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Evaluation of output factors of different radiotherapy planning systems using Exradin W2 plastic scintillator detector

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Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the output factors (OPF) of different radiation therapy planning systems (TPSs) using a plastic scintillator detector (PSD). The validation results for determining a practical field size for clinical use were verified. The implemented validation system was an Exradin W2 PSD. The focus was to validate the OPFs of the small irradiation fields of two modeled radiation TPSs using RayStation version 10.0.1 and Monaco version 5.51.10. The linear accelerator used for irradiation was a TrueBeam with three energies: 4, 6, and 10 MV. RayStation calculations showed that when the irradiation field size was reduced from 10 × 10 to 0.5 × 0.5 cm2, the results were within 2.0% of the measured values for all energies. Similarly, the values calculated using Monaco were within approximately 2.0% of the measured values for irradiation field sizes between 10 × 10 and 1.5 × 1.5 cm2 for all beam energies of interest. Thus, PSDs are effective validation tools for OPF calculations in TPS. A TPS modeled with the same source data has different minimum irradiation field sizes that can be calculated. These findings could aid in verification of equipment accuracy for treatment planning requiring highly accurate dose calculations and for third-party evaluation of OPF calculations for TPS.

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Data availability

The data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors upon request.

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Acknowledgements

We express our appreciation to Yoshiki Yamaguchi, Minoru Nakao, Ryota Tonozuka, Tomoyuki Kurosawa, and Takeshi Yoshida for their support and valuable advice, which contributed to the smooth process of this study.

Funding

The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hiroshima City Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan

    Yasuharu Ando, Soichiro Ishihara & Hiroshi Kiriu

  2. Hiroshima City North Medical Center Asa Citizens Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan

    Masahiro Okada, Natsuko Matsumoto & Kawasaki Ikuhiro

  3. Department of Radiological Technology, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Okayama University, 5-1 Shikata-cho, 2-chome, Kita-ku, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan

    Yoshinori Tanabe

Authors
  1. Yasuharu Ando
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  2. Masahiro Okada
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  3. Natsuko Matsumoto
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  4. Kawasaki Ikuhiro
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  5. Soichiro Ishihara
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  6. Hiroshi Kiriu
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  7. Yoshinori Tanabe
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Yoshinori Tanabe, Masahiro Okada, and Natsuko Matsumoto. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Yasuharu Ando, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yoshinori Tanabe.

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Ando, Y., Okada, M., Matsumoto, N. et al. Evaluation of output factors of different radiotherapy planning systems using Exradin W2 plastic scintillator detector. Phys Eng Sci Med (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13246-024-01438-5

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