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Published on: April 9, 2014
The performance of multileaf collimators evaluated by the stripe test
Maria Sastre-Padro1, Christoffer Lervåg, Karsten Eilertsen
1Department of Medical Physics, Division of Cancer Medicine and Radiotherapy, Rikshospitalet University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. Maria.Sastre@radiumhospitalet.no
Summary
The stripe test effectively evaluated multileaf collimator (MLC) performance in radiotherapy. Long-term leaf positioning reproducibility varied, with Siemens MLCs showing wider deviations compared to Varian and Elekta systems.
Area of Science:
- Medical Physics
- Radiotherapy Technology
- Quality Assurance in Radiation Oncology
Background:
- Accurate leaf positioning in multileaf collimators (MLCs) is critical for precise radiation delivery.
- Variations in MLC performance can impact treatment efficacy and patient safety.
- Standardized testing methods are essential for evaluating and comparing MLC systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the performance of three different multileaf collimator (MLC) systems (Varian, Elekta, Siemens).
- To evaluate both short-term and long-term leaf positioning reproducibility using a stripe test.
- To compare the reliability of different MLC systems in a radiotherapy setting.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a stripe test involving 8 adjacent multileaf segments on 7 linear accelerators.
- Irradiated Agfa CR films with 6-MV photons using the MLC segments.
- Analyzed optical density profiles on irradiated films to determine leaf positioning reproducibility.
Main Results:
- Short-term leaf positioning reproducibility was consistently within 0.3 mm for all MLC systems.
- Long-term reproducibility for Varian and Elekta MLCs ranged from 0.4 to 0.5 mm.
- Siemens MLCs exhibited wider long-term reproducibility variations, up to 1 mm, attributed to segment size decrease over time.
Conclusions:
- The stripe test is a valuable and practical method for evaluating multileaf collimator (MLC) performance.
- Significant differences in long-term leaf positioning reproducibility exist among investigated MLC systems.
- Siemens MLCs demonstrated inferior long-term stability compared to Varian and Elekta systems.
