Review of EP12k: the 6th International Workshop on Electronic Portal Imaging

The International Workshops on Electronic Portal Imaging (EPI) take place biennially, alternating at both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. The last workshop was held in Brussels, June 2000. The intention of the workshops is to gather all people involved in EPI and create a forum on clinical achievements, future developments of EPI. The global aim is to enlarge the scope of already-users and create a new horizon for not-yet-users. EPI2k included invited lectures, refreshers, scientific sessions, posters, and a practical demonstrations on clinical implementation; margins and corrections; organ and patient motion, and set-up; quality assurance with and of EPIDs; processing accuracy; image quality of EPIDs; image processing; archiving and communication; dosimetry and IMRT verification with EPIDs, and new technology. More specifically, emphasis in the EPI2k scientific sessions (compared to former workshops) on clinical implementation decreased somewhat, in favour of quality assurance. Presentations on EPIDs mainly addressed flat panel imagers, more than fluoroscopic devices. There was less image analysis, but more EPID dosimetry. Finally, IMRT verification with EPIDs arose as a new topic.