Plaque Simulator is a 3D treatment simulation and modeling package for I-125, Pd-103, Ir-192 and Ru-106 plaque therapy of ocular tumors and macular degeneration. Applicable ophthalmic tumors include choroidal melanoma in adults, retinoblastoma in young children and various forms of metastatic disease. In plaque therapy, small radioactive sources are embedded in a gold or silver bowl-like shell called a "plaque" which is placed on the surface of the eye adjacent to the tumor. The plaque directs therapeutic radiation towards the tumor while shielding the orbit and other surrounding anatomy.

These Quicktime movies illustrate 3D localization, visualization and treatment of a choroidal melanoma: movie1 (1.3 MB), movie2 (1.4 MB).

Plaque Simulator is distributed worldwide by BEBIG GmbH, Robert-Rössle-Str. 10, 13125 Berlin, Germany, Tel. (+49 30) 94 10 84-130, Fax (+49 30) 94 10 84-150, URL: www.bebig.de under an exclusive license from the University of Southern California. BEBIG is a division of Eckert & Ziegler AG, email info@ezag.de.

A fully functional demonstration version and the tutorial patients described in the user guide can be downloaded from the links on the left. Plaque Simulator X requires MacOSX 10.3, 10.4 (Tiger) or 10.5 Leopard. The version 5.3.7 update fixes a user interface bug when saving files under OSX 10.5 and adds a few new capabilities, most of the new features were implemented to assist the AAPM TG-129 report.

Technical support by video conferencing is available via iChatAV. In the USA, email technical support questions, bug reports and requests for teleconferencing appointments to the author Melvin Astrahan in Los Angeles at astrahan@usc.edu or support@eyephysics.com. For technical support outside the USA or for worldwide licensing information email info@ezag.de.