Dosimetric Validation of Digital Megavolt Imager for Flattening Filter Free Beams in the Pre-Treatment Quality Assurance of Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Liver Metastases

Abstract

Aim: The aim is to evaluate the use of digital megavolt imager (DMI) aS1200 in portal dosimetry with flattening filter free (FFF) beams. Materials and Methods: Dosimetric properties of DMI is characterized at 6MV FFF beams for signal saturation, dose linearity, dependency on dose-rate and source-detector distance (SDD), signal lag (ghosting), and back scatter. Portal dosimetry is done for twenty volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) based stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) plans for the treatment of liver metastases and the results are compared with repeated measurements of Octavius 4D. Results: The detector signal to monitor unit (MU) ratio drops drastically below 25MU. The detector linearity with dose is within 1% and no evidence of signal saturation as such. The aS1200 response variation across various dose rates and SDD is <0.4% and <0.2% respectively. The effect of ghosting increased distinctly at higher dose rate but however it is negligible (0.1%). The impact of back scatter is <0.3% because of additional shielding provided at the back of the detector. The portal dosimetry results of SBRT QA plans evaluated at the gamma criteria of 2mm/2% (DTA/DD) both under global and local mode analysis has shown an average gamma passing rate of area gamma (<1) 97.9±0.8% and 96.4±0.9%. The SBRT QA results observed in aS1200 are inline and consistent with Octavius 4D measured results. Conclusion: The characteristics of aS1200 evaluated at FFF beams have shown its potential ability as QA tool and can be used in SBRT QA for liver metastases with greater confidence.