The Multi-Center Study “Feasibility of using IQM for QA tests of a medical linear accelerator” published in JACMP in January 2024 brought together Medical Physicists from some of the world’s leading Radiation Therapy Centers, including Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, Mayo Clinic in Rochester, and Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles to evaluate the use of IQM for Machine QA.
One of the Machine QA metrics evaluated by the research group was the IQM System’s sensitivity to typical daily Linac output variations for all available beam energies. They simulated different output variations and measured them with the IQM System and a reference Farmer type Chamber. After comparing the results, they concluded that the IQM system is sensitive to small day-to-day output variations and can therefore be reliably used for routine linac output constancy checks.
The upcoming IQM software release v1.10 embeds completely automated output constancy checks into your daily clinical workflow. Pre-defined beam sequences of 20cm x 20cm fields for each of your beam energies are stored in your Oncology Information System and delivered whenever needed.
IQM fully automatically measures and analyses the signal data and provides the resulting beam output in a comprehensive output constancy report.
The new IQM Output Constancy Report provides detailed information about the current and long-term variations in the linac beam output and illustrates whether these variations are within the user-defined acceptance criteria.
The Integral Quality Monitor (IQM) system represents an innovative approach to performing daily beam output constancy checks of a linear accelerator in radiation therapy.
IQM completely automates the data collection and analysis process for daily beam output checks, providing more reliable QA outcomes while saving valuable time for medical physicists and other staff involved in QA processes. By integrating QA processes seamlessly into the daily clinical workflow IQM allows medical physicists to allocate more time to other critical tasks, enhancing the overall productivity of the radiation therapy department and ensuring that daily beam output constancy checks are performed systematically.
The long-term tracking of linac performance data provides trend analysis and proactive maintenance. Long-term tracking with IQM helps in identifying gradual changes in the machine’s performance over time, serving as bases for equipment calibration, upgrades, and replacement.
In summary, the use of IQM for daily beam output constancy checks offers significant advantages in terms of accuracy, efficiency, and comprehensive monitoring.
These benefits contribute to the delivery of high-quality, effective radiation therapy treatments.