Summary
Intensity modulated radiotherapy treatment (IMRT) design is the process of choosing how beams of radiation will travel through a cancer patient to treat the disease, and although optimization techniques have been suggested since the 1960s, they are still not widely used. Instead, the vast majority of treatment plans are designed by clinicians through trial-and-error. Modern treatment facilities have the technology to treat patients with extremely complicated plans, and designing plans that take full advantage of the technology is tedious. The increased technology found in modern treatment facilities makes the use of optimization paramount in the design of successful treatment plans. The goals of this work are to 1) present a concise description of the linear models that are under current investigation, 2) develop the analysis certificates that these models allow, and 3) suggest future research avenues.