Dose verification of radiotherapy for lung cancer by using plastic scintillator dosimetry and a heterogeneous phantom

Bone, air passages, cavities, and lung are elements present in patients, but challenging to properly correct for in treatment planning dose calculations. Plastic scintillator detectors (PSDs) have proven to be well suited for dosimetry in non-reference conditions such as small fields. The objective of this study was to investigate the performance of a commercial treatment planning system (TPS) using a PSD and a specially designed thorax phantom with lung tumor inserts. 10 treatment plans of different complexity and phantom configurations were evaluated. Although the TPS agreed well with the measurements for the least complex tests, deviations of tumor dose > 4% were observed for some cases. This study underpins the dosimetric challenge in TPS calculations for clinically relevant heterogeneous geometries. The scintillator system, together with the special phantom, provides a promising tool for evaluation of complex radiotherapy dose calculations and delivery.