Guidelines for Quality Assurance of Helical Tomotherapy
Helical Tomotherapy is a relatively new modality for radiation therapy treatments with an integrated system for treatment planning, imaging and image registration and dose delivery. Tomotherapy has several differences compared to conventional linear accelerators, which imply that general Quality Assurance guidelines are not always applicable or sufficient. For example, current dosimetric protocols, based on the absorbed dose (NCS 18, AAPM TG-51), require calibration measurements under reference conditions. These reference conditions can not be met. New methodologies are proposed in literature and are currently under discussion. Other specific QA issues concern the acceptance testing and commissioning of the complex integrated systems, verification of dose planning and delivery, mechanical QA and patient safety. The goal of this report is to provide guidelines for QA and dosimetric calibration of Helical Tomotherapy systems.
Members of this NCS subcommittee
- Vincent Althof (RISO, Deventer, chairman, V.Althof-at-risomail.nl)
- Bie De Ost (UZA/ZNA, Antwerpen, secretary)
- Nick Reynaert (Centre Oscar Lambret, Lille)
- Kai Schubert (Universitätsklinikum, Heidelberg)
- Edmond Sterpin (UCL, Brussels)
- Jeroen van de Kamer (NKI-AVL, Amsterdam, representative from the NCS board)