Installing DoseLab on One Computer
1. Run DoseLab_Pro_X.XX_Setup.exe. You must have Administrative rights.
2. Install all four components by clicking the Next, Install, OK, and Finish buttons as they appear during component installation programs.
Installing DoseLab on a Share Drive
1. Run DoseLab_Pro_X.XX_Setup.exe on a computer with Share drive access. You must have Administrative rights.
2. When asked to choose the destination folder, click Browse and choose the share drive. The installer creates a “DoseLab Pro” directory. Click OK.
3. Install all four components by clicking the Next, Install, OK, and Finish buttons as they appear during component installation programs.
1. To install DoseLab on another computer, run DoseLab_Pro_X.XX_Setup.exe from the new workstation. You must have Administrative rights.
2. On the “Choose components” screen, uncheck DoseLab Pro. Leave the other three boxes checked. Click Next.
3. On the Destination Folder screen, click Browse and select the share drive folder where DoseLab is already installed. This is needed to create shortcuts.
4. Click the Next, Install, OK, and Finish buttons for the rest of the install.
Example: Viewing the Machine QA Database
1. Select Machine QA Database from the main window.
2. Click a line with a numeric result in “Selected result details” to view a plot.
3. Click different “Machines”, “Tests”, and “Subgroups” to see other results.
4. Change items in the Preferences menu to customize the display.
5. Export results to PDF from the Export menu.
Setting Clinical Tolerances
1. When a QA tool is open (Winston-Lutz, CT Imaging, etc.), select the “Edit…” option from the Tolerance set dropdown box.
2. Enable tolerances for different tests by checking their Enable box.
3. Warning and failing limits are always +/- their value from the baseline value. If a test warns or fails, a message will be displayed and the Results color will change. Tolerances are saved to DoseLab’s database.
Example: Monthly VMAT QA
1. Select VMAT / Dynamic MLC from the main window.
2. Click the Open field image button and load the “Examples\VMAT EPID Analysis\Dose rate and gantry speed, Open field.dcm” image.
3. Click the MLC field image button and load the “Dose rate and gantry speed, MLC field.dcm” image.
4. Export results to PDF or XLS by selecting items in the Results menu.
5. If desired, repeat steps 2-4 using the “MLC leaf speed” files. You will need to change the selected “ROI Setting” to MLC leaf speed.
Example: Winston-Lutz Tests with a Film Image
1. Select Single Image Analysis from the main window.
2. Select File | Open image and load the “Examples\Single Image Analysis\Winston-Lutz, Easy-OD.tif” image.
3. Select Machine QA | Winston-Lutz test from the menu.
4. In the Fields area on the left, click Add.
5. Click and drag a rectangle around an exposure. Double click when finished.
6. Repeat Steps 4-5 for the other seven exposures.
7. Export results to PDF or XLS by selecting items in the Results menu.
Website Downloads and Training Videos
1. In your browser, go to http://www.doselab.com.
2. Log in with your username (email address) and password in the “Log In” area on the bottom right hand side of the page. Use the username/password trial/trial to view videos without a personalized account.
3. You will automatically be taken to the file download page.
4. You may also view training videos by selecting Help | Online Videos….
Example: Winston-Lutz Tests with EPID Images
1. Select Multi-Image Winston-Lutz from the main window.
2. Click Proceed with Multiple Images, if shown.
3. Change the folder to “Examples\Multi-Image Winston Lutz”.
4. Drag a rectangle to select all 4 files (Field A, Field B, ...), and click Open.
5. Export results to PDF or XLS by selecting items in the Results menu.
Example: CT and CBCT QA
1. Select CT / CBCT from the main window.
2. Choose the “Examples\CBCT (Catphan)” folder and click OK.
3. You can change the display by clicking different Modules in the list.
4. Export results to PDF or XLS by selecting items in the Results menu.
Example: MV and kV Imaging QA
1. Select Single Image Analysis from the main window.
2. Select File | Open image and load the “Examples\Single Image Analysis\ Sun Nuclear kV-QA.dcm” image.
3. Select Machine QA | MV and kV imaging from the menu.
4. Verify the phantom is set to “SNC kV-QA”.
5. Click Process.
6. Export results to PDF or XLS by selecting items in the Results menu.
7. If desired, return to the Single Image Analysis tool and load the example images of the MV-QA, Standard Imaging, Las Vegas, DIGI-13, and Leeds phantoms. Repeat steps 3-6 for each example, selecting the proper phantom in the Imaging QA tool.
Tip: This tool assumes your MV or kV imaging phantom is placed at isocenter on a stand to hold it above the treatment couch. This setup allows DoseLab to accurately compute magnification and positioning offsets.
Example: MLC Test
1. Select Single Image Analysis from the main window.
2. Select File | Open image and load the “Examples\Single Image Analysis\MLC Strip Test, Easy, No errors-OD.tif” image.
3. Select Machine QA | MLC strip test from the menu.
4. Change the SID value to 63 cm.
5. Change the tolerance level by clicking the arrows on the tolerance slider bar.
6. Export results to PDF or XLS by selecting items in the Results menu.
Tip: Most clinics prefer to perform MLC QA with EPIDs. EPID images can be loaded in Single Image Analysis, or Combine Images can be used to append images of the top and bottom MLC halves. If MLC strips do not extend to both edges of the image, you must crop the image before using this tool.
Example: Flatness and Symmetry Tests
1. Select Single Image Analysis from the main window.
2. Select File | Open image and load the “Examples\Single Image Analysis\Flatness and Symmetry, 98.5 SSD, 1.5 depth-OD.tif” image.
3. Select Machine QA | Flatness and Symmetry from the menu.
4. Change the Base Profile to “Example 2011-01-01”.
5. Click Process.
6. Results will appear in the figures that are automatically generated.
7. Save measured as a new base profile by selecting Add from Base Profiles.
8. Export results to PDF or XLS by selecting items in the Results menu.
Tip: You may use EPID or film images. For EPID images, a baseline should be established the same time profiles are taken with film or ion chamber scans.
Example: Starshot Test
1. Select Single Image Analysis from the main window.
2. Select File | Open image and load the “Examples\Single Image Analysis\Starshot, Easy collimator-OD.tif” image.
3. Select Machine QA | Starshot from the menu.
4. Click the Process button.
5. Click near the isocenter and press Enter on your keyboard.
6. Move your mouse to draw a circle halfway through the legs and left-click.
7. Export results to PDF or XLS by selecting items in the Results menu.
Adding Notes and Saving to the Database
1. Follow example for any Machine QA tool then select Results | Save to PDF and/or database.
2. Type a note. This note will appear in PDF exports and the database.
3. Check boxes to generate a PDF file and/or save the PDF to the database.
4. Check the DoseLab database box and/or the Atlas database box.
5. Click Save.
Example: Combining Images
1. Select Combine images from the main window.
2. Click the Add button.
3. Navigate to the “Examples\Multi-Image Winston-Lutz” folder and drag a rectangle around all four files to select them all. Click Open.
4. Select the Add images option in the “Image combination method” section.
5. Check the Invert values of all images box, since these are EPID images.
6. Check the And view in Single Image Analysis box.
7. Click the Save new image button and enter a filename.
8. The new image will automatically be opened in Single Image Analysis.
Automatically Transferring Files
1. Select Transfer files from the main window.
2. Select Tools | File transfer preferences from the menu.
3. Enter information about Windows folders or FTP servers you would like to copy files from.
4. Edit or add file types to transfer. When finished, click OK.
5. Check the box next to each desired file source, and click Transfer files.
Scanning Films with an Epson Scanner
1. In the Epson scanning software, change Document type to “Film”, Film type to “Positive film”, and Image type to “48-bit Color” (see the Appendix in the manual).
2. Click Configuration, then the Color tab, then select “No color correction”. Click OK.
3. Click Preview and select an ROI.
4. Click Scan and save the film to a TIFF file.
5. Place a blank piece of film in the scanner. Scan it using the same ROI.
6. Select Flatbed Scanners from DoseLab’s menu.
7. Click the Unexposed film image button and open the blank film (.tif).
8. Click the Exposed film image(s) button and Add the measurement film (*.tif).
9. Click Process images. A new (*-OD.tif) file is created.
10. The *-OD.tif file can be converted to dose by applying a calibration.
Tip: Flatbed 48-bit RGB scans for Machine QA tools can be read in Single Image Analysis without using this tool.
Renaming DICOM Files Using Tags
1. Select Rename DICOM Files from the main window.
2. Click Select directory and choose “Examples\CBCT (Catphan)”.
3. Leave all boxes checked and click Rename Files.
Tip: This tool is useful for R+V systems or CT scanners that export DICOM images with file names that do not indicate the contents.
Exporting EPID Images
· To analyze EPID images, you must first export them from your R+V system.
· Ideally EPID images should be exported as DICOM files. JPG files will not have DPI or SID information.
· This process is different for each R+V and treatment system. Please refer to the instructions in your R+V system for a detailed explanation.
Example: Film Calibration (Full package only)
1. Select Calibrate Film from the main window.
2. Click the Profile data button and select the “Examples\Example1\Varian 21iX, 6 MV, 94 SSD-profile.xls” file.
3. Click Calibration image and select “EDW 300 MU, 94 SSD, 5 cm-OD.tif”.
4. Change “MU delivered” to 300. A .xls calibration file is automatically saved.
5. Not all low dose points are displayed on the calibration curve. DoseLab groups all low-dose values into a single point. This cutoff value can be changed by selecting Tools | Film calibration preferences.
Example: Using PQI Analytics (Full package only)
1. Select PQI Analytics from the main window.
2. Click the MAT file directory button.
3. Select the “Examples\PQI Analytics” folder and click OK.
4. Check only the Percent of pixels passing gamma box in the Results section.
5. Check only the All data and QA machines boxes in “PQI data sets”.
6. Click the Output file button. In the Save dialog, change the folder to your Desktop, enter “PQI” as the file name, and click Save.
7. Click the Process button.
8. Graphs of the results will be automatically generated. If desired, you can change the dose and distance criteria and click Process again. DoseLab will calculate new results on the fly and save them to the original files.
9. Navigate to your Desktop and open the “PQI.xls” file in Excel. This is a collection of raw data from the selected dose comparisons.
Example: MapCHECK IMRT QA (Full package only)
1. Select Dose Comparison Interface from the main window.
2. Change the “Dose comparison preset” to Example 5 (MapCHECK comparisons).
3. Check all items in the Automation menu (except “Change comparison DPI”)
4. Select Batch Comparisons in “Predefined selections” in “Output Options”.
5. Click the Calculated distribution button.
6. Go to the “Examples\Example 5” directory. Select all five files by clicking and dragging a rectangle around them, and click the Open button.
7. Click the Next button.
8. Check all three boxes near the bottom of the “Batch Dose Comparison Preferences” tool.
9. Click the Next button.
10. If the Patient Information screen appears, click the Save changes button.
11. DoseLab will perform all calculations and open a PDF report of the results.
Example: Film IMRT QA (Full package only)
· The full DoseLab manual, accessed by selecting Help | DoseLab manual from the main window, contains dose comparison examples in Chapter 3.
· These more-involved quick start examples cover film scanner uniformity corrections, film calibrations, applying calibrations, performing dose comparisons, and automatically generating PDF reports of dose comparisons.
FractionCHECK Interface
Accessing FractionCHECK
1. FractionCHECK operates as a module in DoseLab. Install DoseLab by following the instructions in the DoseLab Quick Start Guide.
2. Launch DoseLab by double clicking its desktop icon.
3. Click the FractionCHECK button on the DoseLab main screen.
Setting FractionCHECK Warn/Fail Tolerances
1. To change tolerances, select Preferences | FractionCHECK preferences.
2. Modify values in the “Tolerances” section as desired for your clinic.*
*Varian and AAPM TG-142 recommend 95th percentile errors <3.5 mm, and RMS errors <3.5 mm. You may wish to use stricter criteria.
*Beam off lag is the number of data cycles between beam hold indication and beam off. Our internal testing has shown it is typically 0 or 1.
Loading Files into FractionCHECK
· *Method 1: Click Select folder. Choose a folder containing DynaLog files from your MLC controller and click OK.
· *Method 2: Click Select file(s). Navigate to a folder with DynaLog files, select files using Shift and/or Ctrl key for multiple selections and click OK.
· Method 3: Click File | Load TLOG data file. Select a previously saved FractionCHECK file (*.tlog) and click OK.
*See the last two sections of this guide for how to automatically save DynaLog files on your MLC controller computer and transfer them with Mobius Copy.
Daily FractionCHECK Use
1. Transfer treatment log files to a folder on a network drive using Mobius Copy (instructions at end of this guide).
2. Open DoseLab and click the FractionCHECK button.