Suitability Assessment of an Indigenous Heterogeneous Thoracic Phantom for Patient-Specific Quality Assurance in Radiotherapy

Introduction: Patient-specific quality assurance (PSQA) assumes a vital role in precise and accurate radiation delivery to cancer patients. Since the patient body comprises heterogeneous media, the present study aimed to fabricate a heterogeneous thoracic phantom for PSQA.Material and Methods: Heterogeneous thoracic (HT) phantom was fabricated using rib cage madeup of bone equivalent material, kailwood to mimic lungs and wax to mimic various body parts. Physical density of all these materials used in phantom fabrication was measured and compared with that of the corresponding part of actual human thorax. One beam was planned on the computed tomography (CT) images of phantom and actual patient thorax region. Dose distribution in both the plans was measured and analyzed.Results:The estimated densities of heart, lung, ribs, scapula, spine, and chest wall tissues were ۰.۸۰۴±۰.۰۰۷, ۰.۱۸۶±۰.۰۱۰, ۱.۷۹۶±۰.۰۶۱, ۲.۰۱۷±۰.۰۲۶, ۲.۱۰۶±۰.۰۲۹ and ۰.۷۳۹±۰.۰۲۸ respectively in case of HT phantom while ۱.۰۳۸±۰.۰۱۰, ۰.۱۹۹±۰.۰۳۱, ۱.۷۱۵±۰.۰۴۰, ۲.۰۰۶±۰.۰۱۹, ۱.۹۲۹±۰.۰۶۵ and ۰.۸۱۶±۰.۰۲۸ g/cc, respectively in case of actual human thorax region.The depths of isodose curves in HT phantom were also comparable to the isodose curve’s depths inreal patient. PSQA results were within ±۳% for flat beam (FB) and flattening filtered free beam (FFFB) of ۶ megavolts (MV) energy.Conclusion: Density and dose distribution pattern in HT phantom were similar to that in actual human thorax region. Thus, fabricated HT phantom can be utilized for radiation dosimetry in thoracic cancer patients. The materials used to develop HT phantom are easily available in market at an affordable price and easy to craft.

Keywords:

Algorithm , Heterogeneous Phantom , Quality Assurance