Operational Performance of a Compact Proton Therapy System: A 5-Year Experience

Area of Science:

• Medical Physics
• Radiation Oncology
• Medical Technology

Background:

• Proton therapy offers precise radiation delivery for cancer treatment.
• Compact proton therapy systems aim to increase accessibility and reduce costs.
• Evaluating operational metrics is crucial for system validation and optimization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze operational metrics of a novel compact proton therapy system over five years.
• To assess clinical case mix, subsystem utilization, and beam delivery quality assurance.
• To determine the system's versatility and robustness in treating diverse patient cases.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of patient-specific data from 850 patients (25,567 fractions).
• Evaluation of beam delivery parameters for 3,585 beams.
• Assessment of gantry and patient positioning system performance and utilization.
• Inclusion of machine performance metrics and uptime data.

Main Results:

• System components maintained tight mechanical tolerances over five years.
• Beam parameters remained within acceptable limits with no significant trends.
• Utilization analysis revealed selective use of gantry angles and beam parameters.
• The system demonstrated capability to treat a wide range of patient cases.

Conclusions:

• The compact proton therapy system is versatile, robust, and capable of complex treatments.
• Utilization patterns suggest potential for further optimization of system components.
• Findings can inform the design and cost-effectiveness of future compact proton systems.