Quality assurance of 3-D treatment planning systems for external photon and electron beams

Modern 3D systems for radiation therapy treatment planning have much greater functionality than the old 2-D systems. Therefore the quality assurance (QA) procedures required for initial verification and periodic quality control are much more extensive and complex than with the 2-D systems. In this report practical guidelines for the QA of 3-D treatment planning system (TPS) are formulated, in order to help the clinics in the design of their QA procedures. The subject of the report is restricted to conventional treatment planning for external photon and electron beam therapy. The report of Task Group 53 of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) was taken as outline of the QA issues to be addressed; the present report is complementary to the TG53 report. It consists of practical tests that cover the essential QA required, each subsection describes a set of suggested tests, preceded by a statement of the scope of the tests and a short explanatory background.

The details of a clinic's TPS QA program will depend on the specific TPS and its clinical utilization. This report will be of great practical help, however, in describing general tests that can be applied to a large variety of systems.

https://doi.org/10.25030/ncs-015