Poster - Thurs Eve-19: IGRT QA for helical tomotherapy

Abstract

Helical tomotherapy (HT) with daily imaging using mega-voltage computed tomography for 3D image guided radiotherapy (IGRT). We present two techniques developed in our department to verify the integrity of the HT IGRT process. A phantom was constructed of two equally sized (5×10×10cm3 ) polystyrene blocks stacked on top of each other, each piece having a hole capable of receiving a small volume ionization chamber. A piece of Radiochromic film fits neatly in between the blocks. The phantom was CT scanned and the CT slices were transferred to the HT treatment planning system (TPS). The first procedure is used daily to test the image registration aspects of the IGRT process, and involves setting the phantom on the tomotherapy treatment unit table in an arbitrary position, imaging it, and performing image registration to determine what displacements are necessary to return the phantom to the planned position. A variation of this test is to place the phantom at a position incurring known displacements and ensuring the registration recognizes the shifts. The second procedure verifies the entire IGRT procedure, and includes the first procedure and the delivery of a treatment plan. An inverse plan is created to deliver simultaneously 2 and 3 Gy to 2 pre-defined targets. The treatment plan can be setup as a QA plan in the TPS software, allowing for a detailed comparison of ion chamber measurements and film dosimetry to the planned dose distribution. We have found that these QA procedures adequately test the IGRT capabilities of our HT unit.