Ensuring the integrity of treatment parameters throughout the radiotherapy process.

Abstract

Ensuring data integrity in radiotherapy is of major importance and a complex task. The aim of this study was to compare three different combinations of treatment planning and record and verify systems with respect to data integrity. A software for comparison of treatment parameters in DICOM-RT files was developed using the MATLAB R2010a (MathWorks Inc.) environment. One hundred treatment plans were analyzed for each system combination. In the first step of the analysis, all parameters were compared and a normal condition for each system combination was identified. The second step focused on the discovery of potential special cause deviations, e.g. by applying tolerance levels. In total, 15% and 0.37% of all comparisons failed to meet the defined integrity demands in step 1 and step 2 of the analysis, respectively. Differences in the data integrity level between the systems were observed, ranging on average from 3.1 to 11.9 discrepancies per beam for the different RV-TPS combinations. The proposed method can be used to increase the safety for individual patients by ensuring that the intended treatment is delivered. The system combination with the highest level of data integrity was found to be the one which shares a single database.