Computers in Biology and Medicine 35 (2005) 765 – 781 www.intl.elsevierhealth.com/journals/cobm Telematics enabled virtual simulation system for radiation treatment planning Efthymios Ntasis, Miltos Gletsos, Nikos A. Mouravliansky, Evangelia I. Zacharaki, Christos E. Vasios, Spyretta Golemati, Theofanis A. Maniatis, Konstantina S. Nikita * School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 9 Iroon Polytechniou, Zografos 157 80, Athens, Greece Received 25 August 2003; accepted 25 June 2004 Abstract In this paper, GALENOS, a Telematics Enabled Virtual Simulation System for Radiation Treatment Planning (RTP) is described. The design architecture of GALENOS is in accordance with the dual aim of virtual simulation of RTP, i.e. to allow (a) delineation of target volume and critical organs, and (b) placement of irradiation fields. An important feature of GALENOS is the possibility for on-line tele-collaboration between health care professionals under a secure framework. The advantages of GALENOS include elimination of patient transfers between depart- ments and health care institutions as well as availability of patient data at sites different than those of his/her physical presence.  2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Radiation treatment planning; Virtual simulation; Collaborative work; Telemedicine 1. Introduction Radiation therapy is defined as the use of high-energy ionizing radiation for therapeutic purposes [1,2]. Radiation therapy is recommended at some stage of most diagnosed cancer cases and is considered to be the most effective non-surgical treatment modality. Radiation therapy methods can be catego- rized into external beam radiotherapy, where radiation produced by a source external to the patient, usually a linear accelerator, is delivered to the treatment volume, and brachytherapy, where radiation * Corresponding author. Tel.: +30-210-772-2285; fax: +30-210-772-3357. E-mail address: knikita@cc.ece.ntua.gr (K.S. Nikita). 0010-4825/$ - see front matter  2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.compbiomed.2004.06.007