PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INTENSITY-MODULATED RADIATION THERAPY (IMRT): GNERAL STATEMENTS AND POINTS OF DEBATE Observations on IMRT at the current time Criticism of the philosophy of IMRT DEVELOPMENTS IN ROTATION IMRT AND TOMOTHERAPY NOMOS MIMiC tomotherapy University of Wisconsin machine for tomotherapy Tomotherapy using a 60Co source Tomotherapy with an MLC Summary DEVELOPMENTS IN IMRT USING A MULTILEAF COLLIMATOR (MLC) New sequencers/interpreters Radiation leakage and accounting for machine effects in IMRT delivery Dose calculation for IMRT Features of MLC delivery of IMRT Dynamic arc therapy Combining step-and-shoot and dynamic delivery for dMLC IMAT-technical issues New ideas related to the dMLC technique Compensators and comparisons of compensator and MLC-based IMRT Optimum width of leaves for an MLC MicroMLCs for IMRT Increasing the spatial resolution of a conventional MLC Verification of MLC-delivered IMRT Quality assurance (QA) of MLC delivery Summary DEVELOPMENTS IN IMRT NOT USING AN MLC The Cyberknife The design of the shuttling MLC (SMLC) IMRT with the jaws-plus-mask technique The variable aperture collimator (VAC) One-dimensional IMRT Summary CLINICAL IMRT- EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE? IMRT of the prostate showing measurable clinical benefit Comparison of treatment techniques for the prostate Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust pelvic and other IMRT Comparison of IMRT with conformal radiotherapy (CFRT) for complex shaped tumors IMRT for whole-pelvic and gynecological radiotherapy Head-and-neck IMRT Breast IMRT Bladder IMRT at the Christie Hospital Lung cancer IMRT Scalp IMRT Other clinical IMRT reports-various tumor sites Summary 3D PLANNING FOR CFRT AND IMRT: DEVELOPMENTS IN IMAGING FOR PLANNING AND FOR ASSISTING THERAPY Challenges to IMRT and inverse planning Determination of the GTV, CTV, and PTV: the influence of 3D medical imaging New inverse-planning methods for IMRT New forward-planning methods for IMRT: direct aperture optimization Smoothing IMBs

The most important radiotherapy modality used today, intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), is the most technologically advanced radiotherapy cancer treatment available, rapidly replacing conformal and three-dimensional techniques. Because of these changes, oncologists and radiotherapists need up-to-date information gathered by physicists and engineers. Focusing on new developments and the preliminary clinical implementation, Contemporary IMRT: Developing Physics and Clinical Implementation discusses the relationship between these advances and applications.Capturing contemporary technological advances, the book reviews modern applications of IMRT and shows how IMRT is used now and how it will be used in the future. The book begins with a historical background of IMRT as well as a discussion of the current state of IMRT. It also covers technical solutions that have been commercialized, such as the sliding window technique, step-and-shoot, tomotherapy, and the Cyberknife. The final chapter explores imaging developments and new planning methods, including gradient-descent and split modulation. Covering recent advancements in IMRT and showing how these techniques and devices have been implemented, Contemporary IMRT: Developing Physics and Clinical Implementation provides state-of-the-art findings for oncologists, radiotherapists, radiographers, physicists, and engineers.