Characterization and clinical evaluation of a novel 2D detector array for conventional and flattening filter free (FFF) IMRT pre-treatment verification

Background and purpose: The novel MatriXX(FFF) (IBA Dosimetry, Germany) detector is a new 2D ionization chamber detector array designed for patient specific IMRT-plan verification including flattening-filter-free (FFF) beams. This study provides a detailed analysis of the characterization and clinical evaluation of the new detector array. Material and methods: The verification of the MatriXX(FFF) was subdivided into (i) physical dosimetric tests including dose linearity, dose rate dependency and output factor measurements and (ii) patient specific IMRT pre-treatment plan verifications. The MatriXX(FFF) measurements were compared to the calculated dose distribution of a commissioned treatment planning system by gamma index and dose difference evaluations for 18 IMRT-sequences. All IMRT-sequences were measured with original gantry angles and with collapsing all beams to 0 degrees gantry angle to exclude the influence of the detector's angle dependency. Results: The MatriXX(FFF) was found to be linear and dose rate independent for all investigated modalities (deviations <= 0.6%). Furthermore, the output measurements of the MatriXX(FFF) were in very good agreement to reference measurements (deviations <= 1.8%). For the clinical evaluation an average pixel passing rate for gamma((3%,3 mm)) of (98.5 +/- 1.5)% was achieved when applying a gantry angle correction. Also, with collapsing all beams to 0 degrees gantry angle an excellent agreement to the calculated dose distribution was observed (gamma((3%,3 mm)) = (99.1 +/- 1.1)%). Conclusions: The MatriXX(FFF) fulfills all physical requirements in terms of dosimetric accuracy. Furthermore, the evaluation of the IMRT-plan measurements showed that the detector particularly together with the gantry angle correction is a reliable device for IMRT-plan verification including FFF.