The performance of multileaf collimators evaluated by the stripe test.

The performance of 3 multileaf collimator (MLC) systems (Varian Medical Systems, Elekta, and Siemens Medical Solutions) mounted on 7 different radiotherapy linear accelerators was investigated by a stripe test. The stripe test consisted of 8 adjacent multileaf segments of 2.5 x 40 cm(2), enclosed by all leaf pairs. With 6-MV photons, the segments were used to irradiate Agfa CR films. The optical density profile of the irradiated film in the travel direction of the MLC was used to estimate the short- and long-term leaf positioning reproducibility. The short-term reproducibility was found by analyzing 6 consecutive stripe tests. The long-term reproducibility was obtained by performing 3 to 5 stripe tests over 2 months. The short-term reproducibility was mainly within 0.3 mm for all systems. For the long-term reproducibility, the Varian and Elekta MLCs were within 0.4 to 0.5 mm, while the Siemens MLC showed a wider distribution, with values up to 1 mm for some leaf pairs. The inferior long-term reproducibility of the Siemens MLCs was mainly due to a decrease of the segment size with time. In conclusion, the stripe test is a useful method for evaluating MLC performance. Furthermore, the long-term reproducibility varied among the MLC systems investigated.