Dosimetric characteristics of 6MV flattening filter free and flattened beams among beam-matched linacs: a three-institutional study.

Background: Beam matching is a concept in radiotherapy applied to clinics where more than one linac is employed to harmonise beam characteristics across linacs for allowing patients interchange without replanning. In view of this, the current study analyzes and compares dosimetric characteristics of 6MV flattening filter free and flattened beams of three beam-matched linear accelerators (linacs) from three different clinics with the aim to evaluate the matching under tight criteria for gamma analysis.

Methods: Three Elekta linacs from three different clinics were included.