Image Guided Radiation Therapy

Volumetric imaging and planning for 3-D conformal RT and IMRT have pressured the oncology community to better understand the geometric uncertainties inherent in the RT delivery process, including set-up error (inter-fraction) as well as organ motion during treatment (intra-fraction). This has ushered in the development of emerging technologies and clinical processes collectively referred to as Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT). The goal of IGRT is to provide the tools needed to manage both interand intrafraction motion to improve the accuracy of treatment delivery. Like IMRT, IGRT is a process involving all steps in the treatment process including patient immobilization, CT simulation, treatment planning, plan verification, patient setup verification & correction, delivery, and QA.