Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of
Waterloo
200-University Ave.
W.
Waterloo, Ontario,
Canada N2L 3G1
Abstract--For decades,
doctors have been using external ionizing x-ray radiation to destroy cancerous
tumours. Traditionally, the area
to be irradiated is intentionally made larger than the tumour size so that
movement of the tumour and misalignment of the tumour with the x-ray beam can
be accommodated. A consequence of
this practice is that some radiation is delivered to healthy organs located
near the tumour, often resulting in undesirable side effects. In this talk we present preliminary results
showing how feedback control can be used so that the radiation beam tracks the
tumour. By using such a scheme,
the radiation beam can be made more narrow and, hence, some healthy tissue can
be spared from radiation damage, possibly reducing side effects. The proposed control technique is based
on a multirate observer system.
Friday, January 31,
2003
3:30 – 4:30
p.m.