Risk Management of Clinical Reference Dosimetry of a Large Hospital Network Using Statistical Process Control
Open Access
- 1 January 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Scientific Research Publishing, Inc. in International Journal of Medical Physics, Clinical Engineering and Radiation Oncology
- Vol. 10 (03), 119-131
- https://doi.org/10.4236/ijmpcero.2021.103011
Abstract
Managing TG-51 reference dosimetry in a large hospital network can be a challenging task. The objectives of this study are to investigate the effectiveness of using Statistical Process Control (SPC) to manage TG-51 workflow in such a network. All the sites in the network performed the annual reference dosimetry in water according to TG-51. These data were used to cross-calibrate the same ion chambers in plastic phantoms for monthly QA output measurements. An energy-specific dimensionless beam quality cross-calibration factor, , was derived to monitor the process across multiple sites. The SPC analysis was then performed to obtain the mean, , standard deviation, σk, the Upper Control Limit (UCL) and Lower Control Limit (LCL) in each beam. This process was first applied to 15 years of historical data at the main campus to assess the effectiveness of the process. A two-year prospective study including all 30 linear accelerators spread over the main campus and seven satellites in the network followed. The ranges of the control limits (±3σ) were found to be in the range of 1.7% - 2.6% and 3.3% - 4.2% for the main campus and the satellite sites respectively. The wider range in the satellite sites was attributed to variations in the workflow. Standardization of workflow was also found to be effective in narrowing the control limits. The SPC is effective in identifying variations in the workflow and was shown to be an effective tool in managing large network reference dosimetry.Keywords
This publication has 15 references indexed in Scilit:
- The report of Task Group 100 of the AAPM: Application of risk analysis methods to radiation therapy quality managementMedical Physics, 2016
- Addendum to the AAPMˈs TG‐51 protocol for clinical reference dosimetry of high‐energy photon beamsMedical Physics, 2014
- Statistical process control analysis for patient-specific IMRT and VMAT QAJournal of Radiation Research, 2012
- Commissioning and dosimetric characteristics of TrueBeam system: Composite data of three TrueBeam machinesMedical Physics, 2012
- Task Group 142 report: Quality assurance of medical acceleratorsa)Medical Physics, 2009
- Statistical process control for IMRT dosimetric verificationMedical Physics, 2008
- Statistical process control for radiotherapy quality assuranceMedical Physics, 2005
- AAPM's TG‐51 protocol for clinical reference dosimetry of high‐energy photon and electron beamsMedical Physics, 1999
- The effect of angular spread on the intensity distribution of arbitrarily shaped electron beamsMedical Physics, 1988
- AAPM Task Group 21 protocol: Dosimetric evaluationMedical Physics, 1985