Evaluation of isocenter reproducibility in telemedicine of 3D-radiotherapy treatment planning

To evaluate the utility in telemedicine of Three-Dimensional Radiotherapy Treatment Planning (tele-3D-RTP) and to examine the accuracy of isocenter reproducibility in its offline trial. CT data of phantoms and patients in the satellite hospital were transferred to our hospital via floppy-disk and 3D-radiotherapy plans were generated by 3D-RTP computer in our hospital. Profile data of CT and treatment beams in the satellite hospital were pre-installed into the computer. Tele-3D-RTPs were performed in 3 phantom plans and 14 clinical plans for 13 patients. Planned isocenters were well reproduced, especially in the immobilized head and neck/brain tumor cases, whose 3D-vector of aberration was 1.96±1.38 (SD) mm. This teletherapy system is well applicable for practical use and can provides cost-reduction through sharing the resources of expensive equipment and radiation oncologists. (author)