Program Information
Preliminary Results for Analytical Investigation Into Effects of ArcCHECK Setup Errors
S Kar*, C Tien , Community Hospital, Munster, IN
Presentations
SU-E-T-631 (Sunday, July 12, 2015) 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM Room: Exhibit Hall
Purpose: As three-dimensional diode arrays increase in popularity for patient-specific quality assurance for intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), it is important to evaluate an array’s susceptibility to setup errors. The ArcCHECK phantom is set up by manually aligning its outside marks with the linear accelerator’s lasers and light-field. If done correctly, this aligns the ArcCHECK cylinder’s central axis (CAX) with the linear accelerator’s axis of rotation. However, this process is prone to error. This project has developed an analytical expression including a perturbation factor to quantify the effect of shifts.
Methods: The ArcCHECK is set up by aligning its machine marks with either the sagittal room lasers or the light-field of the linear accelerator at gantry zero (IEC). ArcCHECK has sixty-six evenly-spaced SunPoint diodes aligned radially in a ring 14.4 cm from CAX. The detector response function (DRF) was measured and combined with inverse-square correction to develop an analytical expression for output. The output was calculated using shifts of 0 (perfect alignment), +/-1, +/-2 and +/-5 mm. The effect on a series of simple inputs was determined: unity, 1-D ramp, steps, and hat-function to represent uniform field, wedge, evenly-spaced modulation, and single sharp modulation, respectively.
Results: Geometric expressions were developed with perturbation factor included to represent shifts. DRF was modeled using sixth-degree polynomials with correlation coefficient 0.9997. The output was calculated using simple inputs such as unity, 1-D ramp, steps, and hat-function, with perturbation factors of: 0, +/-1, +/-2 and +/-5 mm. Discrepancies have been observed, but large fluctuations have been somewhat mitigated by aliasing arising from discrete diode placement.
Conclusion: An analytical expression with perturbation factors was developed to estimate the impact of setup errors on an ArcCHECK phantom. Presently, this has been applied to simple functions, but is being developed to handle more realistic clinical cases.
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