Viability of the virtual cone technique using a fixed small multi-leaf collimator field for stereotactic radiosurgery...

Dosimetric uncertainties in very small (≤1.5 × 1.5 cm² ) photon fields are remarkably higher, which undermines the validity of the virtual cone (VC) technique with a diminutive and variable MLC fields. We evaluate the accuracy and reproducibility of the VC method with a very small, fixed MLC field setting, called a fixed virtual cone (fVC), for small target radiosurgery such as trigeminal neuralgia (TGN). The fVC is characterized by 0.5 cm x 0.5 cm high-definition (HD) MLC field of 10MV FFF beam defined at 100 cm SAD, while backup jaws are positioned at 1.5 cm x 1.5 cm. A spherical dose distribution equivalent to 5 mm (diameter) physical cone was generated using 10-14 non-coplanar, partial arcs. Dosimetric accuracy was validated using SRS diode (PTW 60018), SRS MapCHECK (SNC) measurements. As a quality assurance measure, 10 treatment plans (SRS) for TGN, consisting of various arc ranges at different collimator angles were analyzed using 6 MV FFF and 10 MV FFF beams, including a field-by-field study (n = 130 fields). Dose outputs were compared between the Eclipse TPS and measurements (SRS MapCHECK). Moreover, dosimetric changes in the field defining fVC, prompted by a minute (± 0.5-1.0 mm) leaf shift, was examined among TPS, diode measurements, and Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. The beam model for fVC was validated (≤3% difference) using SRS MapCHECK based absolute dose measurements. The equivalent diameters of the 50% isodose distribution were found comparable to that of a 5 mm cone. Additionally, the comparison of field output factors, dose per MU between the TPS and SRS diode measurements using the fVC field, including ± 1 mm leaf shift, yielded average discrepancies within 5.5% and 3.5% for 6 MV FFF and 10 MV FFF beams, respectively. Overall, the fVC method is a credible alternative to the physical cone (5 mm) that can be applied in routine radiosurgical treatment of TGN.