Nuclear Oncology

Image Guided Radiotherapy (IGRT) is the frequent use of images taken during a course of radiotherapy to improve the precision and accuracy of treatment delivery.

In IGRT, machines that deliver radiation, a linear accelerator, are equipped with imaging technology for the doctor to take pictures of the tumor immediately before or even during the time of delivery of radiation, when the patient is placed on treatment table. Using specialized computer software, these images are then compared with those taken during the simulation. Then make any necessary gradations in the position of the patient and / or the beams of radiation to target radiation to the tumor more accurately and avoid the surrounding healthy tissue.

Computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), ultrasound (U.S.) and X-ray images can be used for IGRT.

IGRT is used to treat tumors in areas of the body prone to movement, such as the lungs (affected by breathing), and prostate, and tumors located near critical organs and tissues. Often used in conjunction with intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), an advanced mode of high precision radiotherapy using X-ray accelerators to deliver computer-controlled precise radiation doses to a malignant tumor or specific areas within the tumor. See the page on IMRT for details.

Who participates in this process

The delivery of radiation therapy requires a treatment team that includes a radiation oncologist, medical physicist therapist, dosimeters and radiation therapists. The radiation oncologist is a physician who evaluates the patient and determines therapy or combination of appropriate therapies. The physician determines which area should be treated and the dosage to be delivered. Along with the physical therapist and doctor the dosimeter, the radiation oncologist determines which techniques should be used to deliver the prescribed dosage. The physical and then make calculations dosimetrist detailed treatment. The radiation therapists are specially trained technologists to acquire images and deliver the daily treatments.