myQA Machines PT - Test Setup

myQA Machines PT Protocol Template

A protocol template is intended be used for creating similar machine protocols later. It can be imported from a file or created from scratch. The beam type will not be specified in a protocol template.

 

Import a Protocol Template from a File

A protocol template can also be imported from a file: click Import in the ribbon, select From File..., and
then browse and select the template file.

An example of a myQA Machines PT protocol template (Sphinx Plugin-Protocol Template.xml) based on the previously shown PLD can be found here: C:\ProgramData\IBA Dosimetry\MachineQA\SphinxSamples

 

Create a Protocol Template

• In myQA Machines > Test Setup, select your clinic by clicking Clinics in the ribbon and then select your clinic from from the list.
• Click Edit in the ribbon.
• In the Machine & Template panel, select Protocol Templates.
• Click New in the ribbon and enter the name of the protocol template and optionally a description.
• While the protocol template is selected, click New and enter the name of the task template and optionally a description in the Task definition. Then define a task schedule in Recurrence.
• While the newly created task template is selected, click New and enter the name of the test template and optionally a description.

And then define a test as follows:

• Select Other for Category.
• Select Sphinx for Result Type.
• Depending on the measurement device used, Select Sphinx for Lynx PT or Sphinx Compact for Sphinx Compact in Implementation box.
  Note: Please ensure that the selection in the Implementation box matches the type of the measurement device that will be used.
• Click OK.
• For measurement setup, select a measurement device. In the Geometry group, edit the values according to the actual setup if necessary. Other parameters cannot be defined for a protocol template.
• Define tests: see Section 6.3.
• After all tests are defined for the protocol template, click Save in the ribbon.

 

Create a PT Machine Protocol

Create a Machine Protocol by Adopting a Protocol Template

• In the Machine & Template panel (1), select the machine to be tested.
• Click From Template (2) in the ribbon, then select a drsired protocol template in the list.
• Check the measurement settings from the protocol template and select a beam type (3). The Device beam types box is highlighted with a red box.
  If no beam type is selected, a warning will pop up when saving the protocol:
• Check through all defined OOIs: In the Analysis group, click a test category tab and select an OOI (see an example (4) and compare it with the pld pattern). Edit it if necessary.
• For Output and Couch Translation tests: Manually enter the expected values.
• For Energy, Homogeneity, Spot, and Coincidence tests: Load image to determine the expected value:
  
  • If a DICOM image is available for the baselines, click Import *.dcm (5) and then select the file.
  • If the DICOM image is not available, follow the steps below to acquire an image:
    
    • Click the Connect button (a), then the Background measurement button (b). Once the background measurement is complete, the Measurement buttom (c) will be enabled.
    • Click the Measurement button to start the measurement
• Once the image is ready, click the Analysis button (d). After the analysis is complete, the expected values will be fiiled in the Expected column of the table.
• To activate the protocol for test run, select this protocol and then click Set Active in the ribbon.
• Click Save in the ribbon.

•  

 

Create a Machine Protocol from Scratch

• In myQA Machines > Test Setup, select your clinic by clicking Clinics (1) in the ribbon and then select your clinic from from the list.
• Click Edit (2) in the ribbon.
• In the Machine & Template panel (3), select the machine to be tested.
• Click New (4) in the ribbon and enter the name of the protocol template and optionally a description.
• While the protocol template is selected, click New and enter the name of the task template and optionally a description in the Task definition. Then define a task schedule in Recurrence.
• While the newly created task template is selected, click New; the New Test Definition window opens.
• 
  • Enter the name of the test (5) and optionally a description (6).
  • Select Other for Category (7).
  • Select Sphinx for Result Type (8).
  • Depending on the measurement device used, Select Sphinx for Lynx PT or Sphinx Compact for Sphinx Compact in Implementation box (9).
    Note: Please ensure that the selection in the Implementation box matches the type of the measurement device that will be used.
• Define the tests, expected values and tolerances: there are 6 test catagories that can be devided into 2 groups based on their similarity for creating baselines:
  • Output and Couch Translation (see Section 6.3.1)
  • Energy, Homogeneity, Spot, and Coincidence (see Section 6.3.2)
• If the measurement setup has not been defined yet, select a beam type, select/enter the parameters for Settings and Geometry.
• After all desired tests are defined, click the OK button in the lower-right corner.
• To activate the protocol for test run, select this protocol and then click Set Active (10) in the ribbon.
• Click Save in the ribbon (11).

 

Define Tests

The procedure to define a test for a protocol template is the same as for a machine protocol, except that
the beam type cannot be specified for a protocol template.

Protocol template

When creating a protocol template, a DICOM image can be imported or measured with a specific beam type to create the baselines (expected values). To avoid mixing up the beam type, if your machine has multiple beam types, it is recommended not to determine the baselines in the protocol template but to do so when adopting the protocol template to the machine protocol.

Machine protocol

CAUTION: DEVICE BEAM TYPE IN A MACHINE PROTOCOL

While the beam type must be specified when creating a machine protocol, the device
beam type is not validated in the Test setup workspace. Therefore, when creating the
baselines of a machine protocol,

• it is possible to import or acquire an image with a different beam type than that specified in the protocol.
• it is also possible to use a protocol template containing baselines created with a different beam type than that specified.

To avoid the beam type mismatch, please ensure that the beam type of the image used for creating baselines matches that specified in the machine protocol.

 

The tests are divided into two groups according to the similarity of the procedures to define the test:

• Output and Couch Translation (see Section 6.3.1)
• Energy, Homogeneity, Spot, and Coincidence (see Section 6.3.2)

 

Output and Couch Translation

Prerequisite

• Output test: Measurement have been done with a chamber and an electrometer
• Couch Translation test: Expected values have been taken from the analysis of an X-ray image.

The procedure is described with an example of defining an Output test:

• In Analysis section, click the Output tab (1) and then select Create New in the dropdown menu.
• Enter a name (2) of the test.
• (i) For the Output test: Enter the actual temperature (3) and pressure (4), and the dose output in an
  electrometer readout (5) (not yet corrected for temperature and pressure). The reference temperature and pressure are pre-defined in the SW. The expected dose value (6) will be calculated automatically based on these values.(ii) For the Couch Translation test: Enter the expected values
• Enter the tolerances (7).

 

Energy, Homogeneity, Spot, and Coincidence

Procedure is described below with an example for defining an Energy test :

• Click Import *.pld (1) and then select the file.
• To define an OOI for a test, e.g., an energy test, select an energy (2) by clicking the corresponding button, e.g., 103.0 in Layers (MeV). Note that the pld pattern for this energy is illuminated (3).
• In the Analysis section, click the Energy tab (4) and then select Create New to define the area that is to be analyzed, i.e., OOI:
  • Give a name to the new OOI (5).
  • Define OOI: By default, an OOI of 10 mm x 10 mm is automatically created in the center of the PLD map. It can be changed by by dragging an edge of the OOI with the mouse after selecting the drag-and-drop button (6), or by entering the coordinates (7). Typically, the OOI should cover the pld pattern (see the dotted frame around the pdl pattern 8).

          Note: When entering values for the OOI coordinates, do not enter values beyond the image size (<                -149.5 mm or > 149.5 mm). Otherwise, an Error Analysis message will appear. Then click OK and re-            enter the values.

• (This step is only for energy tests) Select a value in the dropdown lists:
  • Wedge Thickness (9): 2 wedges for Lynx PT with Sphinx phantom and 3 wedges for Sphinx Compact are provided. Select the wedge that will be used for the energy tests.
  • Additional Thickness (10) (only used for Lynx PT with Sphinx phantom): the dropdown list contains the thickness values of the RW3 blocks provided with the Sphinx phantom. Select the value that is suitable for the energy.
•  Enter the tolerances in the Warning and Error columns.
• Repeat the above steps to define tests for other desired energies and also the Homogeneity, Spot, or Coincidence tests.
• Once OOIs for all desired tests are defined, create an image for determining the expected value:
  • If a DICOM image is available for the baselines, click Import *.dcm (11) and then select the file.
  • If the DICOM image is not available, follow the steps below to acquire an image:
    • Check the measurement settings in Measurement devices, Device beam types, Settings, and Geometry.
    • Click the Connect button (1), then the Background measurement button (2). Once the background measurement is complete, the Measurement buttom (4) will be enabled.
    • Click the Measurement button to start the measurementAfter an image is loaded, the Analysis button (4) will be enabled.
  • Click the Analysis button (4). After the analysis is complete, the expected values will be fiiled in the Expected column.

 

Table 6.1. Wedge Thickness and Wedge Thickness of Lynx PT with Sphinx phantom and Sphinx Compact

Lynx PT with Sphinx phantom		Sphinx Compact
Wedge Thickness	Addition Thickness	Wedge Thickness	Addition Thickness
20.0 mm/65.0 mm	40.0 mm 100.0 mm 150.0 mm 200.0 mm 250.0 mm	34.0 mm/58.0 mm 85.0 mm/109.0 mm 151.0 mm/175.0 mm	(n/a)