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Initial Experience of a Novel Web-Based Physics Quality Assurance Software in Radiation Oncology

A Sarkar*, A Shutler , J McGlade , F Mourtada , Christiana Care Hospital, Newark, DE

Presentations

(Sunday, 7/14/2019)  

Room: ePoster Forums

Purpose: To evaluate an innovative web-based quality QA management software that could improve physics workflow efficiency through customizable scheduling, QA and compliance of QA.

Methods: Physics QA in most busy radiation oncology departments typically involves management diverse linear accelerators (LINACs), QA and survey equipment, which strikingly vary in age and features. AQUA (Elekta Medical Systems, Inc., Atlanta, GA) is a robust and user-friendly QA software designed to efficiently list and schedule routine QA tasks, and effectively perform and manage QA data. It provides a platform to list all LINACs and QA equipment in one library, include calibration information and email reminders to track dosimeter calibration due dates. Each QA task can be assigned to a user or group, and is displayed on the user dashboard. We set up a monthly QA schedule of MLC & jaws QA, Collimator isocenter, etc., where AQUA directly interfaced with the LINAC to deliver QA, analyze imported MV images, and automatically display results. Daily auto-trending of dosimetry parameters was recently set up by interfacing with DailyQA3 (Sun Nuclear Corp, Inc.), as well as monthly QA with AAPM TG-142 tolerances.

Results: Since AQUA implementation, MLC QA data from first 10-months was used as baseline for performance and generate monthly trend charts for each QA parameter. Any parameter falling outside tolerance can be immediately flagged and investigated. The entire database of LINAC daily QA is also easily viewable for review.

Conclusion: AQUA’s dynamic web-based platform is an efficient way to schedule, run, store, trend, and visualize physics QA. It helps Physics staff and LINAC engineers to organize timestamp data and establish a QA baseline, and thus identify outliers or a systematic parameter drift over time for further investigation. Its dashboard can be used to improve communication across the department to display LINAC status.

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