Commissioning of a three-dimensional arc-based technique for total body irradiation

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to describe the commissioning of a novel three-dimensional arc-based technique for total body irradiation (TBI) treatments. The development and implementation of this technique allowed our institution to transition from a bilateral two-dimensional (2D) technique to a methodology based on volumetric dose calculation. The methodology described in this work is a derivation from the MATBI technique, with the static fields being replaced by four contiguous arc-fields for each anterior and posterior incidence. The reduced number of fields we employed makes it possible to reach a satisfactory dose uniformity through manual optimization in a straightforward process. We use the Eclipse anisotropic analytical algorithm (AAA) algorithm, commissioned with preconfigured beam data for a 6 MV photon beam, at standard SSD (100 cm). A thorough evaluation of the accuracy of the AAA algorithm at an extended distance (approximately 200 cm) was carried out. For the evaluation, we compared measured and calculated percentage depth–dose and profiles that included open-field, penumbra, and out-of-field regions. The analysis was performed for both static and arc fields, taking into consideration unshielded fields and also in the presence of lung shielding blocks. End-to-end tests were carried out for our institutional template plan by two means: with a 2D ion chamber array detector in solid phantom and using Gafchromic films in an anthropomorphic phantom. The results obtained in this work demonstrate that the Eclipse AAA algorithm commissioned for standard treatments can be safely used with our TBI planning technique. Moreover, this technique proved to be a highly efficient path to replace conventional treatment techniques, providing a homogeneous dose distribution, dosimetric robustness, and shorter treatment times. In addition, as inherited from the MATBI technique, our methodology can be implemented in small treatment rooms, with no need for ancillary equipment.