[Assessment of the use of electronic portal imaging]

Improvement in the accuracy of the positioning of the patient during external irradiation is one of the most important issues of the last decades, due to the detrimental impact of the misplacements on treatment outcome. Since 1990, the evolution of the technologic environment has led to a full integration of the portal imaging devices into linac technology. It offers a real on-line verification tool for "high-dose, high-accuracy" treatments. This overview based upon data from the literature describes the different types of imaging devices, the strategies of use and the results obtained. It also considers the use of imaging devices as an in vivo dosimeter.