Open AccessA quality assurance method with submillimeter accuracy for stereotactic linear accelerators
Author(s) -
Grimm Jimm,
Grimm ShuYa Lisa,
Das Indra J.,
Zhu Yunping,
Yeo Inhwan,
Xue Jinyu,
Simpson Larry,
Jacob Dayee,
Sarkar Abhirup
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of applied clinical medical physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.83
H-Index - 48
ISSN - 1526-9914
DOI - 10.1120/jacmp.v12i1.3365
Subject(s) - quality assurance , medical physics , linear particle accelerator , quality (philosophy) , computer science , medicine , physics , optics , beam (structure) , external quality assessment , pathology , quantum mechanics
The Stereotactic Alignment for Linear Accelerator (S. A. Linac) system is developed to conveniently improve the alignment accuracy of a conventional linac equipped with stereotactic cones. From the Winston‐Lutz test, the SAlinac system performs three‐dimensional (3D) reconstruction of the quality assurance (QA) ball coordinates with respect to the radiation isocenter, and combines this information with digital images of the laser target to determine the absolute position of the room lasers. A handheld device provides near‐real‐time repositioning advice to enable the user to align the QA ball and room lasers to within 0.25 mm of the centroid of the radiation isocenter. The results of 37 Winston‐Lutz tests over 68 days showed that the median 3D QA ball alignment error was 0.09 mm, and 97% of the time the 3D error was ≤ 0.25 mm . All 3D isocentric errors in the study were 0.3 mm or less. The median x and y laser alignment coordinate error was 0.09 mm, and 94% of the time the x and y laser error was ≤ 0.25 mm . A phantom test showed that the system can make submillimeter end‐to‐end accuracy achievable, making a conventional linac a “Submillimeter Knife”. PACS numbers: 87.53.Ly, 87.55.Qr