• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.533-538
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• 2019

The mechanical-collimation imaging is the most mature technology in prompt gamma (PG) imaging which is considered the most promising technology for beam range verification in proton therapy. The purpose of the present study is to compare the performances of two mechanical-collimation PG cameras, knife-edge (KE) camera and multi-slit (MS) camera. For this, the PG cameras were modeled by Geant4 Monte Carlo code, and the performances of the cameras were compared for imaginary point and line sources and for proton beams incident on a cylindrical PMMA phantom. From the simulation results, the KE camera was found to show higher counting efficiency than the MS camera, being able to estimate the beam range even for $10^7$ protons. Our results, however, confirmed that in order to estimate the beam range correctly, the KE camera should be aligned, at least approximately, to the location of the proton beam range. The MS camera was found to show lower efficiency, being able to estimate the beam range correctly only when the number of the protons is at least $10^8$. For enough number of protons, however, the MS camera estimated the beam range correctly, errors being less than 1.2 mm, regardless of the location of the camera.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.9
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• pp.3422-3428
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• 2022

The prompt gamma imaging (PGI) technique is considered as one of the most promising approaches to estimate the range of proton beam in the patient and unlock the full potential of proton therapy. In the PGI technique, a dedicated algorithm is required to estimate the range of the proton beam from the prompt gamma (PG) distribution acquired by a PGI system. In the present study, a new range estimation algorithm was developed for a multi-slit prompt-gamma camera, one of PGI systems, to estimate the range of proton beam with high accuracy. The performance of the developed algorithm was evaluated by Monte Carlo simulations for various beam/phantom combinations. Our results generally show that the developed algorithm is very robust, showing very high accuracy and precision for all the cases considered in the present study. The range estimation accuracy of the developed algorithm was 0.5-1.7 mm, which is approximately 1% of beam range, for 1×10⁹ protons. Even for the typical number of protons for a spot (1×10⁸), the range estimation accuracy of the developed algorithm was 2.1-4.6 mm and smaller than the range uncertainties and typical safety margin, while that of the existing algorithm was 2.5-9.6 mm.

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.331-335
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• 2012

A miniaturized laser beam transmitter, in which a visible laser module at ${\lambda}$=650 nm is precisely stacked upon an infrared (IR) module at ${\lambda}$=905 nm, has been proposed and constructed to provide an IR collimated beam in conjunction with a collinear monitoring visible beam. In particular, the IR beam is selectively dispersed through a perforated sheet diffuser, so as to create a rapidly diverging close-range beam in addition to a highly defined long-range beam simultaneously. The complementary close-range beam plays a role in mitigating the blind region in the vicinity of the transmitter, which is inevitably missed by the main long-range beam, thereby uniformly extending the transmitter's effective trajectory that is sensed by a receiver. The proposed transmitter was designed through numerical simulations and then fabricated by incorporating a diffuser sheet, perforated with an aperture of 2 mm. For the manufactured transmitter, the IR long-range beam was observed to have divergences of ~2.3 and 1.6 mrad in the fast and slow axes, respectively, while the short-range beam yielded a divergence of ~24 mrad. The angular alignment between the long-range IR and visible beams was as accurate as ~0.5 mrad. According to an outdoor feasibility test involving a receiver, the combination of the IR long- and short-range beams was proven to achieve a nearly uniform trajectory over a distance ranging up to ~600 m, with an average detectable cross-section of ${\sim}60{\times}80cm^2$.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1996.10b
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• pp.644-647
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• 1996

In this study the theoretical minimum resolution analysis of an active vision system using laser range finder is performed for surrounding recognition and 3D data acquisition in unknown environment. The laser range finder consists of a slitted laser beam generator, a scanning mechanism, CCD camera, and a signal processing unit. A laser beam from laser source is slitted by a set of cylindrical lenses and the slitted laser beam is emitted up and down and rotates by the scanning mechanism. The image of laser beam reflected on the surface of an object is engraved on the CCD array. In the result, the resolution of range data in laser range finder is depend on distance between lens center of CCD camera and light emitter, view and beam angles, and parameters of CCD camera.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.1016-1023
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• 2022

In proton therapy, a highly conformal proton dose can be delivered to the tumor by means of the steep distal dose penumbra at the end of the beam range. The proton beam range, however, is highly sensitive to range uncertainty, which makes accurately locating the proton range in the patient difficult. In-vivo range verification is a method to manage range uncertainty, one of the promising techniques being prompt gamma imaging (PGI). In earlier studies, we proposed gamma electron vertex imaging (GEVI), and constructed a proof-of-principle system. The system successfully demonstrated the GEVI imaging principle for therapeutic proton pencil beams without scanning, but showed some limitations under clinical conditions, particularly for pencil beam scanning proton therapy. In the present study, we upgraded the GEVI system in several aspects and tested the performance improvements such as for range-shift verification in the context of line scanning proton treatment. Specifically, the system showed better performance in obtaining accurate prompt gamma (PG) distributions in the clinical environment. Furthermore, high shift-detection sensitivity and accuracy were shown under various range-shift conditions using line scanning proton beams.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.2213-2220
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• 2022

The maximum dose delivery at the end of the beam range provides the main advantage of using proton therapy. The range of the proton beam, however, is subject to uncertainties, which limit the clinical benefits of proton therapy and, therefore, accurate in vivo verification of the beam range is desirable. For the beam range verification in spot scanning proton therapy, a prompt gamma detection system, called as gamma electron vertex imaging (GEVI) system, is under development and, in the present study, the performance of the GEVI system in spot scanning proton therapy was predicted with Geant4 Monte Carlo simulations in terms of shift detection sensitivity, accuracy and precision. The simulation results indicated that the GEVI system can detect the interfractional range shifts down to 1 mm shift for the cases considered in the present study. The results also showed that both the evaluated accuracy and precision were less than 1-2 mm, except for the scenarios where we consider all spots in the energy layer for a local shifting. It was very encouraging results that the accuracy and precision satisfied the smallest distal safety margin of the investigated beam energy (i.e., 4.88 mm for 134.9 MeV).

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2019

Background: To monitor proton beam in proton therapy, prompt gamma imaging systems are being developed by several research groups, and these systems are expected to improve the quality of the treatment and the patient safety. To apply the prompt gamma imaging systems into spot scanning proton therapy, the systems should be able to monitor the proton beam range of a spot with a small number of protons ( <$10^8$ protons), which is quite often not the case due to insufficient prompt gamma statistics. Materials and Methods: In the present study, we propose to improve prompt gamma statistics by merging the prompt gamma distributions of several individual spots into a new distribution. This proposal was tested by Geant4 Monte Carlo simulations for a multi-slit prompt gamma camera which has been developed to measure the proton beam range in the patient. Results and Discussion: The results show that the proposed method clearly enhance the statistical precision of beam range measurement. The accuracy of beam range verification is improved, within ~1.4 mm error, which is not achievable before applying the developed method. Conclusion: In this study, we tried to improve the statistics of the prompt gamma statistics by merging the prompt gamma distributions of multiple spots, and it was found that the merged distribution provided sufficient prompt gamma statistics and the proton beam range was determined accurately.

• Journal of electromagnetic engineering and science
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.224-230
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• 2010

Wireless power transmission (WPT) is useful technology in near future. There are some kinds of the WPT technologies, WPT via radio waves, resonance coupling, and inductive. Especially the WPT via radio waves is used for multi-purposes from short range to long range application. However, unfortunately it is misunderstood that it is low efficiency and low power. In this paper, I show the theory of beam efficiency between transmitting antennas and receiving antennas and also show some high efficient applications of the WPT via radio waves. Especially, I pick up a wireless power charging system of an electric vehicle and show the experimental results. I show difference between the theory of beam efficiency and the experimental results of short range WPT. I indicate that reasons of poor beam efficiency in the experiment are (1) change of impedance caused by mutual coupling between transmitting antennas and receiving antennas, (2) oblique direction of microwave power to receiving antennas caused by short distance.

• 연구논문집
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• s.30
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• pp.43-56
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• 2000

N-IR spectroscopy technology is very useful. And, the technology has wide application range. In the range, we know that single beam type silica analyzer has some handicap. So we were studied Splitted beam type silica analyzer. This dissertation have been discuss about system structure, system fundamentals and performance test. At the test, we were study in the spectral interference of NH3. We know that existing system had some problem. It is structural frailties of single beam type. Therefore we were study for Splitted beam type structure. And we obtain a good result. We have $\pm$5% accuracy and 0.5 ppb level measuring range. But, we have a question. It is ppt level measuring technology by the laser beam spectroscopy.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.112-119
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• 2019

Purpose: The advantages of ocular proton therapy are that it spares the optic nerve and delivers the minimal dose to normal surrounding tissues. In this study, it developed a solid eye phantom that enabled us to perform quality assurance (QA) to verify the dose and beam range for passive single scattering proton therapy using a single phantom. For this purpose, a new solid eye phantom with a polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA) wedge was developed using film dosimetry and an ionization chamber. Methods: The typical beam shape used for eye treatment is approximately 3 cm in diameter and the beam range is below 5 cm. Since proton therapy has a problem with beam range uncertainty due to differences in the stopping power of normal tissue, bone, air, etc, the beam range should be confirmed before treatment. A film can be placed on the slope of the phantom to evaluate the Spread-out Bragg Peak based on the water equivalent thickness value of PMMA on the film. In addition, an ionization chamber (Pin-point, PTW 31014) can be inserted into a hole in the phantom to measure the absolute dose. Results: The eye phantom was used for independent patient-specific QA. The differences in the output and beam range between the measurement and the planned treatment were less than 1.5% and 0.1 cm, respectively. Conclusions: An eye phantom was developed and the performance was successfully validated. The phantom can be employed to verify the output and beam range for ocular proton therapy.