This spring, clinical physicists at the renowned University of the Free State, Bloemfontein (Republic of South Africa) assessed the dose variation sensitivity of the IQM System and the IBA MatriXX Evolution system. Oluwaseyi M. Oderinde and his colleagues calculated six VMAT plans, three head-and-neck cases and three prostate cases. To evaluate the QA systems’ organ-dose variation sensitivity, the researchers modified the planning target volume (PTV) dose for each plan by 0.5%, 1.0%, 2.0%, and 3.0% of its original dose. The results were published in the Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences.
When applying VMAT, the accuracy of the dose prescription is essential to avoid treatment complications. This study intentionally modified the prescription dose of the patient-specific plans to assess the sensitivity of the two QA systems. Errors from different sources, including MLC, planning, software, human, and mechanical errors, all contribute to the dose distribution in a patient’s treatment plan. This study focused on the composite error, the dose error that results from all of the above-listed errors.
The study concludes that the IQM and MatriXX Evolution detectors are both capable of detecting small, systematic dose errors introduced as low as 0.5%.
More information and the full publication can be found at the Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences webpage.
It is relevant to note a significant difference between IQM and MatriXX Evolution: IQM achieves this outstanding accuracy fully automatically, without any user interaction. IQM allows you to fully automate your clinical QA processes. All you need to do is to export a DicomRT Plan dataset from your TPS. Everything else happens fully automatically in the background.
Click on the following link to the “Minimizing QA time” page on the IQM website to learn how much time IQM can save compared to MatriXX Evolution or other conventional QA systems.
Simply enter the number of VMAT plans delivered in your clinic each year and the website will calculate how much time IQM can save in your treatment planning and treatment verification processes.
IQM combines better results with significant time savings at every step of your clinical QA processes.