The Medical Physics Section of the Dept. of Radiation Therayp is responsible for the operation of the irradiation facilities and also largelyforthe additional infrastructure necessary for performing radiation treatment. The hospital’s radiation equipment that is maintained by the Medical Physics Section ranges from standard X-ray therapy machines to complex radiotherapy systems. At our hospital, X-ray therapy machines are used for various purposes, ranging from intraoperative radiotherapy (mainly of the breast) to percutaneous radiotherapy. The department also has three linear accelerators capable of producing acceleration energies of 6, 8, and 15 MV, which can be used for intensity-modulated radiotherapy. The accelerators are integrated with MV detectors or X-ray devices for patient positioning.

One of the department’s radiotherapy systems can be equipped with cone-shaped collimators or a micro multi leaf collimator for stereotactic irradiation.

In addition, the department has a so-called Tomotherapyunit, which can be used for performing continuous rotational radiotherapy in the spiral mode and for acquiring computed tomograms (MV-CT) with a radiation energy of 3.5 MV. Whole-body radiotherapy is performed using a dedicated cobalt-60 radiotherapy unit with a couch for continuous patient movement. A second Cobalt-60 radiotherapy unit is mainly used for research in the field of radiation biology. A wide-bore CT scanner is available for planning radiotherapy. Radiotherapy schemes can be verified inan X-ray simulator. Optical surface registration systems are used to optimize patient positioning for radiotherapy. Controlled irradiation of tumors that shift with respiration is ensured by using special optical or flow-through measurement systems for tracking respiratory position.