Linear Accelerator Input Beam Data Collection for DIAMOND Calculation Systém Setup

The first chapter of the theoretical part of my bachelor's thesis is focused on the theme of radiotherapy in general as well as to its history. Radiotherapy is a young medical field which treats both malignant and non-malignant diseases by ionizing radiation. The roots of this discipline go back to the beginning of the 20th century, when German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen discovered X-rays. These rays started to be used in the treatment of tumorous diseases; the first case of tumour elimination by these rays was described in 1896. The second theoretical chapter outlines the types of radiotherapy and their clinical applications. The first type of radiotherapy is curative (radical), which is the primary choice for treatment of tumours, with the aim to eradicate the tumour completely and cure the patient. Another type of radiotherapy is adjuvant. This is a "securing" method, indicated in case of assumption that there are still microscopic tumour remains in the patient's body. There is also neoadjuvant radiotherapy, so-called preoperative. It is applied before the medical procedure when it is necessary to reduce the size of the tumour. Another clinically applied type is radiotherapy with palliative intent. This treatment is indicated to patients whose disease is incurable and serve to remove or alleviate the symptoms. The last type is non-tumorous radiotherapy. This method of treatment is used for non-tumorous diseases and it is always the method of the last resort. The following chapter discusses the theme of radiotherapeutic irradiator. These devices include simulator which simulates the irradiation plan and is very important for planning and control in radiotherapy. Linear accelerators are the most often tools used for irradiation. These accelerators use high-frequency beam of photons or electrons for irradiation. Other devices used in radiotherapy include cobalt and cesium irradiators. The fourth chapter deals with planning in radiotherapy. Irradiation plan, which must be approved by a doctor, is put together in the process of planning. This plan is approved in case when the created combination of irradiation fields achieves the most accurate covering of the target volume by a required dose, and at the same time healthy tissues and organs are spared as much as possible. This chapter also mentions the theme of phantoms that are very important for planning in radiotherapy. Phantoms were also used during the measurement within the practical part of the thesis. The fifth chapter is devoted to irradiation techniques used in radiotherapy. All basic techniques used for irradiation are described here one-field irradiation technique, which is the simplest one, two-field irradiation, i.e. contralateral, convergent or tangential techniques. Also three-field irradiation technique the T and Y techniques, as well as the four-field technique BOX and Crossfire techniques. The most complex techniques include five and more fields where three-dimensional conformational radiotherapy is used. The last chapter describes individual planning systems used at the Department of Oncology of České Budějovice Hospital, with which the objectives of the practical part of the bachelor's thesis were achieved. These planning systems include Mephysto mc2, Diamond and Eclipse programs. Independent measurements were carried out within the practical part of the bachelor's thesis, on the basis of which the following hypothesis was confirmed: "A procedure implemented in compliance with methodology No. 4 can shorten the time of measuring of parameters of ionizing radiation beams from linear accelerator to be entered into the DIAMOND computing system." The aim of the thesis was to get data files for entering the source of ionizing radiation (linear accelerator) into the DIAMOND computing system. This objective was achieved and the respective data files are presented in the chapter of Results (the whole version is attached to this thesis on a CD)