• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.121-122
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• 2002

The main principle of radiation therapy is to deliver optimum dose to tumor to increase tumor cure probability while minimizing dose to critical normal structure to reduce complications. RTP system is required for proper dose plan in radiation therapy treatment. The main goal of this research is to develop dose model for photon, electron, and brachytherapy, and to display dose distribution on patient images with optimum process. The main items developed in this research includes: (l) user requirements and quality control; analysis of user requirement in RTP, networking between RTP and relevant equipment, quality control using phantom for clinical application (2) dose model in RTP; photon, electron, brachytherapy, modifying dose model (3) image processing and 3D visualization; 2D image processing, auto contouring, image reconstruction, 3D visualization (4) object modeling and graphic user interface; development of total software structure, step-by-step planning procedure, window design and user-interface. Our final product show strong capability for routine and advance RTP planning.

• International Journal of Contents
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.52-59
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• 2012

This study uses digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) files acquired after CT scan to obtain the absorbed dose distribution inside the body by using the patient's actual anatomical data; uses geometry and tracking (Geant)4 as a way to obtain the accurate absorbed dose distribution inside the body. This method is easier to establish the radioprotection plan through estimating the absorbed dose distribution inside the body compared to the evaluation of absorbed dose using thermo-luminescence dosimeter (TLD) with inferior reliability and accuracy because many variables act on result values with respect to the evaluation of the patient's absorbed dose distribution in diagnostic imaging and the evaluation of absorbed dose using phantom; can contribute to improving reliability accuracy and reproducibility; it makes significance in that it can implement the actual patient's absorbed dose distribution, not just mere estimation using mathematical phantom or humanoid phantom. When comparing the absorbed dose in polymethly methacrylate (PMMA) phantom measured in metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) dosimeter for verification of Geant4 and the result of Geant4 simulation, there was $0.46{\pm}4.69%$ ($15{\times}15cm^2$), and $-0.75{\pm}5.19%$ ($20{\times}20cm^2$) difference according to the depth. This study, through the simulation by means of Geant4, suggests a new way to calculate the actual dose of radiation exposure of patients through DICOM interface.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.107-112
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• 2007

Purpose: The pelvic phantom was fabricated in the following purposes: (1) Dose verification of IMRT plan using Eclipse planning computer, (2) to study the interface effect at the interface between rectal wall and air. The TLD can be inserted in the pelvic phantom to confirm the dose distribution as well as uncertainty at the interface. Materials and Methods: A pelvic phantom with the dimension of 30 cm diameter, 20 cm height and 20 cm thickness was fabricated to investigate the dose at the rectal wall. The phantom was filled with water and has many features like bladder, rectum, and prostate and seminal vesicle (SV). The rectum is made of 3 cm-dimater plastic pipe, and it cab be blocked by using a plug, and film can be inserted around the rectal wall. The phantom was scanned with Philips Brillance scanner and various organs such as prostate, SV, and rectal wall, and bladder wall were delineated. The treatment parameters used in this study are the same as those used in the protocols in the SNUH. TLD chips are inserted to the phantom to evaluate the dose distribution to the rectal wall (to simulate high dose gradient region), bladder wall and SV (to simulate the high dose region) and 2 spots in anterior surface (to simulate the low dose region). The TLD readings are compared with those of the planning computer (ECLIPSE, Varian, USA). Results: The target TLD doses represented as the prostate and SV show excellent agreements with the doses from the RTP within +/-3%. The rectal wall doses measured at the rectal wall are different from the those of the RTP by -11%. This is in literatures called as an interface effect. The underdosages at the rectal wall is independent of 3 heterogeneity correction algorithm in the Eclipse RTP. Also the low dose regions s represented as surface in this study were within +/-1%. Conclusion: The RTP estimate the dosage very accurately withihn +/-3% in the high dose (SV, or prostate) and low dose region (surface). However, the dosage at the rectal wall differed by as much as 11% (In literatures, the underdosage of 9$\sim$15% were reported). This range of errors occurs at the interface, for example, at the interface between lung and chest wall, or vocal cord. This interface effect is very important in clinical situations, for example, to estimate the NTCP (normal tissue complication probability) and to estimate the limitations of the current RTP system. Monte-carlo-based RTP will handle this issue correctly.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.151-159
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• 2021

Background: Computed tomography (CT) is one of the crucial diagnostic tools in modern medicine. However, careful monitoring of radiation dose for CT patients is essential since the procedure involves ionizing radiation, a known carcinogen. Materials and Methods: The most desirable CT dose descriptor for risk analysis is the organ absorbed dose. A variety of CT organ dose calculators currently available were reviewed in this article. Results and Discussion: Key common elements included in CT dose calculators were discussed and compared, such as computational human phantoms, CT scanner models, organ dose database, effective dose calculation methods, tube current modulation modeling, and user interface platforms. Conclusion: It is envisioned that more research needs to be conducted to more accurately map CT coverage on computational human phantoms, to automatically segment organs and tissues for patient-specific dose calculations, and to accurately estimate radiation dose in the cone beam computed tomography process during image-guided radiation therapy.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.397-402
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• 1995

Purpose : To determine the perturbation effect in the tissue downstream from surface layers of lesions located in the air/tumor-tissue interface of larynx using 6MV photon beam. Materials and Methods : Thermoluminescent dosimeters(TLDs), were embedded at 3 measurement locations in slab no. 7 of a humanoid phantom and exposed to forward and backward direction using various field sizes($4{\times}4cm^2\;-\;15{\times}15cm^2$). Results : At the air/tissue interface, forward dose perturbation factor(FDPF) is about 1.085 with $4{\times}4cm^2,\;1.05\;with\;7{\times}7cm^2,\;1.048\;with\;10{\times}10cm^2$ and $1.041\;with\;15{\times}15cm^2$. Backscatter dose perturbation factor(BDPF) is about 0.99 with $4{\times}4cm^2$, 0.981 with $7{\times}7cm^2$, 0.956 with $10{\times}10cm^2$ and 0.97 with $15{\times}15cm^2$. Conclusion : FDPF is greater as field size is smaller. And FDPF is smaller as the distance is further from the air/tissue interface.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2008

Purpose: For head and neck cancer patients treated with radiation therapy, proper immobilization of intra-oral structures is crucial in reproducing treatment positions and optimizing dose distribution. We produced a man-made tongue immobilization device for each patient subjected to this study. Reproducibility of treatment positions and dose distributions at air-and-tissue interface were compared using man-made tongue immobilization devices and conventional tongue-bites. Materials and Methods: Dental alginate and putty were used in producing man-made tongue immobilization devices. In order to evaluate reproducibility of treatment positions, all patients were CT-simulated, and linac-gram was repeated 5 times with each patient in the treatment position. An acrylic phantom was devised in order to evaluate safety of man-made tongue immobilization devices. Air, water, alginate and putty were placed in the phantom and dose distributions at air-and-tissue interface were calculated using Pinnacle (version 7.6c, Phillips, USA) and measured with EBT film. Two different field sizes (3$\times$3 cm and 5$\times$5 cm) were used for comparison. Results: Evaluation of linac grams showed reproducibility of a treatment position was 4 times more accurate with man-made tongue immobilization devices compared with conventional tongue bites. Patients felt more comfortable using customized tongue immobilization devices during radiation treatment. Air-and-tissue interface dose distributions calculated using Pinnacle were 7.78% and 0.56% for 3$\times$3 cm field and 5$\times$5 cm field respectively. Dose distributions measured with EBT (international specialty products, USA) film were 36.5% and 11.8% for 3$\times$3 cm field and 5$\times$5 cm field respectively. Values from EBT film were higher. Conclusion: Using man-made tongue immobilization devices made of dental alginate and putty in treatment of head and neck cancer patients showed higher reproducibility of treatment position compared with using conventional mouth pieces. Man-made immobilization devices can help optimizing air-and-tissue interface dose distributions and compensating limited accuracy of radiotherapy planning systems in calculating air-tissue interface dose distributions.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.277-283
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• 1995

Purpose : This study was performed to measure dose alteration at the air-tissue interface resulting from rebuild-up to the loss of charged particle equilibrium in the tissues around the air-tissue interfaces. Materials and Methods : The 6 and 10-MV photon beam in dual energy linear accelerator were used to measure the surface dose at the air-tissue interface The polystyrene phantom sized $25{\times}25{\times}5\;cm^3$ and a water phantom sized $29{\times}29{\times}48\;cm^3$ which incorporates a parallel-plate ionization chamber in the distal side of air gap were used in this study. The treatment field sizes were $5{\times}5\;cm^2,\;10{\times}10\;cm^2\;and\;20{\times}20\;cm^2$. Air cavity thickness was variable from 10 mm to 50 mm. The observed-expected ratio (OER) was defined as the ratio of dose measured at the distal junction that is air-tissue interface to the dose measured at the same point in a homogeneous phantom. Results : In this experiment, the result of OER was close or slightly over than 1.0 for the large field size but much less (about 0.565) than 1.0 for the small field size in both photon energy. The factors to affect the dose distribution at the air-tissue interface were the field size, the thickness of air cavity. and the photon energy. Conclusion : Thus, the radiation oncologist should take into account dose reduction at the air-tissue interface when planning the head and neck cancer especially pharynx and laryngeal lesions, because the dose can be less nearly $29{\%}$ than predicted value.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.69-77
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• 1998

When a high energy photon beam is used to treat lesions located in the upper respiratory air passages or in maxillary sinus, the beams often must traverse an air cavity before it reaches the lesion. Because of this traversal of air, it is not clear that the surface layers of the lesion forming the air-tumor tissue interface will be in a state of near electronic equilibrium; if they are not, underdosing of these layers could result. Although dose corrections at large distances beyond an air cavity are accountable by attenuation differences, perturbations at air-tissue interfaces are complex to measure or calculate. This problem has been investigated for 4MV and 10MV X-ray beams which are becoming widely available for radiotherapy with linear accelerator. Markus chamber was used for measurement with variouse air cavity geometries in X-ray beams. Underdosing effects occur at both the distal and proximal air cavity interface. The magnitude depended on geometry, energy, field sizes and distance from the air-tissue interfaces. As the cavity thickness increased, the central axis dose at the distal interface decreased. Increasing field size remedied the underdosing, as did the introduction of lateral walls. Fellowing a $20{\times}2{\times}2\;cm^3$\;air\;cavity,\;4{\times}4\;cm\;field\;there\;was\;an\;11.5\%\;and\;13\%\;underdose\;at\;the\;distal\;interface,\;while\;a\;20{\times}20{\times}2\;cm^3\;air\;cavity\;yielded\;a\;24\%\;and\;29\%$ loss for the 4MV and 10MV beams, respectively. The losses were slightly larger for the 10MV beams. The measurements reported here can be used to guide the development of new calculation models under non-equilibrium conditions. This situation is of clinical concern when lesions such as larynx and maxillary carcinoma beyond air cavities are irradiated.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.234-238
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• 2012

A tumor on the eyelid is often treated using a high-energy electron beam, with a metallic eye shield inserted between the eyelid and the eyeball to preserve the patient's sight. Pretreatment quality assurance of the inner eyelid dose on the metallic shield requires a very small dosimetry tool. For enhanced accuracy, a flexible device fitting the curved interface between the eyelid and the shield is also required. The radiochromic film is the best candidate for this device. To measure the doses along the curved interface and small area, a 3-mm-wide strip of EBT2 film was inserted between the phantom eyelid and the shield. After irradiation with 6 MeV electron beams, the film was evaluated for the dose profile. An acrylic eye shield of the same size as the real eye shield was machined, and CT images free from metal artifacts were obtained. Monte Carlo simulation was performed on the CT images, taking into account eye shield material, such as tungsten, aluminum, and steel. The film-based interface dose distribution agreed with the MC calculation within 2.1%. In the small (millimeter scale) and curved region, radiochromic film dosimetry promises a satisfactory result with easy handling.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2024

Exponential growth has been observed in nuclear medicine procedures worldwide in the past decades. The considerable increase is attributed to the advance of positron emission tomography and single photon emission computed tomography, as well as the introduction of new radiopharmaceuticals. Although nuclear medicine procedures provide undisputable diagnostic and therapeutic benefits to patients, the substantial increase in radiation exposure to nuclear medicine patients raises concerns about potential adverse health effects and calls for the urgent need to monitor exposure levels. In the current article, model-based internal dosimetry methods were reviewed, focusing on Medical Internal Radiation Dose (MIRD) formalism, biokinetic data, human anatomy models (stylized, voxel, and hybrid computational human phantoms), and energy spectrum data of radionuclides. Key results from many articles on nuclear medicine dosimetry and comparisons of dosimetry quantities based on different types of human anatomy models were summarized. Key characteristics of seven model-based dose calculation tools were tabulated and discussed, including dose quantities, computational human phantoms used for dose calculations, decay data for radionuclides, biokinetic data, and user interface. Lastly, future research needs in nuclear medicine dosimetry were discussed. Model-based internal dosimetry methods were reviewed focusing on MIRD formalism, biokinetic data, human anatomy models, and energy spectrum data of radionuclides. Future research should focus on updating biokinetic data, revising energy transfer quantities for alimentary and gastrointestinal tracts, accounting for body size in nuclear medicine dosimetry, and recalculating dose coefficients based on the latest biokinetic and energy transfer data.