Welcome to Clinical Medical Physics. I started this site as a way to help others improve their medical physics practice. I have found that there were many times when I needed to implement something in my clinic and the guidance was scant at best and nonexistent at worst. Here, I share my experiences with articles, how-tos, videos, and more. You can participate as well. Add instructive comments, provide feedback, and publish your work on the site. Are you ready?
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Correction factors for monitor unit verification of clinical electron beams
Purpose: We provide heterogeneity and geometry correction factors for use in electron monitor unit verification calculations. Method: We use the unrestricted collisional stopping power for tissues encountered in electron beam treatments to make the heterogeneity correction factors table. We create the geometric correction factors table by taking the ratio of the doses in spherical phantoms to the dose in a flat phantom. We then added the correction factors to the TG-71 monitor unit verification equation. Results: The heterogeneity and geometry correction factors range from (0.9-1.01) and (0.8-1.0), respectively, for the energies presented. The differences between the treatment planning system and the TG-71 calculations drop from (3-14)% to (0-3)% using our modified equation. Conclusion: Monitor units calculated with the correction factors typically increase for patients with a convex curvature, which matches the behavior of Monte Carlo based planning algorithms. An increase in monitor units lowers the percent difference between the second check and the treatment planning system to under the TG-114 recommended 5% actionable level.
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