A new digital image enhancement for the verification of field placement

To increase geometric treatment accuracy in radiation therapy, we used a novel digitized method and original image processing. The radiographic films that are conventionally used for verifying each beam during the treatment were digitized by a kodak digital system and then an original image enhancement was applied. For the evaluation of our technique, a clinical trial with two tests was used. The trial involved four readers doing 80 reading. The enhancement films were judged to be of higher quality than the non enhancement films(p=0.001) and were read more accurately(p ≤ 0.001). This automatic enhancement of digitized captured portal images can be easily integrated into the busy routine of a radiotherapy department. (Author), 27 refs., 3 figs., 2 tabs., 2 photos