LAUSR

Electronic portal imaging device (EPID) is a common part of almost each radiotherapy treatment unit. It is a quick and simple tool for various clinical procedures, e.g. verification of patient positioning or patient specific QA. Currently available EPIDs have usually the spatial resolution below 0.5 mm. As EPIDs are not primarily designed for diagnostics, even lower spatial resolution might be acceptable. This work assesses the effect of MV image spatial resolution on clinical routines which employ the EPID and addresses the minimal technical requirements of such devices. The aim is to determine if EPIDs with poorer spatial resolution are able to reach the same clinical quality as currently used EPIDs. The effects of MV image spatial resolution on the imaging performance, patient positioning and patient specific QA were studied. The lower spatial resolution was simulated by manually downsampling the original images down to 4× poorer spatial resolution. The study includes an analysis of 96 images used for the patient positioning verification and 61 treatment field images used for the patient specific QA.