Practices of radiotherapy equipment quality control in radiotherapy centres in Croatia (original) (raw)
Related papers
Survey of Equipment Quality Control in Radiotherapy Centres in Croatia: First Results
Archives of Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology, 2000
Implementation of advanced radiation therapy techniques in clinical practice can greatly improve tumour control and normal tissue sparing. An important part of this implementation is quality control (QC) of every part of the radiotherapy process, as it helps to detect errors and provides instant remedy. This increases the probability of successful radiation treatment and ensures patient radiation safety. Every radiotherapy quality assurance (QA) programme is based on quality control of radiotherapy equipment. The aim of our survey was to review QC practices in a number of radiotherapy centres in Croatia. As a fi rst step, we defi ned a set of tests to check different parameters of linear accelerators and simulators in these centres.
Development of quality control standards for radiation therapy equipment in Canada
Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics, 2007
Among the essential components of a comprehensive quality assurance program in radiotherapy are the quality control protocols to be used on the equipment and, in particular, the performance objectives and criteria. In the present work, we describe the development of a suite of quality control documents for use across Canada. Following a generic format, we are generating concise, clear standards for the most commonly used equipment in radiotherapy, with the emphasis on performance measures. The final standards of performance are confirmed following cross‐country consultation facilitated by the availability of draft documents on the Canadian Medical Physics web site.PACS number: 87.53.Xd
Radiotherapy and Oncology, 1986
The European Organization for Research on Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) has performed site reviews at 17 institutions participating in clinical trials organized by the Cooperative Group of Radiotherapy. In this paper the dosimetric part of the quality assurance control programme is presented. In a previous paper (part 1) the medical profile of the participating centres was presented. In part 3 an integrated clinical and dosimetric investigation in an anatomical phantom will be presented. The deviations between the absorbed dose values, for specific points along the beam axis in a water phantom, determined by us and reported by the hospitals were within an acceptable level of variation (about + 3%) for 85, 70 and 71% of the 0~ gamma, X-ray and electron beams, respectively. In some scanning electron beams, too large deviations were found. The flatness and symmetry of the beams were measured. 73% of the X-ray and 60% of the electron beams were within the acceptable levels of variations. Dosimetric recommendations for institutions participating in EORTC clinical trials are presented.
A Quality Assurance Network in Central European Countries: Radiotherapy Infrastructure
Acta Oncologica, 1998
A survey of the infrastructure in radiotherapy centres in three Central European countries has been performed as a first step in the development of a quality assurance network. Data concerning radiotherapy equipment, staff and number of patients treated in most of the radiotherapy centres from Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary were collected at the beginning of 1994. Equipment data have shown that 35% of 182 treatment units are conventional x-ray units, 35% 60 Co units, 19% linear accelerators, 7% 137 Cs units and 4% betatrons. About 47% of high energy units are older than 12 years and about 20% older than 21 years. An important number of centres still have no simulator which would constitute an important handicap to carry out adequate radiotherapy. The number of treatment planning systems has also been registered; 44% being PC-based systems with locally developed software. Large variations are observed in the number of patients treated per year, per high energy unit, but 12/47 centres treat more than 700 patients per year and unit. On the average, staffing seems adequate in numbers though there are wide variations. The main limitation of radiotherapy infrastructure in the Central European countries is the low number of linear accelerators and simulators and the advanced age of therapy units.
Quality assurance in radiotherapy by identifying standards and monitoring treatment preparation
Radiotherapy and Oncology, 2000
Background and purpose: Due to the complexity of the treatment preparation in radiotherapy, a number of errors go undetected until after the ®rst treatment session. Some of these errors could easily have been noticed before treatment if an objective ®lter existed in addition to human supervision. With this in mind, a conceptually novel extension to conventional quality assurance procedures was explored to create a global platform monitoring treatment preparation by comparison with the existing local standards. Materials and methods: The feasibility of developing such a platform was evaluated for a test case on a cohort of 202 patients having received breast irradiation. By statistical analysis of the treatment parameters, mean values and tolerance levels could be de®ned for most parameters based on the observed standard deviations. Useful correlations were traced providing us with a means to automatically track errors, the detection of which would otherwise solely depend upon the alertness of the supervisor. Results and conclusions: Apart from its possibilities as a mere quality control tool, the platform, developed in the framework of EQUART (European Quality Assurance Program in Radiotherapy by Monitoring Treatment Preparation), can be incorporated in the treatment preparation chain, providing standard setup values for the simulation. A crucial achievement of EQUART lies in the fact that ®ltering out of errors occurs prior to treatment initiation.
MANUAL FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE IN MEDICAL RADIATION II (GTX 407/2)
Quality Assurance in Medical Radiation II is part of requirement to be fulfilled by students for Bachelor in Health Science (Medical Radiation). This manual book becomes the guidance for students while performing quality assurance works for medical radiation equipments as well as laboratory report writing.This manual book is divided into two parts that is Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine. There are guidelines including international protocols in performing quality assurance for medical radiation equipments especially Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine equipments.
European Journal of Cancer, 2003
In 1982, the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Radiotherapy Group established the Quality Assurance (QA) programme. During the past 20 years, QA procedures have become a major part of the activities of the group. The methodology and steps of the QA programme over the past 20 years are briefly described. Problems and conclusions arising from the results of the long-lasting QA programme in the EORTC radiotherapy group are discussed and emphasised. The EORTC radiotherapy group continues to lead QA in the European radiotherapy community. Future challenges and perspectives are proposed. #
2013
Implementation of advanced techniques in clinical practice can greatly improve the outcome of radiation therapy, but it also makes the process much more complex with a lot of room for errors. An important part of the quality assurance program is verification of treatment planning system (TPS). Dosimetric verifications in anthropomorphic phantom were performed in 4 centers where new systems were installed. A total of 14 tests for 2 photon energies and multigrid superposition algorithms were conducted using the CMS XiO TPS. Evaluation criteria as specified in the International Atomic Energy Agency Technical Reports Series (IAEA TRS) 430 were employed. Results of measurements are grouped according to the placement of the measuring point and the beam energy. The majority of differences between calculated and measured doses in the water equivalent part of the phantom were in tolerance. Significantly more out of tolerance values were observed in ''nonwater equivalent'' parts of the phantom, especially for higher energy photon beams. This survey was done as a part of continuous effort to build up awareness of quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) importance in the Croatian radiotherapy community. Understanding the limitations of different parts of the various systems used in radiation therapy can systematically improve quality as well.
The programme of quality assurance of the EORTC radiotherapy group. A historical overview
Radiotherapy and Oncology, 1993
A quality assurance programme was activated in 1982 in the EORTC Cooperative Group of Radiotherapy. Definitions and contents of quality assurance and quality control, definitions of errors and deviations (systematic, occasional) are given. The methodology and steps of the quality assurance programme adopted over the past ten years are briefly described. The need for an interaction between national and international networks is emphasized. Consensus statements on quality assurance in radiotherapy provided during the January 1993 Geneva meeting conclude this introduction to the detailed reports on the quality assurance programme of the EORTC Cooperative Group of Radiotherapy.