An international survey of imaging practices in radiotherapy

Martin, C. J. and Kron, T. and Vassileva, J. and Wood, T. J. and Joyce, C. and Ung, N. M. and Small, W. and Gros, S. and Roussakis, Y. and Plazas, M. C. and Benali, A-H and Djukelic, M. and Ragab, H. and Abuhaimed, A. (2021) An international survey of imaging practices in radiotherapy. Physica Medica-European Journal of Medical Physics, 90. pp. 53-65. ISSN 1120-1797, DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmp.2021.09.004.

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Abstract

Improvements in delivery of radiation dose to target tissues in radiotherapy have increased the need for better image quality and led to a higher frequency of imaging patients. Imaging for treatment planning extends to function and motion assessment and devices are incorporated into medical linear accelerators (linacs) so that regions of tissue can be imaged at time of treatment delivery to ensure dose distributions are delivered as accurately as possible. A survey of imaging in 97 radiotherapy centres in nine countries on six continents has been undertaken with an on-line questionnaire administered through the International Commission on Radiological Protection mentorship programme to provide a snapshot of imaging practices. Responses show that all centres use CT for planning treatments and many utilise additional information from magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography scans. Most centres have kV cone beam CT attached to at least some linacs and use this for the majority of treatment fractions. The imaging options available declined with the human development index (HDI) of the country, and the frequency of imaging during treatment depended more on country than treatment site with countries having lower HDIs imaging less frequently. The country with the lowest HDI had few kV imaging facilities and relied on MV planar imaging intermittently during treatment. Imaging protocols supplied by vendors are used in most centres and under half adapt exposure conditions to individual patients. Recording of patient doses, a knowledge of which is important in optimisation of imaging protocols, was limited primarily to European countries.

Item Type: Article
Funders: None
Uncontrolled Keywords: Image guided radiation therapy; Cone beam CT; Radiotherapy treatment planning; Optimisation
Subjects: R Medicine > R Medicine (General) > Medical technology
Divisions: Faculty of Medicine
Depositing User: Ms Zaharah Ramly
Date Deposited: 19 Sep 2022 03:01
Last Modified: 19 Sep 2022 03:01
URI: http://eprints.um.edu.my/id/eprint/34537

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