Imaging in radiotherapy treatment planning and delivery

摘要

Recent years have seen major developments in radiotherapy techniques and equipment, focusing on con-formal external beam techniques with the emphasis on intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). The progress of IMRT implementation has been summarized in a series of review articles in the British Journal of Radiology during 2003 and 2004. One of the fundamental prerequisites for conformal radiotherapy is the localization of the target, starting with the gross tumour volume (GTV) and moving outwards to the planning target volume (PTV). The judgement of how to define these volumes is crucial. The future value of IMRT and related techniques may depend on the underpinning images of these volumes and how they are interpreted. Fortunately, in parallel with the developments in radiotherapy delivery techniques has come an equally impressive and timely development in associated imaging.