Assessment of beam-matched linacs quality/accuracy for interchanging SBRT or SRT patient using VMAT without replanning

Purpose: Dosimetric accuracy is critical when switching a patient treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) or stereotactic fractionated radiotherapy (SRT) among beam-matched linacs. In this study, the dose delivery accuracy of volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans for SBRT/SRT patients were evaluated on three beam-matched linacs. Method: Beam data measurements such as percentage depth dose (PDD₁₀), beam profiles, output factors, and multi-leaf collimator (MLC) leaf transmission factor for 6 MV photon beam were performed on three beam-matched linacs. The Edge™ diode detector was used for measurements of beams of field size less than 5 × 5 cm². Ten lung and 15 brain plans were generated using VMAT with the same beam model. Modulation complexity score of the VMAT plan (MCSv) was used as a plan complexity indicator. Doses were measured using ArcCHECK™ and GafChromic™ EBT3 films. The measurements were compared with calculated doses through absolute dose gamma comparison using 3%/2 mm and 2%/2 mm criteria. Correlation between difference in passing rates among beam-matched linacs and MCSv was evaluated using the Pearson coefficient. Point doses were measured with the A1SL micro ion chamber. Results: Difference in beam outputs, beam profiles, and MLC leaf transmission factors of beam-matched linacs were all within ±1%, except the difference in output factor for 1 × 1 cm² field between linac 1 and 3 (1.3%). For all 25 cases, passing rates of measured doses on three linacs were all higher than 90% when using 2%/2 mm gamma criteria. The average difference in point dose measurements among three beam-matched linacs was 0.1 ± 0.2% (P > 0.05, one-way ANOVA). Conclusion: Minimal differences in beam parameters, point doses, and passing rates among three linacs proved the viability of swapping SBRT/SRT using VMAT among beam-matched linacs. The effect of plan complexity on passing rate difference among beam-matched linacs is not statistically significant.