Status of quality assurance of treatment planning systems in Europe

Quality assurance, QA, of treatment planning systems, TPS, is generally performed by individual physicists directed to the specific needs of their own institution. In the past a number of tests has been performed by national societies mainly of the accuracy of dose calculation algorithms. Little information is available on national recommendations in the field of QA of TPS. A questionnaire was therefore distributed amongst European countries to review national activities in this field. From the 19 responding countries 7 indicated that only limited efforts are underway, 8 answered that a working group is evaluating their specific national requirements while in 4 countries a document is drafted or tested in various clinics. The main part of these reports concerns detailed descriptions of acceptance tests and constancy checks, including action levels and frequency tests. Additional information concerns recommendations for documentation and short descriptions of dose calculation algorithms. In some countries, having a large number of TPS of the same type, regular users meetings and/or close co-operation with the manufacturer are employed to exchange information concerning QA of their systems. Some of the working groups mentioned separate checks of 2-D and 3-D features of a TPS. Special attention should also be paid to monitor unit computation programs. The survey showed that currently not many countries in Europe have national recommendations on the QA of treatment planning systems. ESTRO and other international organizations, in co-operation with national societies and manufacturers, might therefore play an important role in stimulating the drafting of guidelines for QA of treatment planning systems