Multimedia educational services in stereotactic radiotherapy

Summary mputer-based learning methods in medicine have been well established as stand-alone learning systems. Recently, these systems were enriched with the use of telematics technology to provide distance learning capabilities. Stereotactic radiotherapy is one of the most representative advanced radiotherapy techniques. Due to the multidisciplinary character of the technique and the rapid evolution of technology implemented, the demands in training have increased. The potential of interactive multimedia and Internet technologies for the achievement of distance learning capabilities in this domain are investigated. The realization of a computer-based educational program in stereotactic radiotherapy in a multimedia format is a new application in the computeraided distance learning field. The system is built according to a client and server architecture, based on the Internet infrastructure, and composed of server nodes. The impact of the system may be described in terms of: time and transportation costs saving, flexibility in training (scheduling, rate and subject selection), online communication and interaction with experts, cost effective access to material (delivery or access by a large number of users and revision of the material by avoiding high costs of computer-based training systems and database development).