The British Journal of Radiology, Vol 69, Issue 821 469-471, Copyright © 1996 by British Institute of Radiology

ARTICLES

Short communication: a system for remote monitoring of a hospital linear accelerator

CS Jennings
Department of Clinical Physics and Bioengineering, Walsgrave Hospital, Coventry, UK.

Linear accelerators are complex machines with many parameters affecting the quality of the treatment beam delivered. A high level of technical support is required but this can be difficult to achieve if the linear accelerator is at a centre distant from a medical physics department. This paper describes a solution to this problem whereby a newly installed linear accelerator at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital is remotely monitored from the Royal Hospital, Wolverhampton. The system enables run-up procedures to be completed by guiding radiographers at Shrewsbury through a series of steps. It consists of electronic hardware connected to the linear accelerator, under the control of a computer. The machine parameters are read and tested against preset tolerances. The monitoring system has been installed and is in routine use. The benefits have been shown to be: a saving in staff time and travel costs, the satisfactory completion of run-up procedures, a higher level of efficiency in the medical physics service provided and effective quality control. Finally, some future developments are presented. These include the development of a real time remote monitoring system that constantly monitors the linear accelerator, allowing the Medical Physics Department access to the machine parameters at any time.