Large Scale In Vivo Epid Dosimetry

"Radiotherapy is a powerful method for treating cancer. It is also a very complex method, requiring many different systems and advanced machines to cooperate seamlessly. As such, Quality Assurance (QA) plays a very important role within radiotherapy; different QA systems are needed for different parts of the radiotherapy treatment chain. In vivo transit dosimetry takes in a unique spot in the range of QA tools available for radiotherapy: as it measures during treatment, it takes into account both the delivered dose and the patient anatomy. Two-dimensional dose measurements at the side where the radiation exits the patient allows for 2D and 3D reconstruction of the dose delivered to the patient, providing a means of directly comparing the delivered dose to the intended dose. Currently, these 2D measurements are done by using Electronic Portal Imaging Devices, or EPIDs, and used in the day-to-day practice of our clinic. The aim of this thesis was to improve on the patient safety in radiotherapy by enabling this EPID in vivo dosimetry system to be used efficiently on a large-scale, and ultimately in real-time."--Samenvatting auteur.