EXPERIENCE WITH COMPUTER MONITORING, VERIFICATION AND RECORD KEEPING IN RADIOTHERAPY PROCEDURES USING A CLINAC-4

Computer programs were developed to replace the manual daily records kept for each patient undergoing radiation therapy on our Clinac-4 linear accelerator. These programs are tailored to closely simulate the written record, both in form and data entry procedure. The computer record includes patient identification information, diagnosis, therapy prescription, field definitions, and a daily record of treatments. The number of monitor units for each field is calculated based on the field size at the time of simulation. Treatment machine parameters and dose are recorded and verified each time a field is treated. Results are presented for a total of 2155 machine settings corresponding to 46 patients followed on the computer. Error rates are relatively low, and presently there is little compensating savings in time and resources. Consequently, we do not plan to implement our computerized system in the near future. © 1979.