Audits for advanced treatment dosimetry

[摘要] Radiation therapy has advanced rapidly over the last few decades, progressing from 3D conformal treatment to image-guided intensity modulated therapy of several different flavors, both 3D and 4D and to adaptive radiotherapy. The use of intensity modulation has increased the complexity of quality assurance and essentially eliminated the physicist's ability to judge the validity of a treatment plan, even approximately, on the basis of appearance and experience. Instead, complex QA devices and procedures are required at the institutional level. Similarly, the assessment of treatment quality through remote and on-site audits also requires greater sophistication. The introduction of 3D and 4D dosimetry into external audit systems must follow, to enable quality assurance systems to perform meaningful and thorough audits.

[发布机构] Department of Radiation Physics, University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston; TX; 77030, United States^1;Institute of Medical Physics, School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney; NSW; 2006, Australia^2

[关键词] Adaptive radiotherapy;Advanced treatment;Conformal treatment;Intensity modulations;Intensity-modulated;Quality assurance systems;Treatment plans;Treatment quality