Program Information
Clinical Experience-Based Verification and Improvement of a 4DCT Program
P Fogg*, M West , T Aland , Genesis Cancer Care, Auchenflower, Qld
Presentations
SU-F-J-116 (Sunday, July 31, 2016) 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM Room: Exhibit Hall
Purpose: To demonstrate the role of continuous improvement fulfilled by the Medical Physicist in clinical 4DCT and CBCT scanning.
Methods: Lung (SABR and Standard) patients’ 4D respiratory motion and image data were reviewed over a 3, 6 and 12 month period following commissioning testing. By identifying trends of clinically relevant parameters and respiratory motions, variables were tested with a programmable motion phantom and assessed.
Patient traces were imported to a motion phantom and 4DCT and CBCT imaging were performed. Cos6 surrogate and sup-inf motion was also programmed into the phantom to simulate the long exhale of patients for image contrast tests.
Results: Patient surrogate motion amplitudes were 9.9+5.2mm (3-35) at 18+6bpm (6-30). Expiration/Inspiration time ratios of 1.4+0.5second (0.6-2.9) showed image contrast effects evident in the AveCT and 3DCBCT images. Small differences were found for patients with multiple 4DCT data sets. Patient motion assessments were simulated and verified with the phantom within 2mm. Initial image reviews to check for reconstructed artefacts and data loss identified a small number of patients with irregularities in the automatic placement of inspiration and expiration points.
Conclusion: The Physicist’s involvement in the continuous improvements of a clinically commissioned technique, processes and workflows continues beyond the commissioning stage of a project. Our experience with our clinical 4DCT program shows that Physics presence is required at the clinical 4DCT scan to assist with technical aspects of the scan and also for clinical image quality assessment prior to voluming. The results of this work enabled the sharing of information from the Medical Physics group with the Radiation Oncologists and Radiation Therapists. This results in an improved awareness of clinical patient respiration variables and how they may affect 4D simulation images and also may also affect the treatment verification images.
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