Distributive quality assurance and delivery of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy treatments amongst beam matched linear accelerators: A feasibility study

Purpose Beam matching occurs on all linacs to some degree and when two are more are matched to each other, patients are able to be transferred between machines. Quality assurance of plans can also be performed “distributively” on any of the matched linacs. The degree to which machines are matched and how this translates to like delivery of plans has been the focus of a number of studies. This concept has not yet been explored for stereotactic techniques which require a higher degree of accuracy. This study proposes beam matching criteria which allows for the distributive delivery and quality assurance of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) plans. Method Two clinically relevant and complex volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) SBRT spine and lung plans were chosen as benchmarking cases. These were delivered on nine previously beam matched linacs with quality assurance performed through ArcCheck and film exposure in the sagittal plane. Measured doses were compared to their treatment planning system predictions through gamma analysis at a range of criteria. Results Despite differences in beam match parameters and variations in small fields, all nine linacs produced accurate deliveries with a tight deviation in the population sample. Pass rates were well above suggested tolerances at the recommended gamma criterion. Film was able to detect dose errors to a greater degree than ArcCheck. Conclusion Distributive quality assurance and delivery of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy treatments amongst beam matched linacs is certainly feasible provided the linacs are matched to a strict protocol like that suggested in this study and regular quality assurance is performed on the matched fleet. Distributive quality assurance and delivery of SBRT provides the possibility of efficiency gains for physicists as well as treatment staff.