What is a key requirement for accurate dose delivery during treatment?

Matching pre-treatment planning with treatment setup is essential for accurate dose delivery during treatment. This process ensures that the calculated doses, contours, and treatment parameters determined during the planning phase are implemented correctly during the actual treatment. Any discrepancies between the planned setup and the delivered treatment can result in under-dosing or over-dosing, which could have significant implications for patient safety and treatment efficacy.

Effective communication and verification systems help ensure that the treatment setup aligns with the pre-treatment plan, allowing for adjustments to be made as necessary to maintain the integrity of the treatment. This connection between planning and delivery is critical, as it directly impacts the precision of the therapeutic doses delivered to the target tissue while sparing surrounding healthy tissues.

Other factors such as dosage tracking and consistent imaging techniques play important roles in the overall treatment process, but they are secondary to the fundamental requirement of ensuring that the treatment setup directly reflects the pre-treatment plan. Identifying patient positioning is necessary for proper alignment but is part of the broader context of matching the treatment setup to the planned parameters.