Quality assurance of US-guided external beam radiotherapy for prostate cancer: Report of AAPM Task Group 154

Task Group 154 (TG154) of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) was created to produce a guidance document for clinical medical physicists describing recommended quality assurance (QA) procedures for ultrasound (U.S.)-guided external beam radiotherapy localization. This report describes the relevant literature, state of the art, and briefly summarizes U. S. imaging physics. Simulation, treatment planning and treatment delivery considerations are presented in order to improve consistency and accuracy. User training is emphasized in the report and recommendations regarding peer review are included. A set of thorough, yet practical, QA procedures, frequencies, and tolerances are recommended. These encompass recommendations to ensure both spatial accuracy and image quality. (C) 2011 American Association of Physicists in Medicine. [DOI: 10.1118/1.3531674]