• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.401-408
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• 2021

Proton therapy using the Bragg peak is one of the radiation therapies and can deliver its maximum energy to the tumor with giving least energy for normal tissue. A cross-sectional image of the human body taken with the computed tomography (CT) has been used for radiation therapy planning. The HU values change according to the tube voltage, which lead to the change in the boundary and thickness of the anatomical structure on the CT image. This study examined the changes in the Bragg peak of the brain region according to the thickness variation in the head phantom composed of several materials using the Geant4. In the phantom composed of a single material, the Bragg peak according to the type of media and the incident energy of the proton beams were calculated, and the reliability of Geant4 code was verified by the Bragg peak. The variation of the peak in the brain region was examined when each thickness of the head phantom was changed. When the thickness of the soft tissue was changed, there was no change in the peak position, and for the skin the change in the peak was small. The change of the peak position was mainly changed when the bone thickness. In particular, when the bone was changed only or the bone was changed together with other tissues, the amount of change in the peak position was the same. It is considered that measurement of the accurate bone thickness in CT images is one of the key factors in depth-dose distribution of the radiation therapy planning.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.105-110
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• 2008

We have investigated the high temperature rapid thermal annealing of GaN epilayers in nitrogen atmosphere. Annealing has been performed in a rapid thermal annealing furnace at $950^{\circ}C$. The effect of rapid thermal annealing of GaN was studied by x-ray diffraction. The Bragg peak shifts toward larger angle as the annealing time increases. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the peak slightly increase, followed by decreases, and increases again as the thermal treatment time increases. The improvement of structural properties of the samples was observed after rapid thermal annealing under optimum conditions. This improvement in crystal quality is due to a reduction of the spread in the lattice parameter in epilayers.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.207-213
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• 2023

Computed tomography (CT) images are used as the basis for proton Bragg peak position estimation and treatment plan simulation. During the Hounsfield Unit (HU) based proton stopping power ratio (SPR) estimation, small differences in the patient's density and elemental composition lead to uncertainty in the Bragg peak positions along the path of the proton beam. In this study, we investigated the potential of dual-energy computed tomography image-based proton SPRs prediction accuracy to reduce the uncertainty of Bragg peak position prediction. Single- and dual-energy images of an electron density phantom (CIRS Model 062M electron density phantom, CIRS Inc., Norfolk, VA, USA) were acquired using a computed tomography system (Somatom Definition AS, Siemens Health Care, Forchheim, Germany) to estimate the SPRs of the proton beam. To validate the method, it was compared to the SPRs estimated from standard data provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The results show that the dual-energy image-based method has the potential to improve accuracy in predicting the SPRs of proton beams, and it is expected that further improvements in predicting the position of the proton's Bragg peak will be possible if a wider variety of substitutes with different densities and elemental compositions of the human body are used to predict the SPRs.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.771-779
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• 2021

It is necessary to overlap several peaks to form spread out Bragg peak (SOBP) in order to cover the tumor volume because a mono-energetic proton beam forms a narrow Bragg peak. The tumor density has been considered as a brain tissue and then the absorbed dose of the tumor is calculated using Monte Carlo simulations. However, densities of tumors were not a constant. In this study, the SOBP of proton beams was calculated according to changing density of tumors by using Geant4. Tumors were selected as 10 mm and 20 mm width which were the treatment range in the brain phantom. The energies and relative weights of the proton beams were calculated using mathematical formula to form the SOBP suitable for the location and size of the tumor. As the density of the tumor was increased, the 95% modulation range and the practical range were decreased, and average absorbed dose in the 95% modulation range was increased. The change of the tumor density affects the dose distribution of the proton beams, which results in short SOBP within the tumor volume. The consideration of the tumor density affects the determination of the range, so that the margin of the treatment volume can be minimized, and the advantages of proton therapy can be maximized.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2024

Proton therapy is known for its superior treatment method due to Bragg peak. To enhance the therapeutic effects of protons, research has been conducted on distributing gold nanoparticles within tumors to increase the absorbed dose. While previous studies focused on handling gold nanoparticles at micrometer and nonometer scale, this study proposes a method to computationally estimate the effect of gold nanoparticles at the millimeter scale. The Geant4 toolkit was applied to computational modeling. Assuming a uniform distribution of water, similar to the human body, and gold nanoparticles, the concentration of gold nanoparticles was adjusted using density ratios. When the density ratio was 5%, the gain in absorbed energy due to gold nanoparticles was nearly twice that of the pure water phantom at the Bragg peak. As the density ratio increased, the gain in absorbed energy linearly increased. When gold nanoparticles were distributed in only one voxel at the Bragg peak, the energy of the protons affected only the neighboring voxels. However, in cases where gold nanoparticles were distributed over a wide area, the volume showing 95% of the maximum absorbed energy (9.46 keV) for the pure water phantom (9.95 keV) exhibited an improvement in absorbed energy over a region 16 times larger, and this region increased as the density ratio increased. Further research is needed to quantify the relationship between the density ratio of gold nanoparticles and the relative biological effect (RBE) in the millimeter scale.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.253-260
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• 2019

Radiation dose enhancement is a method of increasing the cross section of interaction, thus increasing the deposited dose. This can contribute to linear energy transfer, LET and relative biological effectiveness, RBE. Previous studies on dose enhancement have been mainly focused on X, ${\gamma}-rays$, but in this study, the dose enhancement was analyzed for proton using Monte Carlo simulation using MCNP6. Based on the mathematical modeling method, energy spectrum and relative intensity of spread out Bragg-peak were calculated, and evaluated dose enhancement factor and dose distribution of dose enhancement material, such as aurum and gadolinium. Dose enhancement factor of 1.085-1.120 folds in aurum, 1.047-1.091 folds in gadolinium was shown. In addition, it showed a decrease of 95% modulation range and practical range. This may lead to an uncertain dose in the tumor tissue as well as dose enhancement. Therefore, it is necessary to make appropriate corrections for spread out Bragg-peak and practical range from mass stopping power. It is expected that Monte Carlo simulation for dose enhancement will be used as basic data for in-vivo and in-vitro experiments.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.370-374
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• 1996

A Superstructure Grating(SSG) Distributed-Bragg-Reflector(DBR) laser has a broad tuning range with a good mode suppression ratio. However, gaps of channel are observed in the wavelength-tuning characteristics of an SSGDBR laser which employs linearly-chirped DBR mirrors. We found by numerical simulation that the gaps may be attributed to the nonuniform reflection-peak heights of a linearly-chirped DBR mirrors. We propose a nonlinearly chirped grating DBR mirror structure that makes reflection-peak heights almost uniform. Therefore a nonlinearly chirped grating structure can be employed in an extended tuning range semiconductor laser to achieve gap-free tuning and low threshold current operation simultaneously.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.34-38
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• 2004

A fiber laser of which wavelength was scanned by an intra-cavity FP (Fabry-Perot) filter was used to interrogate a fiber Bragg grating strain sensor array. We calculated the wavelength variation of the fiber laser using quadrature signal processing with an unbalanced M/Z (Mach-Zehnder) interferometer and time-delayed sampling technique. The calculated wavelengths are mapped to corresponding temporal reflection peaks from the sensor array, which enables more accurate and stable interrogation without the problems caused by the FP filter's nonlinear characteristics. Wavelength resolution of ∼20 pm was obtained in our experimental setup, which could have been greatly enhanced with faster phase modulation.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.413-422
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• 2019

Heavy ion particle, represented carbon ion, radiotherapy is currently most advanced radiation therapy technique. Conventional radiation therapy has made remarkable changes over a relatively short period of time and leading various developments such as intensity modulated radiation therapy, 4D radiation therapy, image guided radiation therapy, and high precisional therapy. However, the biological and physical superiority of particle radiation, represented by Bragg peak, can give the maximum dose to tumor and minimal dose to surrounding normal tissues in the treatment of cancers in various areas surrounded by radiation-sensitive normal tissues. However, despite these advantages, there are some limitations and factors to consider. First, there is not enough evidence, such as large-scale randomized, prospective phase III trials, for the clinical application. Secondly, additional studies are needed to establish a very limited number of treatment facilities, uncertainty about the demand for heavy particle treatment, parallel with convetional radiotherapy or indications. In addition, Bragg peak of the heavy particles can greatly reduce the dose to the normal tissues front and behind the tumor compared to the photon or protons. High precision and accuracy are needed for treatment planning and treatment, especially for lungs or livers with large respiratory movements. Currently, the introduction of the heavy particle therapy device is in progress, and therefore, it is expected that more research will be active.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 2010

We have investigated effects of the rapid thermal annealing of GaN epilayers by molecular beam epitaxy in nitrogen atmosphere. The improvement of structural properties of the samples was observed after rapid thermal annealing under optimum conditions. This improvement in crystal quality is due to a reduction of the spread in the lattice parameter in epilayers. The annealing has been performed in a rapid thermal annealing furnace at $950^{\circ}C$. The effect of rapid thermal annealing on the structural properties of GaN was studied by x-ray diffraction. The Bragg peak shifts toward larger angle as the annealing time increases. As the thermal treatment time increases, FWHM(full width at half maximum) of the peak slightly increase with its decreases followed and it increases again. Results demonstrate that rapid thermal annealing did not always promote qualities of GaN epilayers. However, rapid thermal annealing under optimum conditions improve structural properties of the samples, elevating their crystal quality with a reduction of inaccuracy in the lattice parameter of the epilayers.