Program Information
Quantitative Fault Testing for Commissioning of Proton Therapy Machines
M Reilly*, L Rankine , K Grantham , E Klein , Washington University, Saint Louis, MO
Presentations
SU-E-T-660 (Sunday, July 12, 2015) 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM Room: Exhibit Hall
Purpose:
To ensure proper fault testing for the first single room proton therapy machine by establishing a common set of acceptance testing and commissioning parameters with the manufacturer. The following work details the parameters tested and associated results.
Methods:
Dose rates in service mode were varied to ensure that when the threshold for maximum or minimum MU/min was met, the beam promptly shut off. The flatness parameter was tested by purposely assigning an incorrect secondary scatter, to ensure the beam shut off when detecting a heterogeneous profile. The beam symmetry parameter was tested by altering the steering coil up to 3.0A, thereby forcing the beam to be asymmetric and shut off. Lastly, the quench system was tested by ramping down the magnet to 5% capacity, whereby the quench button was engaged to bring down the magnet current to a safe level.
Results:
A dose rate increase or decrease in excess of 10% shut the beam off within 5 seconds as observed by the current on a Matrixx ionization chamber array (IBA Dosimetry, Bartlett, TN) A 3.0A change in the beam steering coil introduced a 2% change in the flatness and symmetry profiles with respect to baseline measurements resulting in the beam shutting off within 5 seconds. An incorrect 2nd scatterer introduced a flatness of 4.1% and symmetry of 6.4% which immediately triggered a beam shut off. Finally, the quench system worked as expected during the ramp down procedure.
Conclusion:
A fault testing plan to check dosimetric faults and the quench system was performed for the first single room proton therapy system. All dosimetric parameters and machine conditions were met to our satisfaction. We propose that the same type of fault testing should be applied to any proton system during commissioning, including scanning beam systems.
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