Announcing Our 2nd International Plan Study

October 25, 20163 minute read

The ProKnow team is proud to announce the launch of our second international public plan study!

This study is unique in that we will officially analyze both: 1) plan quality, measured using the advanced scoring method of PlanIQ, and 2) TPS and delivery accuracy, tallied by collecting pre-treatment dose QA metrics. Results will highlight high performances in each category and allow you to benchmark your own results against the population for all metrics. As always, we will record video interviews with high performers to help reveal “best practices” which we will share with everyone via the ProKnow website.

Featured Meeting: The 2017 QA and Dosimetry Symposium (QADS)

As you may know, we like to run our larger plan studies in conjunction with national or international meetings where the study results are always a high-interest topic. For this study, we are very happy to be working in conjunction with the 10th annual QA and Dosimetry Symposium (QADS), which will be held February 17 and 18, 2017, in Orlando, Florida (USA). The theme of the meeting is:”Educate, Explore, Empower.” That is a theme we certainly appreciate!

Featured Case: TG244 Case #5, Head & Neck

We are using a clinical test case that is included in the AAPM’s TG244 guidelines, formally entitled, “AAPM Medical Physics Practice Guideline 5.a.: Commissioning and QA of Treatment Planning Dose Calculations — Megavoltage Photon and Electron Beams.” Specifically, we are using case #5, a challenging head and neck test case featuring three target volumes (prescriptions of 70, 63, and 56 Gy) planned for 35 fractions using simultaneous integrated boost (SIB).

Using a TG244 dataset suits the goal of studying both plan quality and dose accuracy, both of which are vital to commissioning a treatment planning system (TPS). Everyone will participate in the plan quality portion of the study using a comprehensive scoring algorithm with 21 distinct and prioritized metrics, totaling 150 possible points. The dose QA portion of the study is optional, but encouraged, and will allow entry of analysis results from any number of QA devices and methods.

Schedule:

  • October 25, 2016: Study opens for submissions
  • December 16, 2016: Deadline for submissions
  • December 17, 2016 to February 17, 2017: Data analysis and preparation of results
  • February 17-18, 2017: QADS Meeting, presentation of results
  • February 19, 2017: Enablement of interactive population results & statistical analysis
  • TBD: Methods and results documented for submission to a peer-reviewed journal

How to Get Started

The ProKnow site is very easy-to-use and will walk you through the process. To get started, just follow these steps.

  1. Go to www.proknowsystems.com.
  2. Sign in (or create free account, then sign in)
  3. Once signed in, go to “Plan Studies” and locate the 2017 QADS TG244 H&N Plan Study.
  4. Go to the “Instructions” tab, where you can read the background and download the comprehensive instructions (PDF).
  5. The instructions document provides a full background, outlines the requirements, and gives a step-by-step guide on how to use the system for plan scoring and entering dose QA results. The “Instructions” tab will also have a link to a Quick Start video that demonstrates how easy it is to use the system. This will get you on your way.

Helpful Video

Sign In or Register Today to Get Started!

At any time, you can go to the “Help & Support” menu item to search for topics and frequently asked questions, or to send a specific question not already answered.

And Remember…

The more data the better. Whether you are proud of your results or you are not so sure how they will measure up, submit them anyway. Every data point helps us all understand and learn the capabilities of our various systems. And as always, your results are anonymous. Only the names of high performers and peer educators will be published at the end of the study.

Thanks, and good luck!

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