Multi-Institutional Study of End-to-End Dose Delivery Quality Assurance Testing for Image-Guided Brachytherapy Using a Gel Dosimeter.

PURPOSE: To quantify dose delivery errors for high-dose-rate image-guided brachytherapy (HDR-IGBT) using an independent end-to-end dose delivery quality assurance test at multiple institutions. The novelty of our study is that this is the first multi-institutional end-to-end dose delivery study in the world. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The postal audit used a polymer gel dosimeter in a cylindrical acrylic container for the afterloading system. Image acquisition using computed tomography, treatment planning, and irradiation were performed at each institution. Dose distribution comparison between the plan and gel measurement was performed. The percentage of pixels satisfying the absolute-dose gamma criterion was reviewed. RESULTS: Thirty-five institutions participated in this study. The dose uncertainty was 3.6% ± 2.3% (mean ± 1.96σ). The geometric uncertainty with a coverage factor of k = 2 was 3.5 mm. The tolerance level was set to the gamma passing rate of 95% with the agreement criterion of 5% (global)/3 mm, which was determined from the uncertainty estimation. The percentage of pixels satisfying the gamma criterion was 90.4% ± 32.2% (mean ± 1.96σ). Sixty-six percent (23/35) of the institutions passed the verification. Of the institutions that failed the verification, 75% (9/12) had incorrect inputs of the offset between the catheter tip and indexer length in treatment planning and 17% (2/12) had incorrect catheter reconstruction in treatment planning. CONCLUSIONS: The methodology should be useful for comprehensively checking the accuracy of HDR-IGBT dose delivery and credentialing clinical studies. The results of our study highlight the high risk of large source positional errors while delivering dose for HDR-IGBT in clinical practices.

Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy Optimization for Acceptable and Remaining-One Unacceptable Dose-Volume and Mean-Dose Constraint Planning.

We give a novel approach for obtaining an intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) optimization solution based on the idea of continuous dynamical methods. The proposed method, which is an iterative algorithm derived from the discretization of a continuous-time dynamical system, can handle not only dose-volume but also mean-dose constraints directly in IMRT treatment planning. A theoretical proof for the convergence to an equilibrium corresponding to the desired IMRT planning is given by using the Lyapunov stability theorem. By introducing the concept of "acceptable," which means the existence of a nonempty set of beam weights satisfying the given dose-volume and mean-dose constraints, and by using the proposed method for an acceptable IMRT planning, one can resolve the issue that the objective and evaluation are different in the conventional planning process. Moreover, in the case where the target planning is totally unacceptable and partly acceptable except for one group of dose constraints, we give a procedure that enables us to obtain a nearly optimal solution close to the desired solution for unacceptable planning. The performance of the proposed approach for an acceptable or unacceptable planning is confirmed through numerical experiments simulating a clinical setup.

[Electronic portal image device dosimetry for volumetric modulated arc therapy].

Recently electronic portal image devices (EPIDs) have been widely used for quality assurance and dose verification. However there are no reports describing EPID dosimetry for Elekta volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). We have investigated EPID dosimetry during VMAT delivery using a commercial software EPIDose with an Elekta Synergy linac. Dose rate dependence and the linac system sag during gantry rotation were measured. Gamma indices were calculated between measured doses using an EPID and calculation made by a treatment planning system for prostate VMAT test plans. The results were also compared to gamma indices using films and a two-dimensional detector array, MapCHECK2. The pass rates of the gamma analysis with a criterion of 3% and 2 mm for the three methods were over 96% with good consistency. Our results have showed that EPID dosimetry is feasible for Elekta VMAT.

Minimum requirements for commissioning and long-term quality assurance of Elekta multi-leaf collimator for volumetric modulated arc therapy.

We have proposed minimum requirements for commissioning and long-term quality assurance (QA) of an Elekta multi-leaf collimator (MLC) for volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). The MLC leaf position accuracy during VMAT delivery was evaluated with the use of three different QA test plans: (1) a leaf gap-width test between opposing leaves by measurement of the isocenter dose during constant-gap sliding-window delivery with varied dose rates, MLC leaf speeds, and gantry angles; (2) a leaf position test by picket-fence delivery with and without gantry rotation; and (3) a leaf-bank symmetry test by measurement of the field geometry with different collimator angles at a fixed gantry position. All the QA test plans were created using an ERGO++ treatment-planning system. The leaf gap-width deviation was within 0.2 mm, the leaf position deviation was within 0.5 mm, and the leaf-bank symmetry error was within 0.5 mm under all the test conditions. MLC leaf position accuracy and long-term stability were confirmed by the proposed procedures.

[Positional accuracy and quality assurance of Backup JAWs required for volumetric modulated arc therapy].

The tolerance of the Backup diaphragm (Backup JAW) setting in Elekta linac was specified as 2 mm according to the AAPM TG-142 report. However, the tolerance and the quality assurance procedure for volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) was not provided. This paper describes positional accuracy and quality assurance procedure of the Backup JAWs required for VMAT. It was found that a gap-width error of the Backup JAW by a sliding window test needed to be less than 1.5 mm for prostate VMAT delivery. It was also confirmed that the gap-widths had been maintained with an error of 0.2 mm during the past one year.

[Quality assurance procedure for assessing mechanical accuracy of a radiation field center in stereotactic radiotherapy].

Stereotactic radiotherapy requires a quality assurance (QA) program that ensures the mechanical accuracy of a radiation field center. We have proposed a QA method for achieving the above requirement by conducting the Winston Lutz test using an electronic portal image device (EPID). An action limit was defined as three times the standard deviation. Then, the action limits for mean deviations of the radiation field center during collimator rotation, gantry rotation, and couch rotation in clockwise and counterclockwise resulted in 0.11 mm, 0.52 mm, 0.37 mm, and 0.41 mm respectively. Two years after the QA program was launched, the mean deviation of the radiation field center during gantry rotation exceeded the above action limit. Consequently, a mechanical adjustment for the gantry was performed, thereby restoring the accuracy of the radiation field center. A field center shift of 0.5 mm was also observed after a micro multi-leaf collimator was unmounted.

[Mechanical accuracy of a stereotactic irradiation system using a micro multi-leaf collimator].

Mechanical accuracy of a stereotactic irradiation system using a micro multi-leaf collimator (mMLC), Elekta DMLC, has been evaluated. Measurements were made to obtain transmission, leakage, penumbra, and positioning accuracy of the DMLC leaf for a 6 MV photon beam. Mechanical accuracy and long term stability of a linac isocenter was also evaluated. The resulting transmission, along a line perpendicular to the leaf movement, was 0.31±0.01%, and the leakage from the closed opposing leaf pairs was 0.39±0.01%. The measured penumbra, at a depth incurring maximum dose, was 2.37±0.16 mm toward the leaf end and 2.14±0.18 mm toward the leaf side for various field sizes. The leaf gap width error, of 0.10±0.08 mm, was obtained by analyzing picket fence test results. The maximum leaf positioning error, of 0.14±0.06 mm, was obtained by analyzing the log file for a various gantry angles during an arc delivery. The isocenter accuracy was within a radius of 1 mm, without any recalibration for two years. In conclusion, our stereotactic irradiation system using DMLC was capable of providing accurate stereotactic treatment.

[Evaluation of new methods for removing moire artifact of radiochromic film].

An optical interference-pattern, a moire artifact, is produced during the film scanning process using a flatbed scanner. Images with moire artifacts include optical density fluctuations thereby leading to inaccuracy of measurement. In this study, we proposed two methods for removing moire artifacts from radiochromic film and compared dose response and profile as well as image resolution and size between our proposed methods versus the conventional process. The proposed methods could remove the artifacts without impairing dosimetric performance. It is expected that the proposed methods facilitate more accurate film dosimetry with reflective radiochromic films.