Performance evaluation of the QC-6PLUS quality control system in terms of photons and electrons absorbed doses to water

The quality of the treatment in radiotherapy depends on the necessary knowledge of the liberated dose in the tumor and of several other physical parameters and dosimetric that characterize the profile of the radiation field. Worrying about the reliability of some commercial equipment that aim at determining the main parameters of a radiation field in a practical way for daily checks in an institution with radiotherapy service, in this work a study of the performance of the quality assurance system, QC6-Plus manufactured by PTW-Freiburg for daily checks, was developed, in order to assure the use of this equipment with larger reliability level in the routine of quality assurance of the hospitals as well as to make possible its use in the Program of Regulatory Inspections of the Services of Radiotherapy of the Country accomplished by IRD/CNEN. The found results indicate that the system QC6-Plus is perfectly adapted and practical for relative measures of daily and weekly control of the main parameters of clinical beans in agreement with reference values recommended in TECDOC 1151. However for measurements of absolute dose it should not be used because, for beams of electrons the system does not present the necessary characteristics to execute this measure type in agreement with the reference protocol, TRS 398, and for photons of energy 15 MV presented a deviation in relation to the conventional method of absolute dosimetry of 7,7%, that it is a lot above the expected in agreement with TRS 398. (author)