Abstract
Purpose:The present study aims to compare different dosimetric parameters from field sizes defined by secondary and tertiary collimators. A comparison has been drawn between two types of Multi Leaf Collimator (MLC) designs. Materials and Methods:The measurements were obtained using Millennium MLC (Mi-MLC) from Varian Unique™ linear accelerator (LINAC-1) and compared with measurements from Varian Truebeam™ linear accelerator (LINAC-2) using High Definition MLC (HD-MLC). Dosimetric analysis included percentage depth dose (PDD), cross profile, dosimetric leaf gap (DLG) and scatter factor (SF) that were taken for different field sizes defined by both the MLC design and jaw. For beam data measurement PTW Radiation field analyse (RFA) was utilized. Results:When the surface dose for MLC field for linac 1 and linac 2 were compared with jaws they were found to be on the higher side that is 2.8% to 4.9% and 2.2% to 3.6% respectively. The SF was found to vary from -3.2% to 0.73% for LINAC-1 with Mi-MLC when compared with jaws. Similarly, the SF variation from -2.4% to 1.1% was observed for LINAC-2 with HD-MLC as compared with jaw. Larger field sizes gave increased SF while smaller field sizes showed the opposite for HD-MLC. The penumbra was found to be less in HD-MLC as compared to Mi-MLC. Similarly, DLG was found to reduce by 0.056 mm in Mi-MLC when compared with HD-MLC. The results of symmetry and flatness were seen within the limits for both MLC designs. Conclusion:It can be concluded from the results that both the MLC designs have merits and demerits that are based on their effectiveness and clinical use. However, higher surface dose was found in HD-MLC in contrast to Mi-MLC.
Highlights
Multi-leaf collimators (MLC) are moveable leaves that can shape as per irregular tumour in 3 Dimensional Conformal Radiotherapy (3D-CRT) and modulate the intensity of the beam in Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) thereby reducing the normal tissue complications
The percentage depth dose (PDD) was measured for different field sizes defined by both Multi Leaf Collimator (MLC) as well as jaws to analyse surface dose, dose at 10 cm, depth of 90% and 80% dose and were noted down for both MLC design
This study reveals that proper understanding and effect of dosimetric parameters vary with different MLC design from Varian linac before clinical treatment
Summary
Multi-leaf collimators (MLC) are moveable leaves that can shape as per irregular tumour in 3 Dimensional Conformal Radiotherapy (3D-CRT) and modulate the intensity of the beam in Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) thereby reducing the normal tissue complications. These treatment techniques have required complex beam arrangements with irregularly shaped MLC fields. The dosimetric parameters have an impact on the dose distribution especially in small fields defined by MLC. If the Radiotherapy department have more than one LINAC, the physicist should know the difference in the dose distribution with different LINAC head or with different MLCs even though it cannot be matched dosimetrically
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