How to draw irregular radiation beams in 3-D treatment plans.

We describe a general method for computing the outline which an irregular field originating from some arbitrary angle makes on a plane which may be oriented obliquely within the patient. We describe the mathematical theory of the method, which is based on coordinate transformations expressed as matrix multiplications. Then we describe the implementation of the method in the Pascal programming language, emphasizing language-independent optimizations which ensure fast interactive response. Finally, we describe a systematic program testing procedure that is derived from the mathematical theory, which improves our confidence that the method is coded correctly.