Implementation of enhanced dynamic wedges in Pinnacle treatment planning system

Enhanced dynamic wedges (EDW) provide many advantages over traditional hard wedges for linear accelerator treatments. Along with these advantages comes the responsibility of ensuring that this complex technology delivers the correct dose to patients. This involves determining the enhanced dynamic wedge factors for various field sizes and depths for use in the hand calculation of monitor units (MUs). The accurate representation of dynamic wedges in the treatment planning computer must also be ensured. This is required so that the final isodose distributions are correct and the MUs calculated by the treatment planning computer match those determined by hand calculation. We have commissioned and implemented the use of EDW in the Pinnacle radiation therapy planning system. The modeled dose profiles agree with the measured ones with a maximum difference of 2%. The MUs generated by Pinnacle are also within 2% of those calculated independently. The process of data collection and verification, beam modeling, and a discussion of a potential pitfall encountered in this process are presented in this paper.