Multileaf collimator (MLC) calibration and quality control is a time-consuming procedure typically involving the processing, scanning and analysis of films to measure leaf and collimator positions. Faster and more reliable calibration procedures are required for these tasks, especially with the introduction of intensity modulated radiotherapy which requires more frequent checking and finer posi...

The MM50 Racetrack Microtron, suited for advanced three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy techniques, is a complex machine in various respects. Therefore, for a number of gantry angles, daily quality control of the absolute output and fluence profiles of the scanned beams are mandatory. For the applied photon beams, a fast method for these daily checks, based on dosimetric measurements with th...

A prerequisite for accurate dose delivery of IMRT profiles produced with dynamic multileaf collimation (DMLC) is highly accurate leaf positioning. In our institution, leaf verification for DMLC was initially done with film and ionization chamber. To overcome the limitations of these methods, a fast, accurate and two-dimensional method for daily leaf verification, using our CCD-camera based elec...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the dose-response characteristics, including ghosting effects, of an amorphous silicon-based electronic portal imaging device (a-Si EPID) under clinical conditions. EPID measurements were performed using one prototype and two commercial a-Si detectors on two linear accelerators: one with 4 and 6 MV and the other with 8 and 18 MV x-ray beams. First, t...

This study focused on predicting the electronic portal imaging device (EPID) image of intensity modulated radiation treatment (IMRT) fields in the absence of attenuation material in the beam with Monte Carlo methods. As IMRT treatments consist of a series of segments of various sizes that are not always delivered on the central axis, large spectral variations may be observed between the segment...

A study was performed to determine the relative advantage of computer-controlled couch movement versus manual repositioning to correct patient setup error measured using an electronic portal imaging device (EPID). Twenty-eight on-line setup adjustment trials of anterior-posterior (AP) pelvic projections were evaluated, with 13 setups corrected by automated couch movement determined by direct fe...