Evaluation of the Delta4 phantom for IMRT and VMAT verification

Abstract

The Delta4 diode array phantom (Scandidos, Uppsala, Sweden) was evaluated for verification of segmental intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) on an Elekta linear accelerator (Crawley UK). The device was tested for angular sensitivity by irradiating it from 36 different gantry angles, and the responses of the device to various step-and-shoot segment doses and dose rates were evaluated using an ionization chamber as a comparison. The phantom was then compared with ionization chamber and film results for two prostate and pelvic nodes IMRT plans, two head and neck IMRT plans and two lung VMAT plans. These plans were calculated using Pinnacle3 (Philips Radiation Oncology Systems, Madison, WI). The uniformity of angular response was better than 0.5% over the range of gantry angles. The uniformity of response of the Delta4 to different segment monitor units and dose rates was better than 0.5%. The assessment of the IMRT and VMAT plans showed that the Delta4 measured a dose within 2.5% of the ionization chamber, and compared to film recorded a slightly larger region (range −2% to +7%) agreeing with the planned dose to within 3% and 3 mm. The Delta4 is a complex device and requires careful benchmarking, but following the successful completion of these measurements, the Delta4 has been introduced into clinical use.