External beam planning module of Eclipse for external beam radiation therapy

Eclipse is a 3-dimensional (3D) treatment planning system for radiation therapy offered by Varian Medical Systems, Inc. The system has the network connectivity for the electronic transfer of image datasets and digital data communication among different equipment. The scope of this project for this special issue of Medical Dosimetry on 3D treatment planning systems is the assessment of planning tools in the external beam planning module of Eclipse to generate optimized treatment plans for patients undergoing external beam radiation therapy. This treatment planning system is relatively mature to be able to generate (1) simple treatment plans, (2) conformal radiation therapy plans, (3) static intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) plans, (4) volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans, and (5) treatment plans for electron beam therapy. The treatment planning tools are relatively plentiful to assist in the radiation therapy treatment planning. Some new features have been incorporated in the latest version and are helpful for making high-quality treatment plans. However, the location of the tools is not intuitive, and hence, familiarity with the user interface is essential to the efficient use of the treatment planning system. In addition, there are a number of dose algorithms available for the computation of dose distributions. The understanding of each dose computation algorithm is essential for the optimal use of this treatment planning system.