Commissioning and implementing a Quality Assurance program for dedicated radiation oncology MRI scanners

Area of Science:

• Medical Physics
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• Quality Assurance

Background:

• New guidelines from the American College of Radiology (ACR) and American Association of Medical Physicists (AAPM) address commissioning for dedicated MRI simulators.
• Implementing these guidelines requires robust quality assurance (QA) programs and efficient workflows.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report on a 2-year experience with commissioning and implementing a QA program for MRI simulators.
• To evaluate an automated workflow for QA based on ACR and AAPM guidelines.

Main Methods:

• Performed all mandatory commissioning tests from AAPM Report 284 on two MRI scanners (MAGNETOM Sola and Aera).
• Utilized visual inspection, vendor platforms, third-party software, and in-house Python code for testing and data analysis.
• Employed QATrack+ for QA data logging and storage, evaluating 3D geometric distortion, B0 inhomogeneity, EPI, and parallel imaging performance.

Main Results:

• The QA program identified major failures over time, such as shimming, gradient calibration, and RF interference.
• Automated QA, data analysis, and logging enabled rapid daily and monthly QA completion (3 hours).
• The MAGNETOM Sola demonstrated superior geometric accuracy (average 1mm distortion within 250mm radius) and B0 homogeneity compared to the Aera.

Conclusions:

• An automated workflow and enhanced QA program effectively track machine and environmental changes, detecting subtle, periodic failures.
• The MAGNETOM Sola exhibits better geometric accuracy and a more homogenous B0 field than the Aera.
• This approach facilitates consistent and reliable MRI simulator performance monitoring.