[Video technology and the personal computer in the therapy simulator].
OBJECTIVE
Technical progress in the development of radiation therapy simulators provided valuable addition of electronically stored images and monitor indicators for individual radiation parameters. One can store as well as print these data as a treatment plan. The possibility of supplementing older simulators with these technical options will be reported in the following paper.


METHODS
The modification of our simulator installation was done simply. The new equipment needed to expand our simulator facility was almost exclusively derived from the fields of entertainment and home electronics (Visualizer/video camera, video tape recorder, video mixer, additional monitor; personal computer and printer).


RESULTS
With these modifications we reached the technical standards of the latest simulator generation. In addition, we succeeded in implementing additional technical options: e.g. image inversion with contrast alignment to diagnostic displays, complete magnetic tape recording of the entire x-ray process with possible repetition, electronic overlapping of the simulator image and the diagnostic image (e.g. NMR; angiograms) to determine the treatment volume, automation in x-ray documentation.


CONCLUSIONS
Increased precision and rational work steps employing readily available equipment will lead to further improvement in the quality of radiotherapy.
Krischke
W
W
Klinik für Strahlentherapie und Nuklearmedizin, Alfried Krupp Krankenhaus, Essen.
Divoux
S
S
Pothmann
B
B
Strauch
B
B
Klein
C
C
Alberti
W
W
D003199:Computer Systems; D001330:Electronic Data Processing / Q000295:instrumentation; D008838:Microcomputers; D011880:Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013690:Television / Q000295:instrumentation; D014741:Video Recording / Q000295:instrumentation*
Videotechnik und Personalcomputer am Therapiesimulator.