Program Information
Practical Experience Implementing a Linac-Based Imaging Quality Management Program
J Fagerstrom*, W Culberson , University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
Presentations
PO-BPC-Exhibit Hall-23 (Saturday, March 7, 2015) Room: Exhibit Hall
Purpose: The purpose of this project was to design and implement a comprehensive linac-based imaging quality management (QM) program for a commercial C-arm linear accelerator, and to report on the practical experiences involved in commissioning and implementing this part of a radiotherapy center’s QM program.
Methods: A Varian 21EX C-arm linear accelerator platform including kV and MV on board imaging (OBI) systems (Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, CA) was acquired by a university research laboratory.
A QM program was designed based on a literature review of peer-reviewed journal articles, vendor’s user’s manuals, and recommended protocols from the AAPM, ACR, and ASTRO, as well as recommendations gathered at Varian Medical Systems’ five-day OBI implementation training course at their training center in Las Vegas, NV.
Results: Specifics from the literature review and the training course were detailed in a step-by-step student manual. This guide included tolerance values consistent with the AAPM TG-142 recommendations as well as a single-page worksheet to record results. The authors intend for this manual (as well as relevant literature review materials) to be made available to interested attendees at the AAPM Spring Clinical Meeting.
Five student volunteers reported a QM time burden of four hours per involved student. This value is expected to decrease as the team becomes more familiar with equipment, software, and recommended tests.
Conclusion: Baseline values were collected during the first three months of QM program implementation. Regular monthly images will eventually be evaluated against this initial baseline data, and any failing results will be reviewed by senior lab staff.
This project was deemed beneficial to the lab: a QM program was designed and implemented offering students hands-on experience while achieving and maintaining high standards of quality for the linac-based imaging systems.
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