Quality Assurance at St. Anthony's

More important than high tech equipment is the assurance that the technology is being used in the most accurate, safe and professional manner and the maintenance, verification and calibration studies are being performed to ensure that the dose of radiation being delivered to the patient is exactly as prescribed and the beams are focused accurately and hit the target properly. The quality assurance program at St. Anthony's includes the following

• Daily checks of each linear accelerator with a Tracker (5 ion chambers) to ensure beam flatness, symmetry and dose constancy
• Daily checks on laser and light field alignment
• Dose calculations performed an reviewed by two medical dosimetrists and reviewed by a full time certified medical physicist
• Full calibration monthly by the physicist using Farmer chambers, verification films and evaluation of the mechanical components
• Regular PMI (preventive maintenance inspections) by an on-site engineer
• Quarterly dose output verification using TLD mailed to the Radiological Physics Center at M.D. Anderson
• Yearly complete re-calibration utilizing a water phantom and PTW chambers
• Regular calibration checks of the Farmer chamber (performed at the University of Wisconsin)
• The cancer center offers patients participation in national research protocols such as the RTOG (Radiation Therapy Oncology Group) and the hospital is certified as an approved Community Cancer Program by the American College of Surgeons.