Pre post pic treatment planning pics through software

This article appeared as an introduction to a Comparison Chart on Treatment Planning Systems in the July/August 2014 issue.

Although the fundamental workflow has not changed for treatment planning systems over the years, as technology improves, new features are added to enhance workflow and function.

The improvements being seen include:

• Integration of advanced image processing and analysis — this includes more advanced contouring support for multimodality imaging;

• Decision support and benchmarking — there has been a marked trend in the increase of retreatment patients;

• Automation protocols — treating patients consistently is key, and the implementation of decision support and benchmarking protocols and practices is an area that still needs improvement; and

• Workforce and training constraints — more features have been added to treatment planning systems to pave the way for more possibilities in treatment, but the process still needs to be streamlined.

The following overview helps paint a picture of some of the software systems currently available on the treatment planning systems market.