Program Information

Advantages of a New Surface Imaging Calibration Method for SRS Treatments

A Paxton

A Paxton*, R Manger , T Pawlicki , G Kim , University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Presentations

SU-E-J-221 Sunday 3:00PM - 6:00PM Room: Exhibit Hall

Purpose: The present calibration method used for the AlignRT surface imaging system relies on the placement of a calibration plate at the linac isocenter using isocenter surrogates (crosshairs, room lasers, etc.). This work investigated the potential advantages of a new calibration method that shifts the AlignRT isocenter to be coincident with the linac MV beam isocenter.

Methods: To quantify the potential uncertainties associated with the present calibration method for SRS treatments, the calibration plate was intentionally shifted away from isocenter +/-3mm in the longitudinal and lateral directions and +/-1mm in the longitudinal, lateral, and vertical directions. A head phantom was placed in a mock SRS treatment position and monitored with the AlignRT system. The AlignRT-indicated offsets were recorded at 270, 315, 0, 45, and 90° couch angles for each intentional calibration misalignment. The new isocenter calibration was applied after each misalignment, and the measurements were repeated and compared to the previous results.

Results: With intentional longitudinal and lateral shifts of +/-3mm and +/-1mm in the calibration plate, the average indicated offsets at couch rotations of +/-90° were 4.3mm and 1.6mm, respectively. This was in agreement with the theoretical offset of sqrt(2)*(intentional shift of the calibration plate). Since vertical shifts were along the rotation axis of the couch, these shifts had little effect on the offsets with changing couch angle. When the new calibration was applied, the indicated offsets were all within 0.5mm for all couch angles. These offsets were in agreement with the known magnitude of couch walkout.

Conclusion: The potential pitfalls of the present calibration method have been established, and the advantages of the new calibration method have been demonstrated. This new calibration method effectively removes the potential miscalibration artifacts of the present calibration method, giving the AlignRT user more confidence in the system's indicated shifts.


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