Comparison of performance standards for radiation beam uniformity characteristics of a linear accelerator.

The recent international standards published by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on the performance of medical electron accelerators describe suggested test procedures for the performance of radiotherapy accelerators. The recommendations of the Nordic Association of Clinical Physics for testing of the radiation beam characteristics include test conditions, methods and suggested tolerances that are different from those of the IEC. In this work the two publications were compared for acceptance testing of a Philips SL25 linear accelerator. It is important to gain experience on the practical use of these standards.