TG66：QA-of-CT-simulator

Qualityassuranceforcomputed-tomographysimulatorsandthecomputed-tomography-simulationprocess:ReportoftheAAPMRadiationTherapyCommitteeTaskGroupNo.66SasaMutica)DepartmentofRadiationOncology,WashingtonUniversitySchoolofMedicine,St.Louis,Missouri63110JatinderR.PaltaDepartmentofRadiationOncology,UniversityofFlorida,Gainesville,Florida32610ElizabethK.ButkerDepartmentofRadiationOncology,EmoryUniversitySchoolofMedicine,Atlanta,GeorgiaIndraJ.DasDepartmentofRadiationOncology,UniversityofPennsylvania,Philadelphia,Pennsylvania19104M.SaifulHuqDepartmentofRadiationOncology,ThomasJeffersonUniversityHospital,Philadelphia,Pennsylvania19107Leh-NienDickLooDepartmentofMedicalPhysics,KaiserPermanente,LosAngeles,California90039BillJ.SalterDepartmentofRadiationOncology,UniversityofTexasHealthSciencesCenter,SanAntonio,Texas78229CynthiaH.McColloughb)DepartmentofRadiology,MayoClinic,Rochester,Minnesota55905JacobVanDykb)DepartmentofClinicalPhysics,LondonRegionalCancerCenter,London,OntarioN6A4L6,Canada~Received21April2003;revised1July2003;acceptedforpublication25July2003;published24September2003!ThisdocumentpresentsrecommendationsoftheAmericanAssociationofPhysicistsinMedicine~AAPM!forqualityassuranceofcomputed-tomography-~CT!simulatorsandCT-simulationpro-cess.ThisreportwaspreparedbyTaskGroupNo.66oftheAAPMRadiationTherapyCommittee.ItwasapprovedbytheRadiationTherapyCommitteeandbytheAAPMScienceCouncil.©2003AmericanAssociationofPhysicistsinMedicine.@DOI:10.1118/1.1609271#PREFACEThepurposeofthisdocumentistoprovidethemedicalphysicistwithaframeworkandguidanceforestablishmentofacomprehensivequalityassurance~QA!programforcomputed-tomography-~CT!scannersusedforCT-simulation,CT-simulationsoftware,andtheCT-simulationprocess.TheCT-simulatorisaCTscannerequippedwithaflattabletopand,preferably,externalpatientpositioningla-sers.ThescannerisaccompaniedwithspecializedsoftwarewhichallowstreatmentplanningonvolumetricpatientCTscansinamannerconsistentwithconventionalradiationtherapysimulators.1–12TheCTscannerusedintheCT-simulationprocesscanbelocatedintheradiationoncologydepartmentorinthediagnosticradiologydepartment.De-pendingontheCT-scannerlocationandprimaryuse,accep-tancetesting,commissioning,andQAcanbetheresponsi-bilityofatherapymedicalphysicist,diagnosticphysicist,orajointresponsibilityofdiagnosticandtherapyphysicists.ThecommissioningandperiodicQAoftheaccompanyingsoftwareandtheQAoftheCT-simulationprocessisalwaystheresponsibilityofthetherapyphysicist.Thisreportdoesnotaddresseachofthetwoscenariosindividually~scannerlocatedindiagnosticradiologyorradiationoncology!,butratherestablishesasetofQAproceduresthatareapplicabletoscannersusedforCT-simulationregardlessoftheirloca-tionandprimarypurpose.Itistheresponsibilityofthere-spectivediagnosticandtherapyphysiciststodeterminehowtheQAprogramisimplementedandhowtheresponsibilitiesareassigned.TheprimaryresponsibilityforimplementationofrecommendationsforQAofscannersusedforCT-simulationinthisdocumentrestswiththeradiationoncologyQualityAssuranceCommittee~QAC!asspecifiedbytheAAPMTaskGroup40.13FurtherdiscussionofQAprogramresponsibilitiesisprovidedinAppendixA.Ifthescannerislocatedintheradiationoncologydepartment,atherapymedicalphysicistcanperformQAoftheCT-scannerandofthesimulationprocessindependently.ItisrecommendedthatthetherapyphysicistsolicithelpfromadiagnosticphysicistfortheestablishmentofaQAprogramandscannercommis-sioningifheorshehaslimitedCTexperience.Likewise,iftheCT-scannerislocatedinthediagnosticradiologydepart-ment,theprimaryresponsibilityforthescannerQArestswiththediagnosticphysicist.Itisthentheresponsibilityoftheradiationoncologyphysicisttoassurethattherecom-mendationsofthistaskgroupareimplementedbyeitherdi-agnosticradiologyortheradiationoncologyphysicistoradesignate.27622762Med.Phys.30„10…,October20030094-2405Õ2003Õ30„10…Õ2762Õ31Õ$20.00©2003Am.Assoc.Phys.Med.Figure1showstheplaceofCT-simulationinthetreat-mentplanningprocess.CT-simulationincludestheCT-scannerandcomponentsoftreatmentplanningsystemandprovidesinputfordosecalculation.Therefore,thesubjectmatteraddressedinthisdocumentoverlapswiththeAAPMDiagnosticX-RayImagingCommitteeTaskGroup214report~Specificationandacceptancetestingofcomputedtomogra-physcanners;AAPMReportNo.39!andthereportoftheAAPMRadiationTherapyCommitteeTaskGroup5315~Qualityassuranceforclinicalradiotherapytreatmentplan-ning!.Theaimofthecurrenttaskgroupwasnottoduplicatematerialpresentedintheothertworeports,buttodevelopasetofQAguidelinesspecifictoCT-simulation,andtocomplementtherecommendationspresentedintheothertworeports.Thisdocumentwaspreparedwiththeintentthatitwouldbeusedinconjunctionwiththeothertworeports.Whenatopicisdiscussedbythecurrenttaskgroup,whichisalsoaddressedinReportNo.39ortheTG53report,thisdocumentprovidesadescriptionoftheQArequirementsandthereaderisthenreferredtothereportinwhichthistopicwasdiscussedingreaterdetail.InsituationswhentheothertworeportsdonotaddressatopicregardingQArequire-mentsforCT-simulation,thisdocumentdiscussesthesere-quirements.Thecurrentreportwasprimarilyintendedforradiati