title: Three-dimensional display techniques in radiation therapy treatment planning.
abstract: Good radiation treatment planning requires that the target volume be treated with a high and uniform dose of radiation while irradiating normal tissue as little as possible. Even if the merits of a given treatment plan are judged only on the appearance of isodose lines in one or a few planes it can sometimes be difficult for the experienced radiation oncologist to select the best of several alternative plans. If consideration is given to the entire spatial distribution of dose, however, the problem becomes far more difficult because of the enormous amount of data that must be evaluated. We believe that the lack of suitable methods to display these data has greatly contributed to the slow incorporation of 3D considerations into routine radiation treatment planning. In the past few years there have been great advances in both the theory of how to produce effective 3D displays and in the display hardware itself. In this paper we survey some of the methods used at the University of North Carolina, and show specific examples of how these displays can be used in radiation therapy treatment planning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27514.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rosenman
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Sherouse
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Pizer
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Skinner
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mosher
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Novins
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Tepper
mesh_terms: D003196:Computer Graphics; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D011880:Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D011881:Radiotherapy, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed