Article

Application of failure mode and effect analysis to tomotherapy treatment delivery

¹ Servizio di Fisica Sanitaria, Ospedale San Raffaele, 20132 Milano, Italy.
² Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20122 Milano, Italy.
³ Servizio di Radioterapia, Ospedale San Raffaele, 20132 Milano, Italy.

^* marie.cantone@unimi.it

Received: 1 April 2015
Accepted: 22 June 2015

Abstract

The failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) approach was used to assess the potential risks for patients during the delivery of tomotherapy treatments. This study, which completed a previous investigation recently performed on the tomotherapy pretreatment phases, enabled the delineation of the delivery process tree and the identification of 30 failure modes, 9 of which were judged to be of particular concern. Novel solutions and strategies for dealing with these failures are accordingly proposed, and addressed both to the clinical staff directly involved in the delivery process, and to the machine vendor.