• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.195-203
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• 2021

Although intra oral dental x-ray is a lower dose than other radiological examinations, pediatric patients are known to have a higher risk of radiation damage than adults. For this reason, pediatric dental x-ray requires management of dose evaluation and imaging conditions during the examination. In this study, the dose calculation program ALARA-Dental(child/adult) was used to evaluate the organ dose and effective dose exposed to each examination site during intra oral imaging of children during dental radiographic examination, and dose analysis according to the imaging conditions was performed. As a result, the highest organ dose distribution was shown at 0.044 ~ 0.097 mGy in all are as of the mucous membrane of oral cavity except for the maxillary incisors and canines. Also, in the case of the thyroid gland, the maxillary canine and maxillary premolar examination showed 0.027 and 0.020 mGy, respectively, and the dose distribution was 15.4% to 70.0% higher than that of the mandibular examination. As for the effective dose calculated during intra oral imaging, the maxillary anterior and canine examinations showed the highest effective doses of 0.005 and 0.004 mSv, respectively, and the maxillary area examination showed a higher dose distribution on average than the mandible.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.23-30
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the developed dose verification program for in vivo dosimetry based on transit dose in radiotherapy. Five intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) plans of lung cancer patients were used in the irradiation of a homogeneous solid water phantom and anthropomorphic phantom. Transit dose distribution was measured using electronic portal imaging device (EPID) and used for the calculation of in vivo dose in patient. The average passing rate compared with treatment planning system based on a gamma index with a 3% dose and a 3 mm distance-to-dose agreement tolerance limit was 95% for the in vivo dose with the homogeneous phantom, but was reduced to 81.8% for the in vivo dose with the anthropomorphic phantom. This feasibility study suggested that transit dose-based in vivo dosimetry can provide information about the actual dose delivery to patients in the treatment room.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.178-186
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• 2020

Background: Reactor pressure vessel (RV) with internals (RVI) are activated structures by neutron irradiation and volume contaminated wastes. Thus, to develop safe and optimized disposal plan for them at a disposal site, it is important to perform exact activation calculation and evaluate the dose rate on the surface of casks which contain cut-off pieces. Materials and Methods: RV and RVI are subjected to neutron activation calculation via Monte Carlo methodology with MCNP6 and ORIGEN-S program-neutron flux, isotopic specific activity, and gamma spectrum calculation on each component of RV and RVI, and dose rate evaluation with MCNP6. Results and Discussion: Through neutron activation analysis, dose rate is evaluated for the casks containing cut-off pieces produced from decommissioned RV and RVI. For RV cut-off ones, the highest value of dose rate on the surface of cask is 6.97 × 10-1 mSv/hr and 2 m from it is 3.03 × 10-2 mSv/hr. For RVI cut-off ones, on the surface of it is 0.166 × 10-1 mSv/hr and 2 m from it is 1.04 × 10-1 mSv/hr. Dose rates for various RV and RVI cut-off pieces distributed lower than the limit except the one of 2 m from the cask surface of RVI. It needs to adjust contents in cask which carries highly radioactive components in order to decrease thickness of cask. Conclusion: Two types of casks are considered in this paper: box type for very-low-level waste (VLLW) as well as low-level waste (LLW) and cylinder type for intermediate-level waste (ILW). The results will contribute to the development of optimal loading plans for RV and RVI cut-off pieces during the decommissioning of nuclear power plant that can be used to prepare radioactive waste disposal plans for the different types of wastes-ILW, LLW, and VLLW.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.381-390
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• 2002

Purpose : To develop a dose calibration program for the IAEA TRS-277 and AAPM TG-21, based on the air kerma calibration factor (or the cavity-gas calibration factor), as well as for the IAEA TRS-398 and the AAPM TG-51, based on the absorbed dose to water calibration factor, so as to avoid the unwanted error associated with these calculation procedures. Materials and Methods : Currently, the most widely used dosimetry Protocols of high energy photon beams are the air kerma calibration factor based on the IAEA TRS-277 and the AAPM TG-21. However, this has somewhat complex formalism and limitations for the improvement of the accuracy due to uncertainties of the physical quantities. Recently, the IAEA and the AAPM published the absorbed dose to water calibration factor based, on the IAEA TRS-398 and the AAPM TG-51. The formalism and physical parameters were strictly applied to these four dose calibration programs. The tables and graphs of physical data and the information for ion chambers were numericalized for their incorporation into a database. These programs were developed user to be friendly, with the Visual $C^{++}$ language for their ease of use in a Windows environment according to the recommendation of each protocols. Results : The dose calibration programs for the high energy photon beams, developed for the four protocols, allow the input of informations about a dosimetry system, the characteristics of the beam quality, the measurement conditions and dosimetry results, to enable the minimization of any inter-user variations and errors, during the calculation procedure. Also, it was possible to compare the absorbed dose to water data of the four different protocols at a single reference points. Conclusion : Since this program expressed information in numerical and data-based forms for the physical parameter tables, graphs and of the ion chambers, the error associated with the procedures and different user could be solved. It was possible to analyze and compare the major difference for each dosimetry protocol, since the program was designed to be user friendly and to accurately calculate the correction factors and absorbed dose. It is expected that accurate dose calculations in high energy photon beams can be made by the users for selecting and performing the appropriate dosimetry protocol.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.169-178
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• 2020

The number of CT scans is increasing every year due to the improvement of the medical standards of the public, and thus the annual dose of medical radiation is also increasing. In this study, we evaluated the effective dose of the human body exposed to CT scans and estimated LAR. First, five region were selected from the CT diagnostic reference level guideline, and the effective dose of human body exposed to each examination was evaluated by clinical CT device. Second, the human organs and effective dose were calculated using the ALARA-CT program under the same conditions. Third, lifetime attributable risk (LAR) estimated by the effective dose exposed through the previous CT scan was estimated. As a result, the most effective dose was 21.18 mSv during the abdomen 4 phase scan, and the dose level was below DRL for all other tests except for the abdominal examination. As a result of evaluating effective dose using a dose calculation program under the same conditions, the results showed about 1.1 to 1.9 times higher results for each examination. In the case of organ dose, the closer the organ to the scan site, the higher the scattering ray. The lifetime attributable risk to CT radiation dose in adults was gradually decreased with age, and the results were somewhat different according to gender.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.103-108
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• 2016

Purpose: The current study investigates the feasibility of a platform for a nationwide dose monitoring system for dental radiography. The essential elements for an unerring system are also assessed. Materials and Methods: An intraoral radiographic machine with 14 X-ray generators and five sensors, 45 panoramic radiographic machines, and 23 cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) models used in Korean dental clinics were surveyed to investigate the type of dose report. A main server for storing the dose data from each radiographic machine was prepared. The dose report transfer pathways from the radiographic machine to the main sever were constructed. An effective dose calculation method was created based on the machine specifications and the exposure parameters of three intraoral radiographic machines, five panoramic radiographic machines, and four CBCTs. A viewing system was developed for both dentists and patients to view the calculated effective dose. Each procedure and the main server were integrated into one system. Results: The dose data from each type of radiographic machine was successfully transferred to the main server and converted into an effective dose. The effective dose stored in the main server is automatically connected to a viewing program for dentist and patient access. Conclusion: A patient radiation dose monitoring system is feasible for dental clinics. Future research in cooperation with clinicians, industry, and radiologists is needed to ensure format convertibility for an efficient dose monitoring system to monitor unexpected radiation dose.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.181-189
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• 2017

The conventional delivery quality assurance (DQA) process for RapidArc (Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, USA), has the limitation that it measures and analyzes the dose in a phantom material and cannot analyze the dosimetric changes under the motional organ condition. In this study, a DQA method was designed to overcome the limitations of the conventional DQA process for internal target volume (ITV) based RapidArc. The dynamic DQA measurement device was designed with a moving phantom that can simulate variable target motions. The dose distribution in the real volume of the target and organ-at-risk (OAR)s were reconstructed using 3DVH with the ArcCHECK (SunNuclear, Melbourne, USA) measurement data under the dynamic condition. A total of 10 ITV-based RapidArc plans for liver-cancer patients were analyzed with the designed dynamic DQA process. The average pass rate of gamma evaluation was $81.55{\pm}9.48%$ when the DQA dose was measured in the respiratory moving condition of the patient. Appropriate method was applied to correct the effect of moving phantom structures in the dose calculation, and DVH data of the real volume of target and OARs were created with the recalculated dose by the 3DVH program. We confirmed the valid dose coverage of a real target volume in the ITV-based RapidArc. The variable difference of the DVH of the OARs showed that dose variation can occur differently according to the location, shape, size and motion range of the target. The DQA process devised in this study can effectively evaluate the DVH of the real volume of the target and OARs in a respiratory moving condition in addition to the simple verification of the accuracy of the treatment machine. This can be helpful to predict the prognosis of treatment by the accurate dose analysis in the real target and OARs.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.17-25
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• 2005

Since the safety of nuclear power plant has been becoming a big social issue the exposure dose of radiation for workers has been one of the important factors concerning the safety problem. The existing calculation methods of radiation dose used in the planning of radiation work assume that dose rate does not depend on the location within a work space thus the variation of exposure dose by different work path is not considered. In this study, a modified numerical method was presented to estimate the exposure dose during radiation work in radwaste storage considering the effects of the distance between a worker and sources. And a new numerical algorithm was suggested to search the optimal work path minimizing the exposure dose in pre-defined work space with given radiation sources. Finally, a virtual work simulation program was developed to visualize the exposure dose of radiation doting radiation works in radwaste storage and provide the capability of simulation for work planning. As a numerical example, a test radiation work was simulated under given space and two radiation sources, and the suggested optimal work path was compared with three predefined work paths. The optimal work path obtained in the study could reduce the exposure dose for the given test work. Based on the results, tile developed numerical method and simulation program could be useful tools in the planning of radiation work.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.137-145
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• 1992

Three-dimensional dose calculations based on CT images are fundamental to stereotactic radiosurgery for small intracranial tumor. In our stereotactic radiosurgery program, irradiations have been performed using the 6 MV photon beam of linear accelerator after stereotactic CT investigations of the target center through the beam's-eye view and the coordinates of BRW frame converted to that of radiosurgery. Also we can describe the tumor diameter and the shape in three dimensional configuration. Non-coplanar irradiation technique was developed that it consists of a combination of a moving field with a gantry angle of $140^{\circ}$, and a horizontal couch angle of $200^{\circ}C$ around the isocenter. In this radiosurgery technique, we provide the patient head setup in the base-ring holder and rotate around body axis. The total gantry moving range shows angle of 2520 degrees via two different types of gantry movement in a plane perpendicular to the axis of patient. The 3-D isodose curves overlapped to the tumor contours in screen and analytic dose profiles in calculation area were provided to calculate the thickness of $80\%$ of tumor center dose to $20\%$ of that. Furtheremore we provided the 3-D dose profiles in entire calculation plane. In this experiments, measured isodose curves in phantom irradiation have shown very similiar to that of computer generations.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.285-289
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• 1995

Purpose : We compared the calcualted percent depth dose curves of 6 MeV electron beam to that of measured to evaluate the usefulness of Monte-carlo simulation method in radiation physics. Materials and Methods : The radiation dose values of 6 MeV electron beam using EGS4 code with one million histories in water were compared values that were measured from the depth dose curve of electron beam irradiated by medical accelerator ML6M. The central axis dose values were calculated according to the changing field size. such as $5{\times}5,\;10{\times}10,\;15{\times}15,\;20{\times}20cm^2$. Results : The value calculated showed a very similar shape to depth dose curve. The calculated and measured value of $D_max$ at $10{\times}10cm^2$ cone is 15mm and 14mm respectively. The calculated value of the surface radiation dose rate is $65.52\%$ and measured one is $76.94\%$. The surface radiation dose rate has varied from $64.43\%$ to $66.99\%$. The calculated values of $D_max$ are in the range between 15mm and 18mm. The calculated value was fitted well with measured value around the $D_max$ area, excluding build up range and below the $90\%$ depth dose area. Conclusion : This result suggested that the calculation of dose value can be replace the direct measurement of the dose for radiation therapy. Also, EGS4 may be a very convenient program to assess the effect of radiation dose using by personal computers.