PURPOSE Although the technical developments of radiotherapy have been remarkable, there are currently few reports on the treatment results of radiotherapy for local recurrence of rectal cancer treated with surgery alone as initial treatment in this three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy era. Thus, we retrospectively evaluated the treatment results of radiotherapy for local recurrence of recta...

PURPOSE To assess the impact of two multileaf collimator (MLC) systems (2.5 and 5 mm leaf widths) on three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy, intensity-modulated radiotherapy, and dynamic conformal arc techniques for stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) of liver and lung lesions. METHODS Twenty-nine SBRT plans of primary liver (n=11) and lung (n=18) tumors were the basis of this study....

Introduction: Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is one of the possible complications of radiotherapy treatment of brain tumors. The auditory system of patients with brain tumors often is placed inside of radiation field and receives a significant amount of radiation dose resulting in hearing loss. The purpose of this study was to compare contouring and delivery dose to cochlea...

Introduction: Modern radiotherapy (RT) techniques allow a highly precise deposition of the radiation dose in tumor. So, high conformal tumor doses can be reached while sparing critical organs at risk. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in three phases. In the first phase; Fourteen patients with primary or recurrent prostate cancer receive Gallium-...

OBJECTIVE To explore the therapeutic value of 3-D printing template-assisted 125I-seed implantation in the treatment of malignant liver tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS Fifteen liver cancer patients with 47 total lesions were treated with 3-D printing template-assisted radioactive seed implantation (group A), and 25 liver-tumor patients with 66 total lesions were treated with 125I-seed implantat...

PURPOSE To study the interfraction reproducibility of breath-holding using active breath control (ABC), and to develop computerized tools to evaluate three-dimensional (3D) intrathoracic motion in each patient. METHODS AND MATERIALS Since June 2002, 11 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer enrolled in a Phase II trial have undergone four CT scans: one during free-breathing (reference) and ...

Autologous cartilage grafting during open airway reconstruction is a complex skill instrumental to the success of the operation. Most trainees lack adequate opportunities to develop proficiency in this skill. We hypothesized that 3-dimensional (3D) printing and computer-aided design can be used to create a high-fidelity simulator for developing skills carving costal cartilage grafts for airway ...

Following the rapid rise of distributed additive manufacturing with 3-D printing has come the technical development of filament extruders and recyclebots, which can turn both virgin polymer pellets and post-consumer shredded plastic into 3-D filament. Similar to the solutions proposed for other forms of ethical manufacturing, it is possible to consider a form of ethical 3-D printer filament dis...

PURPOSE Conformal radiotherapy requires accurate patient positioning with reference to the initial three-dimensional (3D) CT image. Patient setup is controlled by comparison with portal images acquired immediately before patient treatment. Several automatic methods have been proposed, generally based on segmentation procedures. However, portal images are of very low contrast, leading to segment...