Software control procedures for treatment planning systems

In radiotherapy treatment planning systems, the software programs as well as the beam data have to be updated frequently, when new software versions are released or as beam data change. This update procedure has to be carried out carefully, to ensure the integrity of the system software and data. Moreover, the version of software used for a particular patient treatment plan is important, not only as a record to be retrieved when necessary, but also when there are multiple terminals connected to the same computer. This process of version control is not always carried out in a systematic and standardized fashion. Most clinics often have their own systems to implement this procedure, but while some systems are comprehensive, others may not necessarily incorporate enough safeguards for errors. In addition, treatment planning system manufacturers often do not offer well-designed and fail-safe facilities for this important issue. This report describes the software update control procedures we have implemented on our treatment planning system as well as suggests some general principles that could be applied to other planning systems.