{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.02662279389769668, 'fraction_numerical': 0.028417588991923422, 'mean_word_length': 4.887323943661972, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Topical review articles in Physics in Medicine and Biology

We are pleased to say that this issue of Physics in Medicine and Biology (PMB), the first of 2009, contains a topical review on the increasingly important field of biological imaging in radiotherapy. The article, by Anca-Ligia Grosu and co-workers, focuses mainly on the role of PET in radiation therapy, and complements the recent topical review by Phil Evans (2008) on anatomical imaging in radiation therapy. Image-guided radiation therapy is a hot topic of the moment. The ability to plan and deliver highly conformal radiation therapy is now largely solved for the static patient but a remaining concern is that tumours, normal tissue and organs at risk move both between and during fractions of radiation therapy. Phil Evans' review concentrated on the many technologies and techniques to assist the solution of the problems associated with motion. Anca-Ligia Grosu's review complements this by considering the functional status of tissues and the associated complexities of integrating this knowledge with radiation therapy. These reviews highlight the strengths of the PMB topical review programme. Topical reviews are commissioned from leading authors by the PMB Editorial Board in areas of strong current interest. They discuss the current state of research in the field and contain a comprehensive review of the literature (with references to all relevant journals included). They also include a general overview and introduction with enough basic information to make them useful and informative for non-specialists as well as specialists. In 2008 no fewer than 10 review articles have been published in PMB. For example, in addition to the article by Phil Evans, high-interest topical reviews have been published on multimodality imaging of structure and function (Townsend 2008), the physics of photodynamic therapy (Wilson and Patterson 2008), radiotherapy dosimetry studies with respect to secondary cancer induction (Xu et al 2008), and developments in PET detector technology (Lewellen 2008). The good news is that there are more on the way: forthcoming issues of PMB will see reviews of contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging, dynamic SPECT reconstruction, and gel dosimetry. And later in the year we also hope to publish reviews by leading authorities on radiobiological models for radiation therapy planning, and the physics of proton therapy, among others. (Regular readers may be aware that setting up a free e-mail alert enables them to be notified as soon as these are published.) We hope you find these review articles to be useful and interesting. References Evans P M 2008 Anatomical imaging for radiotherapy Phys. Med. Biol. 53 R151–R191 Lewellen T K 2008 Recent developments in PET detector technology Phys. Med. Biol. 53 R287–R317 Nestle U, Weber W, Hentschel M and Grosu A-L 2009 Biological imaging in radiation therapy: role of PET Phys. Med. Biol. 54 R1–R25 Townsend D W 2008 Multimodality imaging of structure and function Phys. Med. Biol. 53 R1–R39 Wilson B C and Patterson M S 2008 The physics, biophysics and technology of photodynamic therapy Phys. Med. Biol. 53 R61–R109 Xu X G, Bednarz B and Paganetti H 2008 A review of dosimetry studies on external-beam radiation treatment with respect to second cancer induction Phys. Med. Biol. 53 R193–R241