Reconstruction of high-resolution 3D dose from matrix measurements: error detection capability of the COMPASS correction kernel method

The COMPASS system (IBA Dosimetry) is a quality assurance (QA) tool which reconstructs 3D doses inside a phantom or a patient CT. The dose is predicted according to the RT plan with a correction derived from 2D measurements of a matrix detector. This correction method is necessary since a direct reconstruction of the fluence with a high resolution is not possible because of the limited resolution of the matrix used, but it comes with a blurring of the dose which creates inaccuracies in the dose reconstruction. This paper describes the method and verifies its capability to detect errors in the positioning of a MLC with 10 mm leaf width in a phantom geometry. Dose reconstruction was performed for MLC position errors of various sizes at various locations for both rectangular and intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) fields and compared to a reference dose. It was found that the accuracy with which an error in MLC position is detected depends on the location of the error relative to the detectors in the matrix. The reconstructed dose in an individual rectangular field for leaf positioning errors up to 5 mm was correct within 5% in 50% of the locations. At the remaining locations, the reconstruction of leaf position errors larger than 3 mm can show inaccuracies, even though these errors were detectable in the dose reconstruction. Errors larger than 9 mm created inaccuracies up to 17% in a small area close to the penumbra. The QA capability of the system was tested through gamma evaluation. Our results indicate that the mean gamma provided by the system is slightly increased and that the number of points above gamma 1 ensures error detection for QA purposes. Overall, the correction kernel method used by the COMPASS system is adequate to perform QA of IMRT treatment plans with a regular MLC, despite local inaccuracies in the dose reconstruction.