title: An overview of the comprehensive proton therapy machine quality assurance procedures implemented at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Proton Therapy Center-Houston.
abstract: The number of proton and carbon ion therapy centers is increasing; however, since the publication of the International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements report, there has been no dedicated report dealing with proton therapy quality assurance. The purpose of this article is to describe the quality assurance procedures performed on the passively scattered proton therapy beams at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Proton Therapy Center in Houston. The majorities of these procedures are either adopted from procedures outlined in the American Association of Physicists in Medical Task Group (TG) 40 report or are a modified version of the TG 40 procedures. In addition, new procedures, which were designed specifically to be applicable to the synchrotron at the author's center, have been implemented. The authors' procedures were developed and customized to ensure patient safety and accurate operation of synchrotron to within explicit limits. This article describes these procedures and can be used by others as a guideline for developing QA procedures based on particle accelerator specific parameters and local regulations pertinent to any new facility.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Physics, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1840 Old Spanish Trail, Houston, Texas 77025, USA. barjomandy@mdanderson.org
authors.forename: Bijan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Arjomandy
authors.forename: Narayan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sahoo
authors.forename: X Ronald
authors.initials: XR
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Zullo
authors.forename: Richard Y
authors.initials: RY
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Mingping
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Xiaoning
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Craig
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ciangaru
authors.forename: Michael T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Gillin
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers / Q000458:organization & administration*; D061766:Proton Therapy; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011874:Radiometry / Q000592:standards*; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D020266:Radiotherapy, Conformal / Q000592:standards*; D013781:Texas; D011522:Protons
chemical_list: D011522:Protons