Software to doses planning in radiotherapy - Braqplan

This paper describes a microcomputer program developed to aid in the intracavity and interstitial therapy dose planning. The program, written in MB-QuickBASIC, for use in any PC-like microcomputer, allows the computation of 2D and 3D isodose contours, for punctual as well as for linear sources of different radioisotopes. The algorithm uses look-up tables for the source data, where the contribution to the total dose of each source is calculated by interpolating between the tabulated values of dose rates. The 3D dose distribution is calculated for a desired dose rate, in multiple transverse planes with successive hidden surface removal. A pixel counting algorithm, allows tha calculation of the volume enclosed by a contour of any desired dose rate. Finally our results are compared with the results reported in the literature for discrete dose rate values (single points) and for isodose contours, with excellent agreement. (author)