Comparison of measured and calculated dose for asymmetric x-ray beams defined by independently movable collimators

Linear accelerators with x-ray collimators that move independently are becoming increasingly common for treatment with asymmetric fields. In an asymmetric field, the center of the treatment field is away from the true central axis where dosimetric data are normally obtained. In this paper we present a simplified approach to the calculation of dose for asymmetric fields. We use central axis tissue-maximum ratio, off-axis factor in phantom and relative field-size factor in phantom to calculate dose. The accuracy of our calculations has been compared with ion-chamber measurements for 6 and 15 MV x-ray beams. Measurements were made at 5, 10, and 15 cm off-axis for a 20 cm x 20 cm asymmetric field at dmax and 6 cm depths in a solid-water phantom using a 0.6 cc Farmer chamber. Agreement within 3% was found at the measurement points.