Abstract
Background and purpose: Telemedicine facilitates decentralized radiotherapy services by allowing remote treatment planning and quality assurance of treatment delivery. A prerequisite is digital storage of relevant data and an efficient and reliable telecommunication system between satellite units and the main radiotherapy clinic. The requirements of a telemedicine system in radiotherapy is influenced by the level of support needed. In this paper we differentiate between three categories of telemedicine support in radiotherapy. Results and discussion: Level 1 features video conferencing and display of radiotherapy images and dose plans. Level 2 involves replication of selected data from the radiotherapy database - facilitating remote treatment planning and evaluation. Level 3 includes real-time, remote operations, e.g. target volume delineation and treatment planning performed by the team at the satellite unit under supervision and guidance from more experienced colleagues at the main clinic. Copyright (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 255-259 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Radiotherapy and Oncology |
| Volume | 54 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 1 2000 |
Keywords
- Distributed radiotherapy service
- Quality control
- Telemedicine
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Hematology
- Oncology
- Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging