Australasian brachytherapy audit: Results of the 'end-to-end' dosimetry pilot study

Introduction We present the results of a pilot study to test the feasibility of a brachytherapy dosimetry audit. Methods The feasibility study was conducted at seven sites from four Australian states in both public and private centres. A purpose‐built cylindrical water phantom was imaged using the l...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of medical imaging and radiation oncology 2013-08, Vol.57 (4), p.490-498
Main Authors: Haworth, Annette, Wilfert, Lisa, Butler, Duncan, Ebert, Martin A, Todd, Stephen, Bucci, Joseph, Duchesne, Gillian M, Joseph, David, Kron, Tomas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
192Ir
Audits
Australasia
brachytherapy
Brachytherapy - standards
external audit
Feasibility Studies
HDR
Humans
Medical Audit
Medical technology
Medicine
Pilot Projects
Practice Guidelines as Topic
Radiation therapy
Radiometry - standards
Radiotherapy Dosage - standards
Reproducibility of Results
Sensitivity and Specificity
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Summary:Introduction We present the results of a pilot study to test the feasibility of a brachytherapy dosimetry audit. Methods The feasibility study was conducted at seven sites from four Australian states in both public and private centres. A purpose‐built cylindrical water phantom was imaged using the local imaging protocol and a treatment plan was generated to deliver 1 Gy to the central (1 of 3) thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD) from six dwell positions. Results All centres completed the audit, consisting of three consecutive irradiations, within a 2‐h time period, with the exception of one centre that uses a pulsed dose rate brachytherapy unit. All TLD results were within 4.5% of the predicted value, with the exception of one subset where the dwell position step size was incorrectly applied. Conclusions While the limited data collected in the study demonstrated considerable heterogeneity in clinical practice, the study proved a brachytherapy dosimetry audit to be feasible. Future studies should include verification of source strength using a Standard Dosimetry Laboratory calibrated chamber, a phantom that more closely mimics the clinical situation, a more comprehensive review of safety and quality assurance (QA) procedures including source dwell time and position accuracy, and a review of patient treatment QA procedures such as applicator position verification.
ISSN:1754-9477
1754-9485
DOI:10.1111/1754-9485.12042