Computing research in the field of radiation oncology involves the application of advanced computing concepts to programming projects in cancer treatment. The application of computers to radiation treatment dates from as far back as the mid-1960's. Computers are routinely used in the clinic to model and evaluate proposed radiation treatments, including the calculation of the radiation dose throughout the patient's body from any proposed treatment. Computer controlled machinery is becoming commonplace, and it is necessary to integrate the various computer controlled treatment machines and the computer systems used for the modeling. The design of these programs is difficult and time consuming. Our research seeks ways to reduce the expense and time to develop complex computer programs while maintaining and even increasing their accuracy and reliability. We use new ideas in software design, such as behavioral entity-relationship modeling, and mediators, we apply formal specification methods to system design, such as the Z specification language, and we are investigating the automation of the treatment planning process using rule-based expert systems and other approaches.
The Prism system is a radiation treatment planning system used in our department for both clinical and research activities. Its purpose is to provide a base for designing, testing and evaluating new ideas in computing for radiation therapy planning.
The Clinical Target Volume project has as its objective to create a knowledge based model of how tumors spread to regional lymph nodes and other locations from the primary tumor. It is a collaborative project of Radiation Oncologists, Otolaryngologists, and Computer Scientists.
The Drug Interactions project has as its objective to create a knowledge based model for prediction of drug-drug interactions. It is a collaborative project of Radiation Oncologists, Pharmacists, and Biomedical Informaticists.
The Clinical Neutron Therapy System (CNTS) project is a new computer control system we're developing for our department's cyclotron. It replaces an older vendor supplied system that was delivered in 1984 and is still operational today. The new treatment room control and treatment delivery component is complete and clinically operational. The new cyclotron machine control system is under development.
The NCI Radiotherapy Treatment Planning Tools project, RTPT, was a five year collaborative project sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, and conducted by the Radiation Oncology departments of Washington University, St. Louis, University of North Carolina, and the University of Washington. The project devised a method of designing "plug-in" software tools for RTP, and produced examples of the tools and the adapter software needed for a RTP system.
ikalet@u.washington.edu