• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.37-45
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• 2014

The accuracy and uniformity of CT numbers are the main causes of radiation dose calculation error. Especially, for the dose calculation based on kV-Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) image, the scatter affecting the CT number is known to be quite different by the object sizes, densities, exposure conditions, and so on. In this study, the scatter impact on the CBCT based dose calculation was evaluated to provide the optimal condition minimizing the error. The CBCT images was acquired under three scatter conditions ("Under-scatter", "Over-scatter", and "Full-scatter") by adjusting amount of scatter materials around a electron density phantom (CIRS062, Tissue Simulation Technology, Norfolk, VA, USA). The CT number uniformities of CBCT images for water-equivalent materials of the phantom were assessed, and the location dependency, either "inner" or "outer" parts of the phantom, was also evaluated. The electron density correction curves were derived from CBCT images of the electron density phantom in each scatter condition. The electron density correction curves were applied to calculate the CBCT based doses, which were compared with the dose based on Fan Beam Computed Tomography (FBCT). Also, 5 prostate IMRT cases were enrolled to assess the accuracy of dose based on CBCT images using gamma index analysis and relative dose differences. As the CT number histogram of phantom CBCT images for water equivalent materials was fitted with a gaussian function, the FHWM (146 HU) for "Full-scatter" condition was the smallest among the FHWM for the three conditions (685 HU for "under scatter" and 264 HU for "over scatter"). Also, the variance of CT numbers was the smallest for the same ingredients located in the center and periphery of the phantom in the "Full-scatter" condition. The dose distributions calculated with FBCT and CBCT images compared in a gamma index evaluation of 1%/3 mm criteria and in the dose difference. With the electron density correction acquired in the same scatter condition, the CBCT based dose calculations tended to be the most accurate. In 5 prostate cases in which the mean equivalent diameter was 27.2 cm, the averaged gamma pass rate was 98% and the dose difference confirmed to be less than 2% (average 0.2%, ranged from -1.3% to 1.6%) with the electron density correction of the "Full-scatter" condition. The accuracy of CBCT based dose calculation could be confirmed that closely related to the CT number uniformity and to the similarity of the scatter conditions for the electron density correction curve and CBCT image. In pelvic cases, the most accurate dose calculation was achievable in the application of the electron density curves of the "Full-scatter" condition.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.33-38
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• 2017

Creating individualized build-up material for superficial photon beam radiation therapy at irregular surface is complex with rice or commonly used flat shape bolus. In this study, we implemented a workflow using 3D printed patient specific bolus and describe our clinical experience. To provide better fitted build-up to irregular surface, the 3D printing technique was used. The PolyLactic Acid (PLA) which processed with nontoxic plant component was used for 3D printer filament material for clinical usage. The 3D printed bolus was designed using virtual bolus structure delineated on patient CT images. Dose distributions were generated from treatment plan for bolus assigned uniform relative electron density and bolus using relative electron density from CT image and compared to evaluate the inhomogeneity effect of bolus material. Pretreatment QA is performed to verify the relative electron density applied to bolus structure by gamma analysis. As an in-vivo dosimetry, Optically Stimulated Luminescent Dosimeters (OSLD) are used to measure the skin dose. The plan comparison result shows that discrepancies between the virtual bolus plan and printed bolus plan are negligible. (0.3% maximum dose difference and 0.2% mean dose difference). The dose distribution is evaluated with gamma method (2%, 2 mm) at the center of GTV and the passing rate was 99.6%. The OSLD measurement shows 0.3% to 2.1% higher than expected dose at patient treatment lesion. In this study, we treated Mycosis fungoides patient with patient specific bolus using 3D printing technique. The accuracy of treatment plan was verified by pretreatment QA and in-vivo dosimetry. The QA results and 4 month follow up result shows the radiation treatment using 3D printing bolus is feasible to treat irregular patient skin.

• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.122-130
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• 1995

In order to evaluate the cytotoxicity of lead in cultures of Balb/c mouse 3T3 cell line, various cytotoxic assays were carried out after expose cells to various concentrations of lead nitrate. Cytotoxic assays using this study were included NR assay, MTT assay, measurement of LDH and protein, synthetic rate of DNA and UDS. Intrace!!ular Ca$^{2+}$ level was also measured. Light and electron microscopic studies were done for morphological changes of lead-treated cell cultures. The results were as follows; 1. The absorbances of NR and MTT were decreased dose-dependently, and NR, and MTT, values of lead nitrate were 3.4 mM and 1.5 mM, respectively. 2. Amount of LDH released into the medium was increased in dose-dependently and LDH activity at 5 mM concentration of lead nitrate was increased to 335 % of control. 3. Amount of total protein was decreased dose-dependently, and which was half of control at 2 mM concentration of lead nitrate. 4. The synthetic rate of DNA was decreased dose-dependently, and also which was remarkably decreased at 3 mM and 5 mM concentrations of lead nitrate. 5. The synthetic rate of UDS was increased at 1 mM concentration of lead nitrate, but which was remarkably decreased at 3 mM and 5 mM concentrations of lead nitrate. 6. Intrace!lular Ca$^{2+}$ level was remarkably increased at 1 mM concentration of lead nitrate, compared with control. 7. In light microscopy, number of cells and processes were decreased according to the increase of dosage of lead nitrate. Electron microscopic findings showed that many vacuoles and cisternal dilatation of rough endoplasmic reticulum were seen in the cytoplasm at 1 mM concentration of lead nittale. From the above results, high dosage treatment of lead nitrate (>3 mM) damaged genetic malerials and it also showed cytotoxicity in mouse 3T3 cell line cultures by injury of cell organelles and Ca$^{2+}$ channel.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.8
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• pp.2935-2940
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• 2023

A polystyrene phantom was developed following the guidance of the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) for gamma knife (GK) quality assurance. Its performance was assessed by measuring the absorbed dose rate to water and dose distributions. The phantom was made of polystyrene, which has an electron density (1.0156) similar to that of water. The phantom included one outer phantom and four inner phantoms. Two inner phantoms held PTW T31010 and Exradin A16 ion chambers. One inner phantom held a film in the XY plane of the Leksell coordinate system, and another inner phantom held a film in the YZ or ZX planes. The absorbed dose rate to water and beam profiles of the machine-specific reference (msr) field, namely, the 16 mm collimator field of a GK Perfexion^TM or Icon^TM, were measured at seven GK sites. The measured results were compared to those of an IAEA-recommended solid water (SW) phantom. The radius of the polystyrene phantom was determined to be 7.88 cm by converting the electron density of the plastic, considering a water depth of 8 g/cm². The absorbed dose rates to water measured in both phantoms differed from the treatment planning program by less than 1.1%. Before msr correction, the PTW T31010 dose rates (PTW Freiberg GmbH, New York, NY, USA) in the polystyrene phantom were 0.70 (0.29)% higher on average than those in the SW phantom. The Exradin A16 (Standard Imaging, Middleton, WI, USA) dose rates were 0.76 (0.32)% higher in the polystyrene phantom. After msr correction factors were applied, there were no statistically significant differences in the A16 dose rates measured in the two phantoms; however, the T31010 dose rates were 0.72 (0.29)% higher in the polystyrene phantom. When the full widths at half maximum and penumbras of the msr field were compared, no significant differences between the two phantoms were observed, except for the penumbra in the Y-axis. However, the difference in the penumbra was smaller than variations among different sites. A polystyrene phantom developed for gamma knife dosimetry showed dosimetric performance comparable to that of a commercial SW phantom. In addition to its cost effectiveness, the polystyrene phantom removes air space around the detector. Additional simulations of the msr correction factors of the polystyrene phantom should be performed.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.41-54
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• 1996

The secondary electrons developed by interaction between primary beam and a tray mounted for blocks in Megavoltage irradiation result in excess soft radiation dose to the surface layer. To reduce this electron contamination, electron filters have been used to be attached under a tray. Various filters with Cu and Al plates in six different thickness and Cu/Al combined plates in 3 different thickness were tested to measure the reduction rate of secondary electron contamination to the surface layer. The measurement to find optimal filter was performed on 6MV linear accelerator in $10 cm{\times}10 cm$ field size and fixed 78.5cm source to measurement points distance from surface to maximum build up point in 2mm intervals. The result was analyzed as the ratio of measured doses with using filters, to standard doses of measured open beam. The result of this study was fellowing : 1. The contaminated low energy radiation were mainly produced by blocking tray. 2. The surface absorbed dose was slowly increased by increasing irradiation field size but rapidly increased at field size above $15cm{\times}15cm$. 3. Al plate upto 2.5mm thickness used as a filter was found to be inadequate due to the failure of reduction of the surface absorbed dose below doses of the under surface upto the maximal build up. Cu 0.5mm plate and Cu 0.28mm/A1 1.5mm compound plate were found to be optimal filters. 4. By using these 2 filters, the absorbed dose to the surface were effectively reduced $5.5\%$ in field size $4cm{\times}4cm,\;11.3\%$ in field size $10cm{\times}10cm,\;22.3\%$ in field size $25cm{\times}25cm$. 5. In field size $10cm{\times}10cm$, the absorbed dose to the surface of irradiation was reduced by setting TSD 20cm at least,. but effective and enough dose reduction could be achieved by setting TSD 30cm as 2 optimal filters used. 6. More surface dose absorbed at TSD less than 7.4cm with a tray and filters together indicated that soft radiation was also developed by filters. 7. The variation of PDD by the different size of irradiation field was minimal as 2 optimal filters used. There was also not different in variation of PDD according to using any of two different filters. 8. PDD was not effected either by various TSD or by using the different filter among two.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.137-147
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• 1988

This study was designed to investigate the effects of irradiation on the salivary ductal cells, especially on the intercalated ductal cells of the rat parotid glands. For this study, 36 Sprague-Dawley strain rats were irradiated on the head and neck region with absorbed dose of 15Gy by Co-60 teletherapy unit, Picker's model 4M60. The conditions irradiated were that field size, SSD, dose rate and depth were 12×5㎝m, 50㎝, 222 Gy/min. and 1㎝. respectively. The experimental animals were sacrificed 1, 2, 3, 6, 12 hours and 1, 3, 7 days after the irradiation and the changes of the irradiated intercalated duct cells of the parotid glands were examined under the light and electron microscope. The results were as follows: 1. Under the light and electron microscope, the nucleus, mitochondria and secretory granules showed severe changes in the early stage after irradiation and the most severe cellular de- generations were observed 2 hours after irradiation, but the repair processes began from 6 hours after irradiation. 2. Under the electron microscope, loss of the nuclear membranes, derrangement of the chromosomes, swelling and destruction of the secretory granules, and widening of the intercellular spaces were observed after irradiation. 3. Under the light microscope, atrophy and irregular proliferation of the ductal cells, cuboidal metaplasia, hyperchromatism, and the construction or obstruction of the lumen were observed after irradiation.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.147-155
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• 2000

Patient dose verification is one of the most important parts in quality assurance of the treatment delivery for radiation therapy. The dose distributions may be meaningfully improved by modulating two dimensional intensity profile of the individual high energy radiation beams In this study, a new method is presented for the pre-treatment dosimetric verification of these two dimensional distributions of beam intensity by means of a charge coupled device video camera-based fluoroscopic device (henceforth called as CCD-VCFD) as a radiation detecter with a custom-made software for dose calculation from fluorescence signals. This system of dosimeter (CCD-VCFD) could reproduce three dimensional (3D) relative dose distribution from the digitized fluoroscopic signals for small (1.0$\times$1.0 cm$^2$ square, ø 1.0 cm circular ) and large (30$\times$30cm$^2$) field sizes used in intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). For the small beam sizes of photon and electron, the calculations are performed In absolute beam fluence profiles which are usually used for calculation of the patient dose distribution. The good linearity with respect to the absorbed dose, independence of dose rate, and three dimensional profiles of small beams using the CCD-VCFD were demonstrated by relative measurements in high energy Photon (15 MV) and electron (9 MeV) beams. These measurements of beam profiles with CCD-VCFD show good agreement with those with other dosimeters such as utramicro-cylindrical (UC) ionization chamber and radiographic film. The study of the radiation dosimetric technique using CCD-VCFD may provide a fast and accurate pre-treatment verification tool for the small beam used in stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and can be used for verification of dose distribution from dynamic multi-leaf collimation system (DMLC).

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.41-45
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• 1983

To obtain 7 MeV electron beam which is suitable for treatment of the chest wall after radical of modified radical mastectomy, the authors reduced the energy of electron beam by means by Lucite plate inserted in the beam. To determine the proper thickness of the Lucite plate necessary to reduce the energy of 9 MeV electron beam to 6 MeV, dosimetry was made by using a parallel plate ionization chamber in polystyrene phantom. Separation between two adjacent fields, 7 MeV for chest wall and 12 MeV for internal mammary region, was studied by means of film dosimetry in both polytyrene phantom and Humanoid phantom. The results were as follows. 1. The average energy of 9 MeV electron beam transmitted through the Lucite plate was reduced. Reduction was proportional to the thickness of the Lucite plate in the rate of 1.7 MeV/cm. 2. The proper thickness of the Lucite plate necessary to obtain 6 MeV electron beam from 9 MeV was 1.2 cm. 3. 7 MeV electron beam, 80% dose at 2cm depth, is adequate for treatment of the chest wall. 4. Proper separation between two adjacent electron fields, 7 MeV and 12 MeV, was 5mm on both flat surface and sloping surface to produce uniform dose distribution.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.25-30
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• 2016

The dosimetric characteristics were experimentally evaluated for electron beams from the prototype linac developed for radiotherapy units. This paper focuses on the electron beam output and energy variations as a function of electron gun heater current. The electron energy was derived from its mean and most probable energies measured by film dosimetry. The electron beam output at the maximum electron energy was measured with the plane parallel ionization chamber in water using TRS-398 dosimetry protocol. The mean energy and the most probable energy of the electron beam were 6.54~3.31 MeV and 5.94~2.80 MeV at electron gun current of 2.02~2.50 A respectively. The output dose rate for an electron beam of mean energy 6.54 MeV was 5.41 Gy/min ${\pm}1.5%$ at the reference depth in water.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.457-466
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• 2014

During irradiation of lesions in cancer treatment with high energy electrons, normal tissue and critical organs are protected by the shielding material. Scattered radiation that generated the shielding materials affect the depth dose and atomic number. Therefore, we want to examine secondary particles and the scattered photons through calculation and its associated analysis, and compare the measurement for the aluminum, copper, and lead shielding substance of which thickness has 95% charge reduction. Dose change rate which effected scattering radiation was found to be +0.88% for material thickness, +0.43% for atomic number, and +19.70%, +15.20%, +12.40% for measurement, +25.00%, +15.10%, +13.70% for calculation on the aluminum, copper, and lead materials of which thickness has 95% charge reduction, respectively, As a result, we found that scattering rate was dependent on thickness than atomic number. In the dose increasing rate, scattered electrons are more important than scattered photon. For the above mentioned reasons, I think that high atomic number materials should be applied to reduce scattered radiation that generated with thickness effect.