THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROGRAM IS TO DEVELOP AND TEST A COMPUTER CONTROLLED, MULTILEAF COLLIMATOR SYSTEM FOR ENHANCEMENT OF CONFORMATION RADIOTHERAPY.

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROGRAM IS TO DEVELOP AND TEST A COMPUTER CONTROLLED, MULTILEAF COLLIMATOR SYSTEM FOR ENHANCEMENT OF CONFORMATION RADIOTHERAPY. DURING THE PHASE I EFFORT, JAPANESE DESIGNS AND PROGRESS IN THIS FIELD WILL BE EVALUATED. CONCEPTUAL PROTOTYPE MODELS OF A SINGLE-LEAF, LEAD COLLIMATOR AND A SIMPLE, MULTILEAF ASSEMBLY WITH FIVE OPPOSING PAIRS OF LEAVES WILL BE DESIGNED, FABRICATED, AND TESTED. SOFTWARE WILL BE DEVELOPED AND COMPUTERS EVALUATED TO PERMIT AUTOMATIC POSITIONING AND MEMORY CONTROL OF THE COLLIMATORS FROM STORED PATIENT DATA AND THE INTERFACED COMPONENTS EVALUATED USING A PHOTOGRAPHIC LIGHT TABLE. RESULTS OF THE PHASE I EFFORT WILL BE USED TO DEFINE DESIGN REQUIREMENTS AND SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS FOR A PHASE II PROGRAM IN WHICH A PROTOTYPE, COMPUTER CONTROLLED, MULTILEAF ASSEMBLY WILL BE ATTACHED AND TESTED ON A RADIATION THERAPY MACHINE. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUCH A SYSTEM WOULD BE OF VALUE TO NEW EQUIPMENT AS WELL AS PERMIT RETROFIT TO EXISTING MACHINES. FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THIS INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY COULD HAVE SIGNIFICANT COMMERCIAL IMPACT, REDUCE UNNECESSARY EXPOSURE OF HEALTHY TISSUE, PERMIT MORE ACCURATE AND REPEATABLE RADIOTHERAPY & REDUCE THERAPIST SETUP TIMES.