A patient-specific quality assurance (QA) test is conducted to verify the accuracy of dose delivery. It generally consists of three verification processes: the absolute point dose difference, the planar dose differences at each gantry angle, and the planar dose differences by 3D composite irradiation. However, this imposes a substantial workload on medical physicists. The objective of this stud...

PURPOSE This report describes the value of a voluntary error reporting system and the impact of a series of quality assurance (QA) measures including checklists and timeouts on reported error rates in patients receiving radiation therapy. METHODS AND MATERIALS A voluntary error reporting system was instituted with the goal of recording errors, analyzing their clinical impact, and guiding the ...

The surface phenotypes and differentiative history of specific helper-effector (HE) and specific feedback suppression-inducer (FBSI) cell sets were further defined in reference to the Qa-1 and I-J marker systems by culture of selected sets of cortisone-resistant nylon-purified thymocytes with antigen on primed macrophages. The generation of Ly-1:HE and Ly-1:FBSI cell sets required, in each case...

The technical aspects of quality assurance (QA) in radiation oncology as practice in the United States will be reviewed and updated in the spirit of offering the experience to the radiation oncology communities in the Asia-Pacific region. The word "technical" is used to express the organisational components or processes and not the materials within the QA program. A comprehensive QA program in ...

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the sensitivities of 3D diode arrays to setup error for patient-specific quality assurance (QA) of volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT). Translational setup errors of ± 1, ± 2, and ± 3 mm in the RL, SI, and AP directions and rotational setup errors of ± 1° and ± 2° in the pitch, roll, and yaw directions were set up in two phantom systems, ArcCHECK and...

We investigated whether methods conventionally used to evaluate patient-specific QA in volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) for intracranial tumors detect clinically relevant dosimetric errors. VMAT plans with coplanar arcs were designed for 37 intracranial tumors. Dosimetric accuracy was validated by using a 3D array detector. Dose deviations between the measured and planned doses were eval...

BACKGROUND This study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of an active survey method for detecting anesthesia nonroutine events (NREs). An NRE is any aspect of clinical care perceived by clinicians or observers as a deviation from optimal care based on the context of the clinical situation. METHODS A Comprehensive Open-ended Nonroutine Event Survey (CONES) was developed to elicit NREs. CONES...