Dosimetry

After your planning session is finished, the CT scan information is used to work out how a prescribed radiation dose is going to be distributed throughout your treatment area. This step is called dosimetry.

Designing Your Treatment Plan

The dosimetry process does not require your attendance at our centre. It’s done behind the scenes by a Radiation Therapist and your Radiation Oncologist.

Depending on the type of condition that requires treatment, it can take some time to finalise your dosimetry. This is why there is a delay between CT planning and the start of treatment.

To start with your Radiation Oncologist uses a highly specialised computer system to view your CT planning scan and to outline your treatment area. They also prescribe the amount of radiation this area is to receive and the number of treatment sessions required.

A Radiation Therapist then processes this information on a computer to design a treatment plan that targets your treatment site while limiting radiation exposure to healthy organs.

This treatment plan displays the radiation distribution in your body (as specified by your Radiation Oncologist) and the treatment machine settings required to achieve it.

Quality Assurance

To make sure that your treatment plan is accurate, several checks are performed prior to radiation therapy delivery. This process involves the Radiation Therapists, Physicists and Radiation Oncologists.

After a Radiation Therapist completes your treatment plan it is double-checked by another Radiation Therapist.

A Radiation Oncologist also reviews the treatment plan prior to radiation therapy delivery.

In some cases our Physicists may take real time radiation measurements using specialised electronic equipment to confirm the accuracy of your treatment plan.

Throughout the planning process all activities are managed and recorded using an electronic data base to ensure information is documented correctly.

Once your treatment plan has been evaluated by a Senior Radiation Therapist, approved by a Radiation Oncologist and if necessary measured by a Physicist it is then ready to be administered.