Analysis of quality control data of eight modern radiotherapy linear accelerators: the short- and long-term behaviours of the outputs and the reproducibility of quality control measurements. Export

@article{Kapanen2006, abstract = {Quality control (QC) data of radiotherapy linear accelerators, collected by Helsinki University Central Hospital between the years 2000 and 2004, were analysed. The goal was to provide information for the evaluation and elaboration of QC of accelerator outputs and to propose a method for QC data analysis. Short- and long-term drifts in outputs were quantified by fitting empirical mathematical models to the QC measurements. Normally, long-term drifts were well (< or =1\%) modelled by either a straight line or a single-exponential function. A drift of 2\% occurred in 18 +/- 12 months. The shortest drift times of only 2-3 months were observed for some new accelerators just after the commissioning but they stabilized during the first 2-3 years. The short-term reproducibility and the long-term stability of local constancy checks, carried out with a sealed plane parallel ion chamber, were also estimated by fitting empirical models to the QC measurements. The reproducibility was 0.2-0.5\% depending on the positioning practice of a device. Long-term instabilities of about 0.3\%/month were observed for some checking devices. The reproducibility of local absorbed dose measurements was estimated to be about 0.5\%. The proposed empirical model fitting of QC data facilitates the recognition of erroneous QC measurements and abnormal output behaviour, caused by malfunctions, offering a tool to improve dose control.}, author = {Kapanen, Mika and Tenhunen, Mikko and H\"{a}m\"{a}l\"{a}inen, Tuomo and Sipil\"{a}, Petri and Parkkinen, Ritva and J\"{a}rvinen, Hannu}, citeulike-article-id = {2990613}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0031-9155/51/14/020}, doi = {10.1088/0031-9155/51/14/020}, journal = {Phys Med Biol}, keywords = {accelerators, calibration, computer-assisted, control, dosage, factors, humans, imaging, models, of, particle, phantoms, photons, planning, quality, radiometry, radiotherapy, reproducibility, results, risk, statistical, time}, month = {Jul}, number = {14}, pages = {3581--3592}, posted-at = {2008-07-11 21:11:28}, priority = {2}, title = {{A}nalysis of quality control data of eight modern radiotherapy linear accelerators: the short- and long-term behaviours of the outputs and the reproducibility of quality control measurements.}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0031-9155/51/14/020}, volume = {51}, year = {2006} }

TY - JOUR ID - Kapanen2006 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2990613 N2 - Quality control (QC) data of radiotherapy linear accelerators, collected by Helsinki University Central Hospital between the years 2000 and 2004, were analysed. The goal was to provide information for the evaluation and elaboration of QC of accelerator outputs and to propose a method for QC data analysis. Short- and long-term drifts in outputs were quantified by fitting empirical mathematical models to the QC measurements. Normally, long-term drifts were well (< or =1%) modelled by either a straight line or a single-exponential function. A drift of 2% occurred in 18 +/- 12 months. The shortest drift times of only 2-3 months were observed for some new accelerators just after the commissioning but they stabilized during the first 2-3 years. The short-term reproducibility and the long-term stability of local constancy checks, carried out with a sealed plane parallel ion chamber, were also estimated by fitting empirical models to the QC measurements. The reproducibility was 0.2-0.5% depending on the positioning practice of a device. Long-term instabilities of about 0.3%/month were observed for some checking devices. The reproducibility of local absorbed dose measurements was estimated to be about 0.5%. The proposed empirical model fitting of QC data facilitates the recognition of erroneous QC measurements and abnormal output behaviour, caused by malfunctions, offering a tool to improve dose control. IS - 14 JF - Phys Med Biol EP - 3592 TI - {A}nalysis of quality control data of eight modern radiotherapy linear accelerators: the short- and long-term behaviours of the outputs and the reproducibility of quality control measurements. VL - 51 SP - 3581 KW - accelerators KW - calibration KW - computer-assisted KW - control KW - dosage KW - factors KW - humans KW - imaging KW - models KW - of KW - particle KW - phantoms KW - photons KW - planning KW - quality KW - radiometry KW - radiotherapy KW - reproducibility KW - results KW - risk KW - statistical KW - time AU - Kapanen, Mika AU - Tenhunen, Mikko AU - Hämäläinen, Tuomo AU - Sipilä, Petri AU - Parkkinen, Ritva AU - Järvinen, Hannu PY - 2006/Jul// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0031-9155/51/14/020 ER -