Evaluation of beam matching accuracy among six linacs from the same vendor.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the dosimetric variation among six non-beam-matched Varian linacs using different techniques for the same plans. Six non-beam-matched Varian machines, comprising two Clinac iX, two 600 C/D (Unique), and two True Beam Tx photon 6 MV X-ray devices were acquired. Sixty patients with of head and neck (H&N; 30) and pelvic (30) treatment sites were chosen.

Is the dose distribution distorted in IMRT and RapidArc treatment when patient plans are swapped across beam-matched machines?

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the degree of dose distribution distortion in advanced treatments like IMRT and RapidArc when patient plans are swapped across dosimetrically equivalent so-called "beam-matched" machines. For this purpose the entire work is divided into two stages. At forefront stage all basic beam properties of 6 MV X-rays like PDD, profiles, output factors, TPR20/10 and MLC transmission of two beam-matched machines - Varian Clinac iX and Varian 600 C/D Unique - are compared and evaluated for differences.