Accuracy Requirements And Quality Assurance Of External Beam Therapy With Photons And Electrons

From background physics and biological models to the latest imaging and treatment modalities, the Handbook of Radiotherapy Physics: Theory and Practice covers all theoretical and practical aspects of radiotherapy physics. In this comprehensive reference, each part focuses on a major area of radiotherapy, beginning with an introduction by the

The first text to focus solely on quality and safety in radiotherapy, this work encompasses not only traditional, more technically oriented, quality assurance activities, but also general approaches of quality and safety. It includes contributions from experts both inside and outside the field to present a global view. The task of assuring quality is no longer viewed solely as a technical, equipment-dependent endeavor. Instead, it is now recognized as depending on both the processes and the people delivering the service. Divided into seven broad categories, the text covers: Quality Management and Improvement includes discussions about lean thinking, process control, and access to services. Patient Safety and Managing Error looks at reactive and prospective error management techniques. Methods to Assure and Improve Quality deals broadly with techniques to monitor, assure, and improve quality. People and Quality focuses on human factors, changing roles, staffing, and training. Quality Assurance in Radiotherapy addresses the general issues of quality assurance with descriptions of the key systems used to plan and treat patients and includes specific recommendations on the types and frequencies of certain tests. Quality Control: Equipment and Quality Control: Patient-Specific provides explicit details of quality control relating to equipment and patient-specific issues. Recently, a transformation of quality and safety in radiotherapy has begun to take place. Among the key drivers of this transformation have been new industrial and systems engineering approaches that have come to the forefront in recent years following revelations of system failures. This book provides an approach to quality that is long needed, one that deals with both human and technical aspects that must be the part of any overall quality improvement program.

Provides a complete overview of the principles, hardware, measurement methods, and clinical applications of three-dimensional dosimetry. Explains basic concepts with emphasis on 3D dose measurements and validation of 3D dose calculations as a key application of 3D dosimetry. Discusses accuracy requirements for 3D dosimetry in advanced radiotherapy as well as important topics such as audits, quality assurance, and testing. Presents state of the art detector and point detector instruments and systems, gel dosimetry, and electronic portal imaging device dosimetry. Addresses the main measurement approaches, from small-field dosimetry to 4D dosimetry, Monte Carlo techniques, and methods for quantifying differences in 3D dose distributions.

Radiosurgery performed with the "Gamma Knife" or on a linac facility is a specific radiotherapy method to treat certain lesions in the brain with a high single radiation dose. Geometric miss of a radiosurgica target is considered the most likely serious error in a stereotactic radiosurgery treatment. Therefore, the issue of quality assurance in stereotactic radiosurgery is a serious one for neurosurgeons, physicists, patients and those of us who wish to analyze the results of radiosurgery. The purpose of this book is to offer and describe a quality assurance program and procedures of the physical and technical aspects through identifying the sources of possible errors and suggesting quality assurance tests that should be performed in order for a stereotactic system to be used clinically.

Computers have had and will continue to have a tremendous impact on professional activity in almost all areas. This applies to radiological medicine and in particular to radiation therapy. This book compiles the most recent developments and results of the application of computers and computer science as presented at the XIIIth International Conference on the Use of Computers in Radiation Therapy in Heidelberg, Germany. The text of both oral presentations and posters is included. The book is intended for computer sientists, medical physicists, engineers and physicians in the field of radiation therapy and provides a comprehensive survey of the entire field.