(Sunday, 7/12/2020) [Eastern Time (GMT-4)]
Room: AAPM ePoster Library
Purpose: provide therapeutic radiation oncology medical physicists a fast and automated software tool that performs a comprehensive check of the technical parameters of the proposed radiation treatment plan before it is irradiated on a patient. AAPM, ACR, institutional and state standards dictate that a comprehensive set of treatment parameters are checked before the irradiation starts (or very early at the radiation delivery progress, or if changes to treatment plan or delivery are made) by medical physicists. This “chart check” procedure is laborious and subject to human errors if done manually. A computer-assisted chart checking process enables more complete and accurate human review of critical parameters, reduce the risk of medical errors, and improve the efficiency.
Methods:
We developed a web-based software system that enables a thorough pre-irradiation quality assurance check. In the back-end, the software retrieves all machine parameters from a Treatment Management System(TMS) and compares them against the corresponding ones from the treatment planning system. They are also checked for validity against preset rules. The results are displayed as a web page in the front-end for physicists to review. Then a summary report is generated and uploaded automatically to the TMS as a record for weekly chart checking.
Results:
The software system has been deployed on a web server in our department’s intranet, and has been tested thoroughly by our clinical physicists. A plan parameter would be highlighted when it is off the preset limit. It has changed the way of checking charts with significantly improved accuracy, efficiency, and completeness. The developed system has been shown to be robust, fast, and easy to use.
Conclusion:
A computer-assisted system has been developed for efficient, accurate, and comprehensive pre-irradiation chart checking purpose. The system has been extensively validated and is being implemented for routine clinical use.
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