Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Radiol. Mar 28, 2016; 8(3): 255-267
Published online Mar 28, 2016. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v8.i3.255
Some computer graphical user interfaces in radiation therapy
James C L Chow
James C L Chow, Radiation Medicine Program, Princess Margaret Cancer Center, University Health Network, Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5G 2M9, Canada
Author contributions: Chow JCL did the data collection and literature review; he also wrote the article.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Author declares no conflict of interests for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: James C L Chow, PhD, Radiation Medicine Program, Princess Margaret Cancer Center, University Health Network, Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, 610 University Avenue, Toronto, ON M5G 2M9, Canada. james.chow@rmp.uhn.on.ca
Telephone: +1-416-9464501 Fax: +1-416-9466566
Received: September 2, 2015
Peer-review started: September 8, 2015
First decision: November 3, 2015
Revised: December 17, 2015
Accepted: January 5, 2016
Article in press: January 7, 2016
Published online: March 28, 2016
Processing time: 201 Days and 5.6 Hours
Abstract

In this review, five graphical user interfaces (GUIs) used in radiation therapy practices and researches are introduced. They are: (1) the treatment time calculator, superficial X-ray treatment time calculator (SUPCALC) used in the superficial X-ray radiation therapy; (2) the monitor unit calculator, electron monitor unit calculator (EMUC) used in the electron radiation therapy; (3) the multileaf collimator machine file creator, sliding window intensity modulated radiotherapy (SWIMRT) used in generating fluence map for research and quality assurance in intensity modulated radiation therapy; (4) the treatment planning system, DOSCTP used in the calculation of 3D dose distribution using Monte Carlo simulation; and (5) the monitor unit calculator, photon beam monitor unit calculator (PMUC) used in photon beam radiation therapy. One common issue of these GUIs is that all user-friendly interfaces are linked to complex formulas and algorithms based on various theories, which do not have to be understood and noted by the user. In that case, user only needs to input the required information with help from graphical elements in order to produce desired results. SUPCALC is a superficial radiation treatment time calculator using the GUI technique to provide a convenient way for radiation therapist to calculate the treatment time, and keep a record for the skin cancer patient. EMUC is an electron monitor unit calculator for electron radiation therapy. Instead of doing hand calculation according to pre-determined dosimetric tables, clinical user needs only to input the required drawing of electron field in computer graphical file format, prescription dose, and beam parameters to EMUC to calculate the required monitor unit for the electron beam treatment. EMUC is based on a semi-experimental theory of sector-integration algorithm. SWIMRT is a multileaf collimator machine file creator to generate a fluence map produced by a medical linear accelerator. This machine file controls the multileaf collimator to deliver intensity modulated beams for a specific fluence map used in quality assurance or research. DOSCTP is a treatment planning system using the computed tomography images. Radiation beams (photon or electron) with different energies and field sizes produced by a linear accelerator can be placed in different positions to irradiate the tumour in the patient. DOSCTP is linked to a Monte Carlo simulation engine using the EGSnrc-based code, so that 3D dose distribution can be determined accurately for radiation therapy. Moreover, DOSCTP can be used for treatment planning of patient or small animal. PMUC is a GUI for calculation of the monitor unit based on the prescription dose of patient in photon beam radiation therapy. The calculation is based on dose corrections in changes of photon beam energy, treatment depth, field size, jaw position, beam axis, treatment distance and beam modifiers. All GUIs mentioned in this review were written either by the Microsoft Visual Basic.net or a MATLAB GUI development tool called GUIDE. In addition, all GUIs were verified and tested using measurements to ensure their accuracies were up to clinical acceptable levels for implementations.

Keywords: Graphical user interface; Cancer treatment; Treatment planning; Radiotherapy; Monitor unit calculation

Core tip: Computer graphical user interface (GUI) allows people to interact and control a device or job process without detailed knowledge of computer programming and related theory. Using the graphical windows, icons, buttons and visual indictor provided by the GUI, instead of giving computer commands in text that required specific training and understanding of the computer language, users can interact with the device or process through direct manipulation of graphical elements. This avoids a lot of unnecessary human errors and man-hours to fulfill a computer task, and makes calculations complete more systematic and well organized.