title: Total skin electron therapy: a modified technique for small room linear accelerator.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Development of a technique for treating whole-body skin using linear accelerator with electron beam energy of 6-MeV at a short treatment distance.
  
  
  METHODS
  The 6 MeV high dose rate total skin electron irradiation mode on a linear accelerator was used. Beam profiles and percentage depth doses in the patient plane were measured for different beam angulations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At a treatment distance (SSD) of 292 cm and using acrylic scatterer-degrader 4mm thick, the beam penetration was calculated so that the 80% dose lied at 1.6 cm for the single beam and only 6 mm for the clinical beam. A uniform vertical profile was obtained by using 3 beams for each treatment position with gantry angles of 700, 900 and 1100.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We could implement a modified stanford technique for total skin electron beam irradiation at a short treatment distance. Using an acrylic scatterer-degrader and three beam angulations we could produce a uniform beam in the treatment plane.
authors.affiliation: The Department of Radiation Oncology, National Cancer Institute, Cairo University. thshouman@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Tarek
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shouman
authors.forename: Zeinab
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: El-Taher