Australasian brachytherapy audit: Results of the %26quot;end-to-end%26apos; dosimetry pilot study

作者：Haworth Annette^*; Wilfert Lisa; Butler Duncan; Ebert Martin A; Todd Stephen; Bucci Joseph; Duchesne Gillian M; Joseph David; Kron Tomas

来源：Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology, 2013, 57(4): 490-498.

DOI：10.1111/1754-9485.12042

• brachytherapy
• external audit
• HDR
• Ir-192

Introduction We present the results of a pilot study to test the feasibility of a brachytherapy dosimetry audit. %26lt;br%26gt;Methods The feasibility study was conducted at seven sites from four Australian states in both public and private centres. A purpose-built cylindrical water phantom was imaged using the local imaging protocol and a treatment plan was generated to deliver 1Gy to the central (1 of 3) thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD) from six dwell positions. %26lt;br%26gt;Results All centres completed the audit, consisting of three consecutive irradiations, within a 2-h time period, with the exception of one centre that uses a pulsed dose rate brachytherapy unit. All TLD results were within 4.5% of the predicted value, with the exception of one subset where the dwell position step size was incorrectly applied. %26lt;br%26gt;Conclusions While the limited data collected in the study demonstrated considerable heterogeneity in clinical practice, the study proved a brachytherapy dosimetry audit to be feasible. Future studies should include verification of source strength using a Standard Dosimetry Laboratory calibrated chamber, a phantom that more closely mimics the clinical situation, a more comprehensive review of safety and quality assurance (QA) procedures including source dwell time and position accuracy, and a review of patient treatment QA procedures such as applicator position verification.

• 出版日期2013-8