Clinical implementation and commissioning of the MedAustron Particle Therapy Accelerator for non-isocentric scanned proton beam treatments

Purpose: This paper describes the clinical implementation and medical commissioning of the MedAustron Particle Therapy Accelerator (MAPTA) for non-isocentric scanned proton beam treatments. Methods: Medical physics involvement during technical commissioning work is presented. Acceptance testing procedures, including advanced measurement methods of intra-spill beam variations, are defined. Beam monitor calibration using two independent methods based on a dose-area product formalism is described. Emphasis is given to the medical commissioning work and the specificities related to non-isocentric irradiation, since a key feature of MedAustron is the routine delivery of non-isocentric scanned proton beam treatments. Results: Key commissioning results and beam stability trend lines for more than 2 yr of clinical operation have been provided. Intra-spill beam range, size, and position variations were within specifications of 0.3 mm, 15%, and 0.5 mm, respectively. The agreement between two independent beam monitor calibration methods was better than 1.0%. Non-isocentric treatment delivery allowed lateral penumbra reduction of up to about 30%. Daily QA measurements of the beam range, size, position, and dose were always within 1 mm, 10%, 1 mm, and 2% from the baseline data, respectively. Conclusions: Non-isocentric treatments have been successfully implemented at MedAustron for routine scanned proton beam therapy using horizontal and vertical fixed beamlines. Up to now every patient was treated in non-isocentric conditions. The presented methodology to implement a new Scanned Ion Beam Delivery (SIBD) system into clinical routine for proton therapy may serve as a guidance for other centers.