History of Radiation Therapy Technology

Here we review the evolutionary history of radiation therapy technology through the festschrift of articles in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Korean Society of Medical Physics (KSMP). Radiation therapy technology used in clinical practice has evolved over a long period of time. Various areas of science, such as medical physics, mechanical engineering, and computer engineering, have contributed to the continual development of new devices and techniques. The scope of this review was restricted to two areas; i.e., output energy production and functional development, because it is not possible to include all development processes of this technology due to space limitations. The former includes the technological transition process from the initial technique applied to the first model to the latest technique currently used in a variety of machines. The latter has had a direct effect on treatment outcomes and safety, which changed the paradigm of radiation therapy, leading to new guidelines on dose prescriptions, innovation of dose verification tools, new measurement methods and calculation systems for radiation doses, changes in the criteria for errors, and medical law changes in all countries. Various complex developments are covered in this review. To the best of our knowledge, there have been few reviews on this topic and we consider it very meaningful to provide a review in the festschrift in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the KSMP.