DIGITAL RADIOTHERAPY SIMULATOR

We describe a prototype digital radiotherapy simulator which consists of a conventional simulator gantry, digital spot imager, and image cor rection and reconstruction software. The ability of the digital spot i mager to acquire a diagnostic quality image directly in digital format during simulation offers unique possibilities in clinical practice. A pplications include prescription of multileaf collimator, on-line pati ent setup verification, remote consultation and treatment planning. In addition, we discuss the possibility of using the digital simulator a s a volume-CT scanner capable of obtaining three-dimensional anatomica l information in a single scan. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rig hts reserved.