title: Comprehensive quality assurance phantom for the small animal radiation research platform (SARRP).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop and test the suitability and performance of a comprehensive quality assurance (QA) phantom for the Small Animal Radiation Research Platform (SARRP).
  
  
  METHODS
  A QA phantom was developed for carrying out daily, monthly and annual QA tasks including: imaging, dosimetry and treatment planning system (TPS) performance evaluation of the SARRP. The QA phantom consists of 15 (60 × 60 × 5 mm(3)) kV-energy tissue equivalent solid water slabs. The phantom can incorporate optically stimulated luminescence dosimeters (OSLD), Mosfet or film. One slab, with inserts and another slab with hole patterns are particularly designed for image QA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Output constancy measurement results showed daily variations within 3%. Using the Mosfet in phantom as target, results showed that the difference between TPS calculations and measurements was within 5%. Annual QA results for the Percentage depth dose (PDD) curves, lateral beam profiles, beam flatness and beam profile symmetry were found consistent with results obtained at commissioning. PDD curves obtained using film and OSLDs showed good agreement. Image QA was performed monthly, with image-quality parameters assessed in terms of CBCT image geometric accuracy, CT number accuracy, image spatial resolution, noise and image uniformity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results show that the developed QA phantom can be employed as a tool for comprehensive performance evaluation of the SARRP. The study provides a useful reference for development of a comprehensive quality assurance program for the SARRP and other similar small animal irradiators, with proposed tolerances and frequency of required tests.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Physics, Medical Physics Program, University of Massachusetts at Lowell, MA, USA; Department of Radiation Oncology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: mohammed_jermoumi@dfci.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jermoumi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Korideck
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bhagwat
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zygmanski
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Makrigiogos
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: R I
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Berbeco
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Cormack
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Physics, Medical Physics Program, University of Massachusetts at Lowell, MA, USA; Department of Radiation Oncology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ngwa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D054893:Cone-Beam Computed Tomography / Q000295:instrumentation*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011786:Quality Control; D011874:Radiometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011880:Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*
keywords: Micro-irradiator; QA phantom; SARRP