinctive modalities with different advantages. Intracavitary brachytherapy evolved from three European techniques (Stockholm, Paris, Manchester) and still remains the cornerstone of treatment for cervical cancer. Although dose prescription at Point A of the Manchester system has been widely used since 1938, the validity of this specification for cancer of the cervix has been questioned over the years [6]. The 60 Gy reference volume specified by the International Commission of Radiation Units and Measures (ICRU) Report 38 [7] represents the first attempt to improve uniform dose reporting with emphasis on the pear-shaped isodose volume, but similar to Point A dose and milligrams-hours it has no relationship to tumor volume [8-9]. With rapidly developing technology, conventional dental radiography is being overtaken by a revolution in digital radiography. In recent years the emphasis has been on indirect digital radiography involving the conversion of conventional film radiographs into digital images. This stage has been useful in helping the research and development of direct digital radiography which is now coming to the fore [10]. Using this technique, direct images are acquired in the dental practice. These images can be manipulated, enhanced, stored and exchanged for referral and other purposes, making them of great potential use. In addition to the direct clinical and diagnostic benefits, the techniques also have distinct environmental advantages including less use of resources and reduced radiation dosages