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REAL-TIME PORTAL SCANNER/RADIATION THERAPY
ONE OF THE MOST PROMISING NEW APPROACHES FOR RAPID PORTAL IMAGING IN RADIATION THERAPY IS THE SCANNING SYSTEM UNDER DEVELOPMENT AT JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICAL SHCOOL. THIS SYSTEM USES A LINEAR ARRAY OF DIODES TO GENERATE AN IMAGE AND HAS SEVERAL APPEALING ASPECTS, INCLUDING THE ABILITY TO PRODUCE AN IMAGE IN REAL TIME. THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM WITH THE DIODE-ARRAY SCANNING SYSTEM AS IT NOW EXISTS IS THAT ITS INHERENT DETECTION SENSITIVITY IS INSUFFICIENT TO ALLOW A USEFUL IMAGE TO BE CONSTRUCTED IN UNDER 30 SECONDS. THIS SLOW RESPONSE TIME RESULTS IN THE IMAGE BEING AVAILABLEONLY AT OR NEAR THE COMPLETION OF THE TREATMENT, TOO LATE TO ALLOW ANY NECESSARY REPOSITIONING OF THE PATIENT DURING THE TREATMENT SESSION. IT IS BELIEVED THAT THE KEY TO INCREASING THE RESPONSE SPEED OF THIS IMAGING SYSTEM LIES IN IMPROVING THE SENSITIVITY OF THE DETECTORS. THEREFORE, A MODIFIED SCANNER WILL BE DEVELOPED USING CADMIUM TELLURIDE PHOTOVOLTAIC NUCLEAR DETECTORS THAT MAY ACHIEVE AN INCREASE IN PERFORMANCE OF AT LEAST AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE. PHASE I EFFORTS WILL CONCENTRATE ON THE DETECTOR ASPECTS OF THE SYSTEM. IN PHASE II, THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DETECTORS WILL BE COMPLETED AND AN ARRAY OF THE NEW SENSORS WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO A FULLY FUNCTIONING PROTOTYPE IMAGING SYSTEM CAPABLE OF OBTAINING HIGH-QUALITY IMAGES.
* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *