Commissioning of the Mobius3D independent dose verification system for TomoTherapy

Abstract

In radiation therapy, a secondary independent dose verification is an important component of a quality control system. Mobius3D calculates three-dimensional (3D) patient dose using reference beam data and a collapsed cone convolution algorithm and analyzes dose-volume histogram automatically. There are currently no published data on commissioning and determining tolerance levels of Mobius3D for TomoTherapy. To verify the calculation accuracy and adjust the parameters of this system, we compared the measured dose using an ion chamber and film in a phantom with the dose calculated using Mobius3D for nine helical intensity-modulated radiation therapy plans, each with three nominal field widths. We also compared 126 treatment plans used in our institution to treat prostate, head-and-neck, and esophagus tumors based on dose calculations by treatment planning system for given dose indices and 3D gamma passing rates with those produced by Mobius3D. On the basis of these results, we showed that the action and tolerance levels at the average dose for the planning target volume (PTV) at each treatment site are at μ ± 2σ and μ ± 3σ, respectively. After adjusting parameters, the dose difference ratio on average was -0.2 ± 0.6% using ion chamber and gamma passing rate with the criteria of 3% and 3 mm on average was 98.8 ± 1.4% using film. We also established action and tolerance levels for the PTV at the prostate, head-and-neck, esophagus, and for the organ at risk at all treatment sites. Mobius3D calculations thus provide an accurate secondary dose verification system that can be commissioned easily and immediately after installation. Before clinical use, the Mobius3D system needs to be commissioned using the treatment plans for patients treated in each institution to determine the calculational accuracy and establish tolerances for each treatment site and dose index.

Keywords: Mobius3D; TomoTherapy; commissioning; independent verification; tolerance.

Figure 1

The mean dose‐volume histogram calculated by Mobius3D (M3D) and Planning Station (PS) at (a) the prostate, (b) the head‐and‐neck, and (c) the esophagus.

Figure 2

Distribution of the mean dose discrepancies between Mobius3D and Planning Station for (a) the planning target volume at the prostate and the head‐and‐neck and (b) for the organ at risk (OAR) at all treatment sites.

Figure 3

Isodose distributions at esophagus case calculated by (a) Planning Station and (b) Mobius3D, and dose profiles at magenta line (solid). Magenta lines (dashed) in the dose profiles indicate the interpoint section of solid line and dashed line in the isodose distributions.