Journal article
Radiation therapy plan checks in a paperless clinic
Journal of applied clinical medical physics, Vol.10(1), pp.43-62
2009
DOI: 10.1120/jacmp.v10i1.2905
PMCID: PMC5720497
PMID: 19223840
Abstract
Traditional quality assurance checks of a patient's radiation therapy plan involve printing out treatment parameters from the treatment planning system and the “record and verify” (R&V) system and visually checking the information for one‐to‐one correspondence. In a paperless environment, one can automate this process through independent software that can read the treatment planning data directly and compare it against the parameters in the R&V system's database. In addition to verifying the data integrity, it is necessary to check the logical consistency of the data and the accuracy of various calculations. The results are then imported into the patient's electronic medical record. Appropriate workflows must be developed to ensure that no steps of the QA process are missed. This paper describes our electronic QA system (EQS), consisting of in‐house software and workflows. The EQS covers 3D conformal and intensity modulated radiation therapy, electrons, stereotactic radiosurgery, total body irradiation, and clinical set ups with and without virtual simulation. The planning systems handled by our EQS are ADAC Pinnacle and Varian FASTPLAN, while the R&V systems are LANTIS and VARIS. The improvement in our plan check process over the paperless system is described in terms of the types of detected errors. The potential problems with the implementation and use of the EQS, as well as workarounds for data that are not easily accessible through electronic means, are described.
PACS numbers: 87.55.Qr, 87.55.tg, 87.55.tm
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Radiation therapy plan checks in a paperless clinic
- Creators
- R. Alfredo Siochi - University of Iowa Hospitals and ClinicsEdward C Pennington - University of Iowa Hospitals and ClinicsTimothy J Waldron - University of Iowa Hospitals and ClinicsJohn E Bayouth - University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of applied clinical medical physics, Vol.10(1), pp.43-62
- DOI
- 10.1120/jacmp.v10i1.2905
- PMID
- 19223840
- PMCID
- PMC5720497
- NLM abbreviation
- J Appl Clin Med Phys
- ISSN
- 1526-9914
- eISSN
- 1526-9914
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons Inc; Hoboken
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 2009
- Academic Unit
- Radiation Oncology
- Record Identifier
- 9984047661402771
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