Poster - Thur Eve - 25: In vivo dosimetric verification of intensity-modulated radiation therapy.

Dosimetric verification of patient treatment plans has become increasingly important due to the widespread use of complicated delivery techniques. IMRT and VMAT treatments are typically verified prior to start of the patient's course of treatment, using a point dose and/or a film measurement. Pre-treatment verification will not detect patient or machine-related errors; therefore, in vivo dosimetric verification is the only way to determine if the patient's treatment was delivered correctly. Portal images were acquired throughout the course of five prostate and six head-and-neck patient IMRT treatments. The corresponding predicted images were calculated using a previously developed portal dose image prediction algorithm, which combines a versatile fluence model with a patient scatter and EPID dose prediction model. The prostate patient image agreement was found to vary day-to-day due to rectal gas pockets and the effect of adjustable support rails on the patient couch. The head-and-neck patient images were observed to be more consistent daily, but an increased measured dose was evident at the periphery of the patient, likely due to patient weight loss. The majority of the fields agreed within 3% and 3 mm for greater than 90% of the pixels, as established by the χ-comparison. This work demonstrates the changes in patient anatomy that are detectable with the portal dose image prediction model. Prior to clinical implementation, the effect of the couch must be incorporated into the model, the image acquisition must be automatically scheduled and routine EPID QA must be undertaken to ensure the collection of high-quality EPID images.

Poster - Thur Eve - 51: Three-dimensional in-vivo EPID dosimetry of IMRT and VMAT treatments.

As radiation treatment delivery becomes more complex, including dynamic IMRT and VMAT, the argument for routine patient dose verification becomes more compelling. This work demonstrates a technique that utilizes our pre-existing portal dose image prediction algorithm to compute 3D patient dose from recorded on-treatment portal images. This approach can be applied on CT simulation data or daily cone-beam CT data sets. Here we demonstrate the robustness of our dose reconstruction technique with phantom and patient examples, with delivery schemes including IMRT and VMAT. For an example prostate treatment site, 3D dose distributions reconstructed in the patient model are computed for each fraction, and DVHs presented. Results indicate that the patient dose reconstruction algorithm compares well with treatment planning system computed doses for controlled test situations. For patient examples the 3D chi comparison values (similar to the gamma comparison) ranged from 94.5% to 100% agreement for voxels > 10% maximum dose for all treatments and phantom cases. We show an example where the DVH for fraction nine of a prostate treatment fails acceptability criteria, due to a previously unnoticed positioning error. Future work involves building our patient dose reconstruction into a QA package, subsequently integrating it into a clinical workflow. We are also investigating the use of this tool as a backbone for an in-house adaptive radiotherapy implementation. This work is supported by Varian Medical Systems.

Poster - Thurs Eve-33: Initial implementation of a novel, measurement-based IMRT QA method.

Current measurement-based QA for IMRT typically involves a composite dose delivery to a phantom. However, this approach does not allow a direct dosimetric evaluation of the delivered treatment with respect to the patient anatomy. In this work we implement a novel, measurement-based IMRT QA method which provides an accurate reconstruction of the 3D-dose distribution in the patient model. The RPC Head&Neck phantom and two clinical prostate cases have been examined to date. Step & shoot plans were developed satisfying required dose metrics. A 2D-array of dose chambers (MatriXX, IBA Dosimetry) was mounted on a linear accelerator to capture delivered fluence. The measurement data were read directly by the control software (COMPASS, IBA Dosimetry), which also provides the ability to import patient plan data from the TPS. The COMPASS software also includes a dose calculation engine and head fluence model and requires beam commissioning procedures analogous to those of a TPS. Reconstructed doses and DVHs were compared to those calculated by the TPS. The beam model in the COMPASS software was able to predict percentage depth dose and X and Y profiles for MLC-defined apertures ranging from 1×1-20×20 cm∧2 to within 1.5% (depth-dose), 2.0% (in-field profiles), and 2.5% (out-of-field profiles). Reconstructed doses in the test plans were mostly within 2% of those in the TPS. DVHs compared to <1.2%. Reconstructed doses were overlaid on CT data and contoured structures, to enable a clinically useful understanding of discrepancies as compared to the TPS plan. Research partially sponsored by IBA Dosimetry.