Feasibility study of utilizing Sphinx Compact for quality assurance in uniform scanning proton therapy.

PURPOSE: To investigate the feasibility of utilizing the Sphinx Compact detector for quality assurance in a uniform scanning proton therapy system. METHOD: The Sphinx Compact detector was used to measure various dosimetric parameters of uniform scanning proton beam at the Oklahoma Proton Center: distal range, distal-fall-off, collinearity, field symmetry, flatness, and field size for four different beams. A specially designed brass aperture was used to perform the required measurements. The Sphinx Compact measurement results were validated against the measurement results from the well-established detectors in proton therapy: IBA Zebra, IBA MatriXX-PT, EBT3 films, and Logos XRV-124. The data collected using the Sphinx Compact was analyzed in myQA software. RESULTS: Based on the data analysis performed, the Sphinx Compact measurements were within acceptable accuracy to the results from the detectors mentioned in the Method section. Specifically, the lateral penumbra was within ±0.4 mm, collinearity was within ± 0.5 mm, flatness was within ±0.6 %, symmetry within ±1.6 %, distal range was within ±0.5 mm, distal-fall-off was <0.9 mm, and field size was within ±1 mm. The reproducibility of the Sphinx Compact was tested for range and collinearity, and the results were within ±0.1 mm. CONCLUSION: The sphinx Compact detector could potentially replace multiple detectors utilized for monthly QA in uniform scanning proton therapy. In a multi-room center, performing the QA with one detector compared to using multiple detectors dramatically reduces total QA time and the complexity of the QA process.

Feasibility Study of Using XRV-124 Scintillation Detector for Collinearity Measurement in Uniform Scanning Proton Therapy.

Purpose: The purpose of this work is to study the feasibility of using an XRV-124 scintillation detector in measuring the collinearity of the x-ray system and uniform scanning proton beam. Methods: A brass aperture for Snout 10 was manufactured. The center of the aperture had an opening of 1 cm in diameter (4 cm for the film measurements). The 2D kV x-ray images of the XRV-124 were acquired such that the marker inside the detector is aligned to the imaging isocenter. After obtaining the optimal camera settings, a uniform scanning proton beam was delivered for various ranges (12 g/cm2 to 28 g/cm2 in step size of 2 g/cm2). For each range, 10 monitor units (MU) of the first layer were delivered to the XRV-124 detector. Collinearity tests were repeated by using EDR2 and EBT3 films following our current quality assurance protocol in practice. The results from the XRV-124 measurements were compared against the collinearity results from EDR2 and EBT3 films. Results and Discussion: The collinearity results were evaluated in the horizontal (x) and vertical (y) directions. The average deviation in collinearity in the x-direction was -0.24 ± 0.30 mm, 0.57 ± 0.39 mm, and -0.27 ± 0.14 mm for EDR2, EBT3, and XRV-124, respectively. In the y-direction, the average deviation was 0.39 ± 0.07 mm, 0.29 ± 0.14 mm, and 0.39 ± 0.03 mm for EDR2, EBT3, and XRV-124, respectively. Conclusion: The measurement results from the XRV-124 and films are in good agreement. Compared to film, the use of the XRV-124 detector for collinearity measurements in uniform scanning protons is more efficient and provides results in real time.

Technical Note: Use of commercial multilayer Faraday cup for offline daily beam range verification at the McLaren Proton Therapy Center.

PURPOSE: Daily verification of the proton beam range in proton radiation therapy is a vital part of the quality assurance (QA) program. The objective of this work is to study the use of a multilayer Faraday cup (MLFC) to perform a quick and precise daily range verification of proton beams produced by a synchrotron. METHODS: Proton beam depth dose measurements were performed at room iso-center in water using PTW water tank and Bragg Peak ion chamber. The IBA Giraffe, calibrated against the water tank data, was used to measure the water equivalent thickness (WET) of the sample copper plates. The WET measurements provided the range calibration factors for the MLFC. To establish a baseline for in room measurements, range measurements for energies from 70 to 250 MeV in steps of 10 MeV were performed using the Pyramid MLFC at room iso-center. For the daily range verification measurements, the MLFC is permanently placed at the end of the beam line, inside the accelerator vault. The daily range constancy is performed for five representative beam energies; namely 70, 100, 150, 200, and 250 MeV. Data collected over a period of more than 100 days are analyzed and presented. RESULTS: The measured WET values of the copper plates increased with increasing energy. The centroid channel number in the MLFC where the protons stop, was converted to depth in water and compared to the depth of the distal 80% (d80) obtained from the water tank measurements. The depths agreed to within 2 mm, with the maximum deviation of 1.97 mm observed for 250 MeV beam. The daily variation in the ranges measured by the MLFC was within ±0.5 mm. The total time to verify five proton beam ranges varies between 4 and 5 min. CONCLUSION: Based on the result of our measurements, the MLFC can be used for a daily range constancy check with submillimeter accuracy. It is a quick and simple method to perform range constancy verification on a daily basis.