Harpell Associates - Radiation Oncology, Medical Physics, Diagnostic Imaging, Nuclear Medicine, PET, Radiology, Ultrasound, Radiation Safety

FILMQA™ is an elegant, easy-to-use IMRT QA software package. FILMQA™ simplifies and streamlines the entire IMRT QA process by seamlessly interfacing with all major treatment planning systems. Uniquely performs simultaneous automated analysis of multiple beams (individual as well as composite fields). Generates one-click browser-readable customized reports for inclusion in the patient chart.

FILMQA™ is the fastest and most affordable IMRT QA verification system on the market !!!

Intuitive and easy-to-use
Analyze multiple beams simulataneously
Supports all major treatment planning systems
Optimized for new GAFCHROMIC® EBT film
Excellent results using economical flatbed color scanners shown to be optimal for GAFCHROMIC® EBT film (48-bit color images)
Corrects for scanner distortions and scaling
Learns any IMRT phantom or “pin-prick” pattern for increased efficiency
Registers multiple films simultaneously with a single mouse-click
Unique fine-tuning of registration to eliminate measurement set-up errors
Corrects for film processor drift and instability
Performs background corrections essential for accurate dosimetry
Saves valuable time through batch calibrations when appropriate
Improves precision through use of advanced noise reduction filters
Displays dynamic profiles, isodose maps, and color wash for interactive comparison of measured versus calculated dose
Advanced analysis routines: Dose-Difference, Gamma, DTA, ...
Quick reports can be created with a single mouse-click
Reports are customizable and anatomic site-specific
Offers full report viewing and sharing across the local network or the Web using a standard Browser
Integrated database

IMPORT CALCULATIONS

DICOM RT compliant
All major treatment planning systems supported

IMPORT FILMS

All radiographic film scanners supported
Optimized for new self-developing GAFCHROMIC® EBT film
Excellent results using economical flatbed color scanners shown to be optimal for GAFCHROMIC® EBT film (48-bit color images)

REGISTRATION

Corrects for scanner distortions and scaling
Learns any IMRT phantom or “pin-prick” pattern for increased efficiency
Registers multiple films simultaneously with a single mouse-click
Unique fine-tuning of registration to eliminate measurement set-up errors

CALIBRATION

Corrects for film processor drift and instability
Performs background corrections essential for accurate dosimetry
Saves valuable time through batch calibrations when appropriate
Improves precision through use of advanced noise reduction filters

EVALUATION

Displays dynamic profiles, isodose maps, and color wash for interactive comparison of measured versus calculated dose
Near-instantaneous sophisticated evaluation functions including:
- Gamma function
- Distance-to-Agreement (DTA)
- Dose difference
Shows isodoses overlayed on dose images for improved understanding
Properly scales measured and calculated datasets permitting absolute dose comparison when different MU’s must be delivered to the film
Helps interpret and summarize results with Acceptance Value Histograms
Accounts for small unavoidable QA setup errors through a unique user adjustable registration feature

REPORTS

Quick reports can be created with a single mouse-click
Reports are customizable and anatomic site-specific
Offers full report viewing and sharing across the local network or the Web using a standard Browser

I already own IMRT QA software. Why should I switch to FILMQA™?

FILMQA™ software was designed to simplify and automate the routine tasks required by a clinical medical physicist, with the emphasis on reducing the time required for IMRT QA. FILMQA™ is easy to learn and easy to use. Most of the steps are fully automated making it the fastest IMRT QA software available. The time savings is especially significant for performing QA on IMRT patients for whom individual field, multi-film QA is desired. Even extreme cases (e.g., measurement of each individual IMRT field separately for a 9-field IMRT plus calibration and background films) take less than 3 minutes to register, calibrate, analyze and generate a report…. less than 20 seconds per film!

What makes FILMQA™ so fast and efficient compared with competing software?

FILMQA™ software was designed to streamline the analysis and evaluation of multiple IMRT QA fields. FILMQA™ performs its registration and data extraction on all films taken for an individual patient treatment, rather than working with a single film at a time. FILMQA™ also can easily learn a pin-prick (or fiducial) pattern in seconds, and thus allows complete automation of the film/TPS file registration process. Once FILMQA™ learns the fiducial registration pattern, they are stored forever making all future IMRT QA even faster!

Is FILMQA™ expensive to purchase?

No. FILMQA™ is a great value. And, with our unique pricing scheme you only pay for as few or as many uses as you need.

Is there any way that I can try FILMQA™ in my Clinic without cost or obligation to see if I like it?

Yes! You can download a limited time limited use full featured trial copy of FILMQA™ software from our website.

We do not have a lot of money in our budget for IMRT QA. Besides the high price of the software, other vendors require us to purchase an expensive Vidar Scanner. Does FILMQA™ support the less expensive Flatbed Scanners that are currently available.

Besides the conventional expensive film scanners, FILMQA™ supports several flatbed scanners (e.g., Microtek, Epson) costing under $3,000. Our tests show that when properly calibrated, these scanners provide the reproducibility, density and spatial resolution necessary for IMRT film dosimetry. FILMQA™ interfaces to these scanners to directly import the film images in a standard (TIFF) format.

Our clinic does not have a film processor so I would like to do my IMRT QA with the new high sensitivity, self-developing Radiochromic (GAFChromic) film that has been especially developed for IMRT. Can FILMQA™ help me to work with these films.

It has been established that the GAFchromic EBT films work best by using a single channel output (the red channel) from a flatbed scanner. FILMQA™ software provides an easy to use, direct user interface for single channel scanning of EBT films. Single color channel scanning can not be performed on more conventional monochromatic (white light) scanners.

You mention that FILMQA™ software is fast—can you be more specific? What are the basic FILMQA™ functions and how long do they take?

As an example, consider a “typical” case of 5 individual IMRT field films, in addition to a single calibration film and a single background film (a total of 7 films). The Primary FILMQA™ operations are listed below.

Importing film and TPS files (20-30 seconds)
Image Registration (10-20 seconds)
Calibration to dose (50-90 seconds)
Isodose comparison (5-fields) (20-30 seconds)
Multi-level profile comparison (5-fields)(30-40 seconds)
Generation of printed reports (20-30 seconds)

TOTAL FOR ENTIRE PROCESS FOR 5 IMRT FIELDS is around 2-3 minutes !!!

We all know that the Film analysis is just part of the work in IMRT film dosimetry. Does FILMQA™ do anything to speed up the process of film alignment and exposure for a multi-film IMRT case?

Yes. FILMQA™ works well with dedicated IMRT QA phantoms. It “knows” and can “learn” various fiducial and “pin-prick” patterns for virtually instantaneous recognition and registration, with sub-millimeter precision. Because of its unique design, FILMQA™ performs TPS/film registration on all fields in the group—not just one at a time. FILMQA™ works especially well with the “InstAlign” IMRTQA phantom to save additional time by eliminating the need for repeated setup alignments.

I work in a large and busy clinic and our IMRT caseload is substantial. We would like to purchase FILMQA™ for unlimited uses. Is this possible and will we still save money compared to the competition?

Yes. And, yes!

What about support? Will we be able to get help when we need it? Is there a way for us to let you know what new features we think should be added?

The 3COGNITION website will provide online support, demonstrations, and a responsive user suggestion section. Telephone support is also available.

Does FILMQA™ work with my Treatment Planning System QA Export files?

Yes. FILMQA™ works with all DICOM-RT Planning systems.

The final patient IMRT QA report is very important to us. It provides us with a means to document our QA procedure. Can we design and customize our QA reports to include specific evaluation functions (Isodoses, certain profiles, and other functions)? Once designed, will FILMQA™ remember our report format to save time for future cases?

Yes. FILMQA™ includes a report generator. The user can create and customize a report which includes any number of different evaluation functions for each field. FILMQA™ then stores this report design as a”protocol” for automated report generation on all future patients.

Is there any way to quickly share the FILMQA™ reports for review by our Physicians, Physicists, and Dosimetrists at our other locations?

One of the most exciting and innovative features of FILMQA™ software is that its reports can be viewed using any web-browser! Radiation Oncologists, Medical Dosimetrists, and Medical Physicists can easily review all IMRT QA cases on a secure local website without the need for any proprietary software. (FILMQA™ does not need to be installed at each site). This simplifies the management of the QA process and transfer of information by harnessing the power of the internet (or local network).

	An inexpensive films dosimetry system to streamline your IMRT plan verifications In this video, we explore the recently introduced radiochromic EBT film and describe a protocol for the use of this film for IMRT QA. We highlight tips for handling the film, scanning, irradiation and analysis using the FILMQA™ verification software. This is followed by short discussion where we discuss some clinical results comparing radiochromic film scanned using a flatbed color scanner to what is currently considered the standard, namely radiographic film scanned with a VIDAR medical grade scanner [29 minutes]. Download QuickTime Video (Right Click and 'Choose Save Target As')

	Learn how to use FILMQA™ In this video, we explore the features of FILMQA™ by demonstrating the verification of an actual patient plan:- a 7-field IMRT treatment of a prostate patient planned using the BrainLAB BrainSCAN® treatment planning system. We describe in detail all steps from (1) Importing the TPS calculations and scanned films, (2) Registration using 3 different techniques, (3) Calibration of the film for ABSOLUTE FILM DOSIMETRY, (4) Evaluation options and (5) Creating a custom report to include in the patient chart [26 minutes]. Download QuickTime Video (Right Click and 'Choose Save Target As')

	Train FILMQA™ to learn a custom pin-prick template In this video, we show you how to train FILMQA™ to learn a custom pin-prick template [4 minutes]. Download QuickTime Video (Right Click and 'Choose Save Target As')



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