• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.226-232
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• 2007

We studied a Monte Carlo simulation of the proton beam delivery system at the National Cancer Center (NCC) using the Geant4 Monte Carlo toolkit and tested its feasibility as a dose verification framework. The Monte Carlo technique for dose calculation methodology has been recognized as the most accurate way for understanding the dose distribution in given materials. In order to take advantage of this methodology for application to external-beam radiotherapy, a precise modeling of the nozzle elements along with the beam delivery path and correct initial beam characteristics are mandatory. Among three different treatment modes, double/single-scattering, uniform scanning and pencil beam scanning, we have modeled and simulated the double-scattering mode for the nozzle elements, including all components and varying the time and space with the Geant4.8.2 Monte Carlo code. We have obtained simulation data that showed an excellent correlation to the measured dose distributions at a specific treatment depth. We successfully set up the Monte Carlo simulation platform for the NCC proton therapy facility. It can be adapted to the precise dosimetry for therapeutic proton beam use at the NCC. Additional Monte Carlo work for the full proton beam energy range can be performed.

• 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.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.11
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• pp.4209-4214
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• 2022

Precise modelling of the interaction of ions with materials is important for many applications including material characterization, ion implantation in devices, thermonuclear fusion, hadron therapy, secondary particle production (e.g. neutron), etc. In this study, a new approach using the Geant4 toolkit in combination with the Bayesian regularization (BR) learning algorithm of the feed-forward neural network (FFNN) is developed to estimate the range of ions in materials accurately and quickly. The different incident ions at different energies are interacted with the target materials. The Geant4 is utilized to model the interactions and to calculate the range of the ions. Afterward, the appropriate architecture of the FFNN-BR with the relevant input features is utilized to learn the modelled ranges and to estimate the new ranges for the new cases. The notable achievements of the proposed approach are: 1- The range of ions in different materials is given as quickly as possible and the time required for estimating the ranges can be neglected (i.e. less than 0.01 s by a typical personal computer). 2- The proposed approach can generalize its ability for estimating the new untrained cases. 3- There is no need for a pre-made lookup table for the estimation of the range values.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.85-91
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• 2011

The energy spectra for electron beam of medical linear accelerator were calculated using a GEANT4 Medical Linac 2 example code. The incident electron mean energy were 6, 9, 12, 16, 20 MeV. This code was designed to calculate electron beam energy spectra according to material, thickness and location of electron scattering foil affecting electron beam characteristic. Lead, Copper, Aluminum and Gold were used for scattering foil. The energy distribution for electron and photon were analyzed by changing position of scattering foil in the head of linear accelerator. The effect of electron scattering foil on energy spectra which is basic data of simulation for medical linear accelerator were presented. The calculated results would be used in design of medical accelerator head.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2008

Technisium $(^{99m}Tc)$ is one of the most widely used radioactive isotopes for diagnosis in nuclear medicine. In general, technisium is produced inside the so called $^{99m}Tc$ generator which is usually made out of lead to shield relatively high energy radiation from $^{99}Mo$ and its daughter nuclide $^{99m}Tc$. In this paper, a GEANT4 simulation is carried out to test the safety of the $^{99m}Tc$ generator, taking the Daiichi product with radioactivity of 500 mCi as an example. According to the domestic regulation on radiation safety, the dose at 10 cm and 100 cm away from the surface of shielding container should not exceed 2.0 mSv/h and 0.02 mSv/h, respectively. The simulated dose turned out to be less than the limit, satisfying the domestic regulation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.637-643
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• 2019

To verify internal movements of the body, a DICOM file obtained from CT and a Geant4 code were used to simulate lung cancer patients. In addition, the method is applied to measure the movement of tumor when the movement of t he tumor is located inhale and exhale by creating a virtual tumor in the self-produced moving phantom, and to check the distribution of dose in the treatment plan and the accuracy of tumor in PTV for respiratory and lung cancer patients. It was confirmed that 97% or more respiratory control radiation therapy was effective even if the moving area was more than 3cm, in the 40% to 70% range. Dose distribution with respiratory radiation therapy applied to moving targets, measured by film in the actuation phantom, was shown to be within a 3mm margin of error for dose distribution containing 90%. It was confirmed that for actual patient breathing curves, the treatment time may be shorter than that due to the longer expiratory time.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.192-200
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• 2010

Cyberknife with small field size is more difficult and complex for dosimetry compared with conventional radiotherapy due to electronic disequilibrium, steep dose gradients and spectrum change of photons and electrons. The purpose of this study demonstrate the usefulness of Geant4 as verification tool of measurement dose for delivering accurate dose by comparing measurement data using the diode detector with results by Geant4 simulation. The development of Monte Carlo Model for Cyberknife was done through the two-step process. In the first step, the treatment head was simulated and Bremsstrahlung spectrum was calculated. Secondly, percent depth dose (PDD) was calculated for six cones with different size, i.e., 5 mm, 10 mm, 20 mm, 30 mm, 50 mm and 60 mm in the model of water phantom. The relative output factor was calculated about 12 fields from 5 mm to 60 mm and then it compared with measurement data by the diode detector. The beam profiles and depth profiles were calculated about different six cones and about each depth of 1.5 cm, 10 cm and 20 cm, respectively. The results about PDD were shown the error the less than 2% which means acceptable in clinical setting. For comparison of relative output factors, the difference was less than 3% in the cones lager than 7.5 mm. However, there was the difference of 6.91% in the 5 mm cone. Although beam profiles were shown the difference less than 2% in the cones larger than 20 mm, there was the error less than 3.5% in the cones smaller than 20 mm. From results, we could demonstrate the usefulness of Geant4 as dose verification tool.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.215-219
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• 2011

Monte Carlo simulation was performed to investigate optimal system of proton computed tomography and to avoid the errors by using data from X ray computed tomography in proton therapy. The informations from two DSSDs to measure position and LYSO scintillation detector to measure the residual energy of proton particle in GEANT4 were used for reconstruction computed tomography.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.795-798
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• 2016

Transmission X-ray tubes based on carbon nanotube have attracted significant attention recently. In most of these tubes, tungsten is used as the target material. In this article, the well-known simulator Geant4 was used to obtain some of the tungsten target parameters. The optimal thickness for maximum production of usable X-rays when the target is exposed to electron beams of different energies was obtained. The linear variation of optimal thickness of the target for different electron energies was also obtained. The data obtained in this study can be used to design X-ray tubes. A beryllium window was considered for the X-ray tube. The X-ray energy spectra at the moment of production and after passing through the target and window for different electron energies in the 30-110 keV range were also obtained. The results obtained show that with a specific thickness, the target material itself can act as filter, which enables generation of X-rays with a limited energy.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.10
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• pp.3158-3163
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• 2021

Chromium material is commonly used for fusion plasma facing applications because of the low neutron activation property. The Monte Carlo method is one of the useful ways to investigate the ion-target interactions. In this study, Chromium target irradiated by protons was investigated using Monte Carlo based simulation tools. In this context, the calculations of radiation damage on Chromium material irradiated with protons at 17.9 and 22.3 MeV energies were carried out using GEANT4 and SRIM codes. Besides, the cross sections for proton interaction with Chromium target were calculated by the TALYS 1.9 code using CTM + FGM, BSFGM, and GSFM level densities. As a result, GEANT4, SRIM and TALYS 1.9 codes provide a suitable tool for the predictions of radiation damage and cross cross section with proton irradiation.