A novel daily QA system for proton therapy.

Area of Science:

• Medical Physics
• Radiation Oncology
• Quality Assurance

Background:

• Proton therapy requires rigorous daily quality assurance (QA) to ensure system readiness and patient safety.
• Existing QA protocols can be time-consuming and complex, necessitating streamlined approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and implement a novel, efficient daily QA system for proton therapy.
• To verify the overall readiness of the proton therapy system within established tolerances.

Main Methods:

• Development of a home-made QA device integrating a commercial unit (rf-Daily QA 3), an acrylic phantom with fiducial markers, compensators, and an indexing jig.
• Utilizing the QA device to assess X-ray image quality, positioning accuracy, proton beam output, range, and symmetry with a single beam delivery.
• In-house software developed for calculating beam range and symmetry from ion chamber readings.

Main Results:

• The integrated QA system effectively checks couch movement, laser alignment, image registration, and key proton beam characteristics.
• The system achieves a total QA time of less than 20 minutes per room, demonstrating significant efficiency.
• The QA system has been successfully implemented and utilized in three proton therapy centers since June 2009.

Conclusions:

• The developed daily QA system offers a simple, robust, and efficient solution for proton therapy.
• This streamlined QA approach ensures consistent system readiness and supports safe clinical operation.
• The system's efficiency and effectiveness have been validated through prolonged use in multiple clinical settings.