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Quality assurance for nonradiographic radiotherapy localization and positioning systems: Report of Task Group 147
Author(s) -
Willoughby Twyla,
Lehmann Joerg,
Bencomo José A.,
Jani Shirish K.,
Santanam Lakshmi,
Sethi Anil,
Solberg Timothy D.,
Tomé Wolfgang A.,
Waldron Timothy J.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
medical physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.473
H-Index - 180
eISSN - 2473-4209
pISSN - 0094-2405
DOI - 10.1118/1.3681967
Subject(s) - quality assurance , task group , task (project management) , sophistication , medical physics , medicine , quality (philosophy) , computer science , engineering management , systems engineering , engineering , social science , philosophy , external quality assessment , epistemology , pathology , sociology
New technologies continue to be developed to improve the practice of radiation therapy. As several of these technologies have been implemented clinically, the Therapy Committee and the Quality Assurance and Outcomes Improvement Subcommittee of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine commissioned Task Group 147 to review the current nonradiographic technologies used for localization and tracking in radiotherapy. The specific charge of this task group was to make recommendations about the use of nonradiographic methods of localization, specifically; radiofrequency, infrared, laser, and video based patient localization and monitoring systems. The charge of this task group was to review the current use of these technologies and to write quality assurance guidelines for the use of these technologies in the clinical setting. Recommendations include testing of equipment for initial installation as well as ongoing quality assurance. As the equipment included in this task group continues to evolve, both in the type and sophistication of technology and in level of integration with treatment devices, some of the details of how one would conduct such testing will also continue to evolve. This task group, therefore, is focused on providing recommendations on the use of this equipment rather than on the equipment itself, and should be adaptable to each user's situation in helping develop a comprehensive quality assurance program.