Abstract
Computer programs for dose computation developed at the University of Colorado Medical Center are stored in a local commercial time-sharing computer and are available to the radiation therapy services of hospitals. Radiologists have direct access to the programs and use them without the assistance of the physics staff at UCMC. Patient and dose distribution data are communicated directly between the computer and users of the programs, permitting immediate evaluation of the treatment plans selected by the users. Programs are available for calculating dose distributions from external (including mantle and inverted Y) fields, for implant therapy, for NSD and ret dose computations, and include opportunities for limited optimizing of proposed treatment plans. The programs are designed for use by radiologists and technologists and contain many checks to ensure that data are entered and used properly.