Design of simulation framework for generic radiotherapy

A new project for advanced simulation technology in radiotherapy was launched on Oct. 2003 with funding of JST (Japan Science and Technology Agency) in Japan. The project aim is to develop an ample set of simulation package for radiotherapy based on Geant4 in collaboration between Geant4 developers and medical users, providing a framework and relevant components which can be shared in generic radiotherapy usages. In this paper, we describe the first circular of system design adopting a rigorous software process of object-oriented methodology. In the beginning, our attention is focused on collecting various use-cases for hadron therapy facilities in Japan. By careful analysis of use-cases we collected, we can demonstrate how it helps us break the total system down into several subsystems, and obtain required functional components for our object.