Verification of the dose attenuation of a newly developed vacuum cushion for intensity-modulated radiation therapy of prostate cancer.

This study measured the dose attenuation of a newly developed vacuum cushion for intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) of prostate cancer, and verified the effect of dose-correction accuracy in a radiation treatment planning system (RTPS). The new cushion was filled with polystyrene foams inflated 15-fold (Sφ ≒ 1 mm) to reduce contraction caused by air suction and was compared to normal polystyrene foam inflated to 50-fold (Sφ ≒ 2 mm). The dose attenuation at several thicknesses of compression bag filled with normal and low-inflation materials was measured using an ionization chamber; and then the calculated RTPS dose was compared to ionization chamber measurements, while the new cushion was virtually included as region of interest in the calculation area. The dose attenuation rate of the normal cushion was 0.010 %/mm (R (2) = 0.9958), compared to 0.031 %/mm (R (2) = 0.9960) in the new cushion. Although the dose attenuation rate of the new cushion was three times that of the normal cushion, the high agreement between calculated dose by RTPS and ionization chamber measurements was within approximately 0.005 %/mm. Thus, the results of the current study indicate that the new cushion may be effective in clinical use for dose calculation accuracy in RTPS.