AbstractID: 7604 Title: An Interactive Cross Sectional Nodal Atlas to aid Clinical Target Volume(CTV)
definition in 3DRTP and IMRT
With the advent of 3DRTP, the radiation oncologist faces the challenge of contouring the regional lymphatics that are part
of the CTV on cross-sectional CT or MRI images. This is further accentuated by treatment techniques such as IMRT, which could be
used to deliver very high doses of radiation and which may require different dose prescriptions to different sub-volumes within the
target, thus necessitating the identification of these sub-volumes. To aid the process of the definition of the CTV, we have created an
Interactive Cross-Sectional Nodal Atlas, which is a Hyperlinked Adobe Acrobat® dataset available as a computer platform
independent CD-ROM. The atlas consists of a triple display of interactive information tables, CT images, and topograms. The
information tables show the given anatomical site, its first echelon nodal stations, the type of lymphatic drainage, and its abbreviation
code. The CT images contain different colored overlays that depict the different nodal stations found in that particular anatomical
level. Each nodal station has its own color code and is labeled individually with the abbreviation code contained in the information
table. The CT images are provided in three different formats: a set of thumbnails with all the CT images that contain the first echelon
nodal stations of that particular anatomical site, in a magnified form with the information tables and the topograms still in view, or a
full screen mode. The hyperlinked topograms show the level of the active CT image in the AP and lateral view.