What is involved in planning radiation therapy?
Radiation therapy planning is a decision -making process of radiation therapy, a medical procedure that uses ionizing radiation to help fight the malignant cells in the body, and how it will be done. The radiation can itself be used as cancer treatment, but to maximize the result is more often combined with others such as surgery, chemotherapy and hormonal therapy. The purpose of radiation therapy is to eliminate or stop the growth of cancer cells and alleviate the symptoms of the patient. Planning of radiation therapy is the first step that has taken a patient who plans to go through this type of procedure.
The first step in planning radiation therapy is to determine a specific part or body parts that will be treated with it. You want to determine the exact area that needs treatment is referred to as the simulation process. This includes the use of a CT simulator that will have diagnostic X -rays of the entire infected area. Specialist evaluates X -rays and narrows a particular atroom for treatment. The marked area of the skin will then be permanently outlined, helping to ensure that the correct area is targeting. Before starting radiation therapy, a test drive will be carried out as further measures to ensure the affected area.
The patient meets his doctor to continue planning radiation therapy. It determines how many days a week there will be radiation therapy. Patients will usually have treatment five days a week, run from Monday to Friday and allow a break at the end of the week. In some cases, this number may be reduced to not between two and four days a week. The patient also sets out what time the treatment of radiation therapy will receive, and it will usually be every day to ensure consistency. Procedure Budeke for about twenty -five minutes to sit, but the patient should plan to be in the office for about one hour.
During the procedure, the physician must also make some planning of the radioTherapy before the process begins. First, it must determine exactly where the target area is and the best angle to it. The doctor will also have to plan the method to ensure that the patient remains as much as possible so that the surrounding tissues are not damaged. The correct radiation dosage must be carefully planned to damage the number of healthy cells to a minimum.