• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.331-339
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• 2014

To test feasibility of proton arc therapy (PAT) in the treatment of para-aortic lymph node tumor and compare its dosimetric properties with advanced radiotherapy techniques such as intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and conventional 3D conformal proton beam therapy (PBT). The treatment plans for para-aortic lymph node tumor were planned for 9 patients treated at our institution using IMRT, PBT, and PAT. Feasibility test and dosimetric evaluation were based on comparisons of dose volume histograms (DVHs) which reveal mean dose, $D_{30%}$, $D_{60%}$, $D_{90%}$, $V_{30%}$, $V_{60%}$, $V_{90%}$, organ equivalent doses (OEDs), normal tissue complication probability (NTCP), homogeneity index (HI) and conformity index (CI). The average doses delivered by PAT to the liver, kidney, small bowel, duodenum, stomach were 7.6%, 3%, 17.3%, 26.7%, and 14.4%, of the prescription dose (PD), respectively, which is higher than the doses delivered by IMRT (0.4%, 7.2%, 14.2%, 15.9%, and 12.8%, respectively) and PBT (4.9%, 0.5%, 14.12%, 16.1% 9.9%, respectively). The average homogeneity index and conformity index of tumor using PAT were 12.1 and 1.21, respectively which were much better than IMRT (21.5 and 1.47, respectively) and comparable to PBT (13.1 and 1.23, respectively). The result shows that both NTCP and OED of PAT are generally lower than IMRT and PBT. This study demonstrates that PAT is better in target conformity and homogeneity than IMRT and PBT but worse than IMRT and PBT for most of dosimetric factor which indicate that PAT is not recommended for the treatment of para-aortic lymph node tumor.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.32
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• pp.31-39
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• 2020

Purpose: The aims of this study were to compare the superficial dose with Optically Stimulated Luminescence Dosimeter(OSLD) measurement and Treatment Planning System(TPS) calculation for 6MV-Flattening Filter Free(FFF) energy using HalcyonTM and TrueBeamTM. Materials and methods: Phantom study was performed using the CT images of human phantom. In the treatment planning system, the Planning Target Volume(PTV) was contoured which is similar to Glottic cancer. Furthermore, Point(M), Point(R), and Point(L) were contoured at the iso-center of head and neck region and 5mm bolus was applied to the body contour. Each treatment plans using 6MV-FFF energy from HalcyonTM and TrueBeamTM with static Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy(IMRT) and Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy(VMAT) were established with eclipse. To reproduce the same position as the TPS, OSLDs were placed at the iso-center point and 5mm bolus was applied to compare the error rate after the dose delivery. Result: The results of the study using human phantom are as follows. In case of HalcyonTM, the mean absolute error rates of the point dose using the treatment planning system and the dose measured by OSLD were 1.7%±1.2% for VMAT and 4.0±2.8% for IMRT. Also TrueBeamTM was identified as 2.4±0.4% and 8.6±1.8% respectively for VMAT and IMRT. Conclusion: Through the results of this study, TrueBeamTM confirmed that the average error rate was 2.4 times higher for VMAT and 3.6 times higher for IMRT than HalcyonTM. Therefore, based on the results of this study, If we need a more accurate dose assessment for the superficial dose, It is expected that using HalcyonTM would be better than TrueBeamTM.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.30 no.1_2
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• pp.117-128
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• 2018

Purpose : To evaluate the usability of plan transfer between TOMO HD and Radixact, we compared the differences of dose in transferred plans by evaluating the dose of normal organ and target. TOMO HDA and Radixact. The completed plans were transferred each other and we compared the differences of dose by evaluating the DVH of each plans. Materials and Methods : We planned 4 different plans assuming the treatment of 2 cases in Head and Neck Cancer and 2 cases Prostate cancer. Each plan was designed so that 95 % of the prescription dose was irradiated over 99 % of the target volume, and the normal organ constraints dose was based on the SMC tolerance dose protocol. Each plan was transferred to each equipment and DVH(dose volume histogram) analysis of the transferred plans was compared and evaluated. Results : The Mean dose of CTV and GTV was increased and decreased in the transferred plans, but there was no significant differences. The target coverage of CTV and GTV was decreased in all cases of transferred plans from TOMO HAD to Radixact, and the change of CI and HI in CTV was within 0.1. Normal organ dose was increased in most cases when transferring from HAD to Radixact in both treatment plans. Conclusion : According to the results of this experiment, the target coverage was above the standard and the normal organ dose was almost same or decreased when transferring the plans from Radixact to HDA equipment. However the target coverage was reduced when transferring the plans from HDA to Radixact and there was an increase in dose in normal organs that could cause sever side effects such as Optic Chiasm ($D_{max}$1.38 Gy), Bladder ($D_{max}$3.07 Gy), Penile Bulb ($D_{max}$1.14 Gy). Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the dose change when transferring the plan and one-time transfer due to equipment inspection will be useful for efficient radiation therapy, but if the transferred treatment plans continue for several consecutive days, the treatment plan should be resumed.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.35-44
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• 2008

Purpose: To evaluate the incidence and prognostic factors of treatment-related pneumonitis in non-small-cell lung cancer(NSCLC) patients treated with intensity modulated radiation therapy(IMRT). Materials and Methods: One-hundred-five patients with NSCLC treated with IMRT between 1 August 2004 and 30 November 2006 were analyzed retrospectively. The mean age of patients was 62.9 years, and squamous carcinomas were confirmed in 81 patients(77%). Sixty-six patients(62.9%) were classified as stage III, and 59 patients had lesions in the right lung. Twenty-seven patients were treated with a dose of 3,060 cGy preoperatively, and 10 patients were given a dose of 5,040 cGy postoperatively. Sixty-eight patients received a dose of 7,020 cGy for curative intent. Sixty-eight patients were treated with the use of the CORVUS planning system and 37 patients were treated with the use of the ECLIPSE planning system. Results: Of 105 patients, 21 patients(20%) had abnormal radiological findings, but only seven patients(6.7%) required treatment for radiation pneumonitis. Six of the seven patients had other serious lesions, including a bronchioesophageal fistula(one patient), recurrence in the treatment field(two patients), brain metastasis(one patient) and lung-to-lung metastasis(two patients); all of these patients died within 19 months after radiation treatment. Sixteen patients(23.5%) that received planning with the CORVUS system had abnormal lung findings. Five patients(13.5%) had abnormal lung findings with the use of the ECLIPSE planning system. Other prognostic factors such as perioperative radiation therapy, a volume over 10% of the V20 volume in the right lung, were also statistically significant. Conclusion: This retrospective analysis suggests that IMRT could be a beneficial treatment modality for the reduction of radiation pneumonitis in NSCLC patients. However, the higher incidence of abnormal radiological findings in perioperative patients treated with relatively lower doses($3,060{\sim}5,040$ cGy) suggest the need for judicious treatment planning in preoperative or postoperative treatment.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.181-186
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• 2002

The IMRT planning depends on the algorithm of each planning system and MLC performance of each Linac system. Yonsei Cancer Center introduced an IMRT System at the beginning of February, 2002. The system consists of CORVUS (Nomos, U.S.A.) treatment planning system, LANTIS, PRIMEVIEW and PRIMART (Siemens, U.S.A) linac system. The optimization of CORVUS planning system with PRIMART is an important task to make a desirable quality treatment plan. Our Step ＆ Shoot IMRT system uses Finite Size Pencil Beams (FSPB) dose model, simulated annealing optimization algorithm and IMFAST segmentation algorithm. We constructed treatment plans for four different patient cases with two basic beamlet sizes, 1.0$\times$1.0 $\textrm{cm}^2$ and 0.5$\times$1.0 $\textrm{cm}^2$, and four intensity steps, 5%, 10%, 20%, 33%. Each case's plan was evaluated with the dose volume histograms of target volumes and delivery efficiencies. The patient case of small target volume is sensitive at the change of intensity map's segmentation and it highlighted an effective treatment plan at marrow intensity step and small basic projection beamlet.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.89-94
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• 2008

TomoTherapy has a merit to treat cancer with Intensity modulated radiation and combines precise 3-D imaging from computerized tomography (CT scanning) with highly targeted radiation beams and rotating beamlets. In this paper, we comparing the dose distribution between TomoTherapy and linear accelerator based intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for 10 Head & Neck patients using TomoTherapy which is newly installed and operated at National Cancer Center since Sept. 2006. Furthermore, we estimate how the homogeneity and Normal Tissue Complication Probability (NTCP) are changed by motion of target. Inverse planning was carried out using CadPlan planning system (CadPlan R.6.4.7, Varian Medical System Inc. 3100 Hansen Way, Palo Alto, CA 94304-1129, USA). For each patient, an inverse IMRT plan was also made using TomoTherapy Hi-Art System (Hi-Art2_2_4 2.2.4.15, TomoTherapy Incorporated, 1240 Deming Way, Madson, WI 53717-1954, USA) and using the same targets and optimization goals. All TomoTherapy plans compared favorably with the IMRT plans regarding sparing of the organs at risk and keeping an equivalent target dose homogeneity. Our results suggest that TomoTherapy is able to reduce the normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) further, keeping a similar target dose homogeneity.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.149-155
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• 2002

Recent advances in radiation transport algorithms, computer hardware performance, and parallel computing make the clinical use of Monte Carlo based dose calculations possible. To compare the speed and accuracies of dose calculations between different developed codes, a benchmark tests were proposed at the XIIth ICCR (International Conference on the use of Computers in Radiation Therapy, Heidelberg, Germany 2000). A Monte Carlo treatment planning comprised of 28 various Intel Pentium CPUs was implemented for routine clinical use. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of our system using the above benchmark tests. The benchmark procedures are comprised of three parts. a) speed of photon beams dose calculation inside a given phantom of 30.5 cm$\times$39.5 cm $\times$ 30 cm deep and filled with 5 ㎣ voxels within 2% statistical uncertainty. b) speed of electron beams dose calculation inside the same phantom as that of the photon beams. c) accuracy of photon and electron beam calculation inside heterogeneous slab phantom compared with the reference results of EGS4/PRESTA calculation. As results of the speed benchmark tests, it took 5.5 minutes to achieve less than 2% statistical uncertainty for 18 MV photon beams. Though the net calculation for electron beams was an order of faster than the photon beam, the overall calculation time was similar to that of photon beam case due to the overhead time to maintain parallel processing. Since our Monte Carlo code is EGSnrc, which is an improved version of EGS4, the accuracy tests of our system showed, as expected, very good agreement with the reference data. In conclusion, our Monte Carlo treatment planning system shows clinically meaningful results. Though other more efficient codes are developed such like MCDOSE and VMC＋＋, BEAMnrc based on EGSnrc code system may be used for routine clinical Monte Carlo treatment planning in conjunction with clustering technique.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.32
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• pp.17-29
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this work was to investigate the dosimetric impact of mixed energy partial arc technique on prostate cancer VMAT. Materials and Methods: This study involved prostate only patients planned with 70Gy in 30 fractions to the planning target volume (PTV). Femoral heads, Bladder and Rectum were considered as oragan at risk (OARs). For this study, mixed energy partial arcs (MEPA) were generated with gantry angle set to 180°~230°, 310°~50° for 6MV arc and 130°~50°, 310°~230° for 15MV arc. Each arc set the avoidance sector which is gantry angle 230°~310°, 50°~130° at first arc and 50°~310° at second arc. After that, two plans were summed and were analyzed the dosimetry parameter of each structure such as Maximum dose, Mean dose, D2%, Homogeneity index (HI) and Conformity Index (CI) for PTV and Maximum dose, Mean dose, V70Gy, V50Gy, V30Gy, and V20Gy for OARs and Monitor Unit (MU) with 6MV 1 ARC, 6MV, 10MV, 15MV 2 ARC plan. Results: In MEPA, the maximum dose, mean dose and D2% were lower than 6MV 1 ARC plan(p<0.0005). However, the average difference of maximum dose was 0.24%, 0.39%, 0.60% (p<0.450, 0.321, 0.139) higher than 6MV, 10MV, 15MV 2 ARC plan, respectively and D2% was 0.42%, 0.49%, 0.59% (p<0.073, 0.087, 0.033) higher than compared plans. The average difference of mean dose was 0.09% lower than 10MV 2 ARC plan, but it is 0.27%, 0.12% (p<0.184, 0.521) higher than 6MV 2 ARC, 15MV 2 ARC plan, respectively. HI was 0.064±0.006 which is the lowest value (p<0.005, 0.357, 0.273, 0.801) among the all plans. For CI, there was no significant differences which were 1.12±0.038 in MEPA, 1.12±0.036, 1.11±0.024, 1.11±0.030, 1.12±0.027 in 6MV 1 ARC, 6MV, 10MV, 15MV 2 ARC, respectively. MEPA produced significantly lower rectum dose. Especially, V70Gy, V50Gy, V30Gy, V20Gy were 3.40, 16.79, 37.86, 48.09 that were lower than other plans. For bladder dose, V30Gy, V20Gy were lower than other plans. However, the mean dose of both femoral head were 9.69±2.93, 9.88±2.5 which were 2.8Gy~3.28Gy higher than other plans. The mean MU of MEPA were 19.53% lower than 6MV 1 ARC, 5.7% lower than 10MV 2 ARC respectively. Conclusion: This study for prostate radiotherapy demonstrated that a choice of MEPA VMAT has the potential to minimize doses to OARs and improve homogeneity to PTV at the expense of a moderate increase in maximum and mean dose to the femoral heads.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.633-640
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• 2023

With the recent development of static and dynamic modulated brachytherapy methods in brachytherapy, which use radiation shielding to modulate the dose distribution to deliver the dose, the amount of parameters and data required for dose calculation in inverse treatment planning and treatment plan optimization algorithms suitable for new directional beam intensity modulated brachytherapy is increasing. Although intensity-modulated brachytherapy enables accurate dose delivery of radiation, the increased amount of parameters and data increases the elapsed time required for dose calculation. In this study, a GPU-based CUDA-accelerated dose calculation algorithm was constructed to reduce the increase in dose calculation elapsed time. The acceleration of the calculation process was achieved by parallelizing the calculation of the system matrix of the volume of interest and the dose calculation. The developed algorithms were all performed in the same computing environment with an Intel (3.7 GHz, 6-core) CPU and a single NVIDIA GTX 1080ti graphics card, and the dose calculation time was evaluated by measuring only the dose calculation time, excluding the additional time required for loading data from disk and preprocessing operations. The results showed that the accelerated algorithm reduced the dose calculation time by about 30 times compared to the CPU-only calculation. The accelerated dose calculation algorithm can be expected to speed up treatment planning when new treatment plans need to be created to account for daily variations in applicator movement, such as in adaptive radiotherapy, or when dose calculation needs to account for changing parameters, such as in dynamically modulated brachytherapy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2003.09a
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• pp.58-58
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• 2003

목적 : 본 연구에서는 C-arm과 CT에 사용 가능한 자궁경부암용 팬톰을 개발하고 이를 이용하여 기존의 필름 방법에 기반한 위치 확인 방법과 CT 재구성 방법의 정확성을 비교 연구하고자 한다. 정확성이 검증된 후에는 두 방법의 장점을 이용하기 위해 CT로 재구성된 좌표를 필름의 좌표로 변환시켜 현재 사용되고 있는 필름에 기반한 근접 치료 계획 시행에 도움을 주고자 한다. 방법 : 자체 제작한 자궁경부암용 팬톰은 인체 등가 물질인 물과 아크릴을 사용하였고, 크게 localizer 부분과 팬톰 부분으로 구성되어 있다. 또한, 실제 자궁경부암 환자의 임상적인 구조를 모사하여 제작하였다. 자궁경부암 치료시 중요 장기인 방광과 직장을 구와 원기둥으로 설계하였고, 고선량율 applicator는 아크릴 판의 흠으로 고정시켜 제작하였기 때문에 CT 촬영시 applicator를 제거한 영상에서도 applicator의 구조가 정확하게 묘사될 수 있도록 제작하였다. 두 시스템에서 재구성된 좌표를 비교하기 위해 각각의 시스템에서의 얻은 재구성 좌표와 팬톰 자체의 localizer와 재구성 알고리즘을 바탕으로 개발된 프로그램을 이용하여 얻은 좌표로 두 재구성 좌표의 비교 연구를 수행하였다. 정확성이 검증되고 장기의 정보가 담긴 CT의 좌표는 자체 개발된 프로그램으로 2 차원의 필름 좌표로 변환되었다. 본 연구에 사용된 모든 프로그램은 ILD 5.5를 사용하여 개발되었다. 결과 : 두 시스템의 좌표 비교 결과 x, y 축은 차이가 2mm 이내로 비교적 정확한 실험 결과를 얻을 수 있었고, z 축의 경우 CT 슬라이드의 굵기에 따라 2mm-3mm 이내의 차이가 있음을 관찰할 수 있었다. z 축을 제외한 좌표의 차이는 획득한 영상에서 컴퓨터로 좌표를 옮기는 localizer 좌표 선택 과정에 발생했을 것으로 예상된다. 또한, 이 검증된 좌표와 개발된 프로그램을 이용하여 우리는 CT의 좌표를 2차원의 필름 좌표로 정확하게 변환할 수 있었다. 결론 : 이 연구로부터 기존의 C-arm 재구성 방법과 CT 재구성 방법의 비교를 통해 각 치료 기기의 신뢰성을 직접 확인할 수 있었으며, 비교를 통해 검증된 CT의 좌표를 필름 좌표로 변환시킴으로서, 각 시스템의 장점만을 결합한 효과적인 치료 계획을 세울 수 있는 가능성을 제시하였다. 또한 물과 아크릴을 사용한 비교적 간단하고 경제적인 방법으로 C-arm, CT 그리고 MRI에 모두 이용 가능한 팬톰을 제작하여 쉽고 정확하게 위치를 확인할 수 있었다. 더 나아가, 본 연구에서 제작된 자궁경부암 팬톰은 근접치료를 포함하여 관련 팬톰 개발에 도움을 줄 수 있을 것으로 예상된다.