To compare image quality metrics and dose of TrueBeam V2.0’s 2.5MV imaging beam and kV and 6MV images.
To evaluate the MV image quality, the Standard Imaging QC-3 and Varian Las Vegas (LV) phantoms were imaged using the ‘quality’ and ‘low dose’ modes and then processed using RIT113 V6.3. The LEEDS phantom was used to evaluate the kV image quality. The signal to noise ratio (SNR) was also evaluated in patient images using Matlab. In addition, dose per image was evaluated at a depth of 5cm using solid water for a 28.6 cm × 28.6 cm field size, which is representative of the largest jaw settings at an SID of 150cm.
The 2.5MV images had lower dose than the 6 MV images and a contrast to noise ratio (CNR) about 1.4 times higher, when evaluated using the QC-3. When energy was held constant but dose varied, the different modes, ‘low dose’ and ‘quality’, showed less than an 8% difference in CNR. The ‘quality’ modes demonstrated better spatial resolution than the ‘low dose’; however, even with the ‘low dose’ all line pairs were distinct except for the 0.75lp/mm on the 2.5MV. The LV phantom was used to measure low contrast detectability and showed similar results to the QC-3. Several patient images all confirmed that SNR were highest in kV images followed by 2.5MV and then 6MV. Qualitatively, for anatomical areas with large variability in thickness, like lateral head and necks, 2.5MV images show more anatomy, such as shoulder position, than kV images.
The kV images clearly provide the best image metrics per unit dose. The 2.5MV beam showed excellent contrast at a lower dose than 6MV and may be superior to kV for difficult to image areas that include large changes in anatomical thickness.
P Balter: Varian, Sun Nuclear, Philips, CPRIT
Read Full Story from Medical Physics: Most Recent Articles http://scitation.aip.org/content/aapm/journal/medphys/42/6/10.1118/1.4924102?TRACK=RSS
This article by P Nitsch, D Robertson and P Balter originally appeared on scitation.aip.org on June 26, 2015 at 06:56PM
