SU‐E‐T‐707: Clinical Evaluation of a New Commercial Dose Calculation Algorithm

Abstract

Purpose: A new algorithm, Acuros® XB Advanced Dose Calculation, has been introduced by Varian Medical Systems in the Eclipse planning system for photon dose calculation in external beam radiotherapy. Acuros XB is based on the solution of the linear Boltzmann transport equation (LBTE). In this study we perform a clinical evaluation of the Acuros XB by comparison to other known and tested treatment planning systems and dose calculation algorithms. Methods: Twenty (n=20) patients previously planned with the Pinnacle ver.9.0 treatment planning system and calculated using the collapsed cone convolution superposition algorithm, were recalculated using the Eclipse ver. 10.0 with the Acuros XB dose calculation algorithm. A mixture of treatment sites were chosen, including brain, lung, liver, and pelvis. The metrics chosen for the evaluation were DVH, absolute dose difference, and profiles along the axial, sagital and coronal planes at the isocenter Results: Good agreement was observed between the dose calculations with Acuros and the ones from Pinnacle using the CCCS algorithm. Differences were mostly detected in inhomogeneous media. Maximum differences of 2.5% were observed for lung patients, while, smaller differences were detected for pelvic, brain, and abdominal cases. Conclusions: The new dose calculation algorithm Acuros XB available in Eclipse ver. 10 is in very good agreement with the widely tested and accepted CCCS dose calculation algorithm. More extensive testing of the algorithm might be necessary in order to further evaluate the accuracy of the calculations.