AN AUTOMATED SOFTWARE SYSTEM FOR BRACHYTHERAPY SOURCE LOCATION By ISMAIL AHMET NALCACIOGLU A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE

iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor, Dr.Sartaj K. Sahni, my supervisory committee members, Dr.Sanjay Ranka and Dr.Zuofeng Li, for giving me an opportunity to work on this challenging topic and for providing continuous guidance and feedback during the course of this work and thesis writing. I also wish to take this opportunity to thank my parents for their emotional support and encouragement throughout my academic career.