Evaluation methods for detecting changes in beam output and energy in radiation beams from high-energy linear accelerators

There is need for simple methods for checking consistency of beam outputs and energy in linear accelerators used for radiotherapy. A method was designed by the department using perspex phantom with which the dosimetric data of two medical linear accelerators (Clinac 600 CD, Clinac 2300 CD) were evaluated over a period of 30 months. The efficacy of methods followed was checked. Routine beam consistency checks were designed for photon beams with 15 cm/ 5 cm depth ionizations in perspex phantom and variable depth combinations for electron beams. Calculated ionization ratios were compared with measured values to show their significance. The dose/MU for all radiation beams was maintained within 2% accuracy over the period of 30 months. Clinac 600 CD machine showed decreasing trend of cGy/MU, while Clinac 2300 CD showed increasing trend of cGy/MU over a period, which needed tuning of monitor chamber two times each. Tuning of output to achieve standard value was carried out once, for all electron energies when the output dose/MU exceeded 3%. During one week (June 2005), there were slight changes in electron energy detected using the ratio method, which did not recur anytime afterwards. The methods designed are adequate to find the consistency in the beam output and energies in the radiotherapy linacs.