SU-E-T-359: Measurement of Various Metrics to Determine Changes in Megavoltage Photon Beam Energy

Abstract

Purpose: To examine the relationship between photon beam energy and various metrics for energy on the flattened and flattening filter free (FFF) beams generated by the Varian TrueBeam. Methods: Energy changes were accomplished by adjusting the bending magnet current ±10% from the nominal value for the 4, 6, 8, and 10 MV flattened and 6 and 10 MV FFF beams. Profiles were measured for a 30×30 cm2 field using a 2D ionization chamber array and a 3D water Scanner which was also used to measure PDDs. For flattened beams we compared several energy metrics; PDD at 10 cm depth in water (PDD(10)); the variation over the central 80% of the field (Flat); and the average of the highest reading along each diagonal divided by the CAX value, diagonal normalized flatness (FDN). For FFF beams we examined PDD(10), FDN, and the width of a chosen isodose level in a 30×30 cm2 field (W(d%)). Results: Changes in PDD(10) were nearly linear with changes in energy for both flattened and FFF beams as were changes in FDN. Changes in W(d%) were also nearly linear with energy for the FFF beams. PDD(10) was not as sensitive to changes in energy compared to the other metrics for either flattened or FFF beams. Flat was not as sensitive to changes in energy compared to FDN for flattened beams and its behavior depends on depth. FDN was the metric that had the highest sensitivity to the changes in energy for flattened beams while W(d%) was the metric that had highest sensitivity to the changes in energy for FFF beams. Conclusions: The metric FDN was found to be most sensitive to energy changes for flattened beams, while the W(d%) was most sensitive to energy changes for FFF beams.