ABSTRACT
Principles of Patient Dose Computation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549
Jean-Claude Rosenwald
Chapter 26
Patient Dose Computation for Photon Beams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559
Jean-Claude Rosenwald, Ivan Rosenberg, and Glyn Shentall (with David McKay)
Chapter 27
Patient Dose Computation for Electron Beams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587
Alan Nahum
Chapter 28
Monte-Carlo Based Patient Dose Computation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603
Alan Nahum
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621
Calculation of the dose at a single point on the central axis of a beam under well-defined
conditions can be performed using beam data tables and a calculator (see Chapter 23 for
photons and Chapter 24 for electrons). Calculating the distribution of dose in a patient is
not so straightforward. Before computerized treatment planning systems became widely avail-
able, dose distributions were calculated manually by the addition of percentages estimated
from the superposition of isodose charts (such as those shown in Figure 22.11). The
methods used involved empirically derived corrections to account for patient shape and inho-
mogeneities (see Section 22.4). So-called hand planningwas time consuming and relied heavily
on the experience of the planner; even so, complex planning methods were attempted at many
centres. Modern computer technology has allowed increasingly sophisticated techniques to be
routinely applied to treatment planning and has widened the aims and scope of treatment
planning itself.
