• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.2 no.3
• /
• pp.228-238
• /
• 1992

An investigation on the step-coverage of PECVD and $O_3$ ThCVD oxides was undertaken to implement into the void-free inter metal dielectric planarization using multi-chamber system for the submicron double level metallization. At various initial aspect ratios the instantaneous aspect ratios were measured through modelling and experiment by depositing the oxides up to $0.9{\mu}m$ in thickness in order to monitor the onset of void formation. The modelling was found to be in a good agreement with the observed instantaneous aspect ratio of TEOS-based PECVD oxide whose re-entrant angle was less than $5^{\circ}$. It is demonstrated that either keeping the instantaneous aspect ratio of PECVD oxide as a first layer less than a factor of 0.8 or employing Ar sputter etch to create sloped oxide edge ensures the void-free planarization after$O_3$ ThCVD oxide deposition whose step-coverage is superior to PECVD oxide. It has been observed that $O_3$ ThCVD oxide etchback scheme has shown higher yield of via contact chain than non etchback process, with resistance per via contact of $0.1~0.3{\Omega}/{\mu}m^2$.

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.220-223
• /
• 2016

Generally, it is recommended that the dosimetric effect of carbon fiber couch should be considered especially for an intensity-modulated therapy with a large portion of monitor units from posterior angles. Even a flattening filter free (FFF) beam has been used for stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), the effect of carbon fiber couch for FFF beam is not well known. This work is an effort to evaluate the dosimetric effect of carbon fiber couch for flattened and FFF beam of Elekta linac empirically. The absorbed doses were measured with Farmer type chamber and water-equivalent phantoms with and without couch. And differences of the absorbed doses between with and without couch defined as "couch effect". By comparing calculated dose in treatment planning system (TPS) with measured dose, the optimal density of couch was evaluated. Finally, differences on patient's skin dose and target dose by couch were evaluated in TPS. As a result, the couch effect for 6 and 10 MV flattened beam were -2.71% and -2.32%, respectively. These values were agreed with provided data by vendor within 0.5%. The couch effect for 6 and 10 MV FFF beam were -3.75% and -2.80%, respectively. The patient's skin dose was increased as 18.6% and target dose was decreased as 0.87%, respectively. It was realized that the couch effect of FFF beam was more severe than that of flattened beam. Patient's skin dose and target dose were changed by the couch effect.

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.59-65
• /
• 2018

This paper describes the clinical use of the dose verification of multileaf collimator (MLC)-based CyberKnife plans by combining the Octavius 1000SRS detector and water-equivalent RW3 slab phantom. The slab phantom consists of 14 plates, each with a thickness of 10 mm. One plate was modified to support tracking by inserting 14 custom-made fiducials on surface holes positioned at the outer region of $10{\times}10cm^2$. The fiducial-inserted plate was placed on the 1000SRS detector and three plates were additionally stacked up to build the reference depth. Below the detector, 10 plates were placed to avoid longer delivery times caused by proximity detection program alerts. The cross-calibration factor prior to phantom delivery was obtained by performing with 200 monitor units (MU) on the field size of $95{\times}92.5mm^2$. After irradiation, the measured dose distribution of the coronal plane was compared with the dose distribution calculated by the MultiPlan treatment planning system. The results were assessed by comparing the absolute dose at the center point of 1000SRS and the 3-D Gamma (${\gamma}$) index using 220 patient-specific quality assurance (QA). The discrepancy between measured and calculated doses at the center point of 1000SRS detector ranged from -3.9% to 8.2%. In the dosimetric comparison using 3-D ${\gamma}$-function (3%/3 mm criteria), the mean passing rates with ${\gamma}$-parameter ${\leq}1$ were $97.4%{\pm}2.4%$. The combination of the 1000SRS detector and RW3 slab phantom can be utilized for dosimetry validation of patient-specific QA in the CyberKnife MLC system, which made it possible to measure absolute dose distributions regardless of tracking mode.

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.92-100
• /
• 2018

The manufacturer of a linear accelerator (LINAC) has reported that the target melting phenomenon could be caused by a non-recommended output setting and the excessive use of monitor unit (MU) with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Due to these reasons, we observed an unexpected beam interruption during the treatment of a patient in our institution. The target status was inspected and a replacement of the target was determined. After the target replacement, the beam profile was adjusted to the machine commissioning beam data, and the absolute doses-to-water for 6 MV and 10 MV photon beams were calibrated according to American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Task Group (TG)-51 protocol. To verify the beam data after target replacement, the beam flatness, symmetry, output factor, and percent depth dose (PDD) were measured and compared with the commissioning data. The difference between the referenced and measured data for flatness and symmetry exhibited a coincidence within 0.3% for both 6 MV and 10 MV, and the difference of the PDD at 10 cm depth ($PDD_{10}$) was also within 0.3% for both photon energies. Also, patient-specific quality assurances (QAs) were performed with gamma analysis using a 2-D diode and ion chamber array detector for eight patients. The average gamma passing rates for all patients for the relative dose distribution was $99.1%{\pm}1.0%$, and those for absolute dose distribution was $97.2%{\pm}2.7%$, which means the gamma analysis results were all clinically acceptable. In this study, we recommend that the beam characteristics, such as beam profile, depth dose, and output factors, should be examined. Further, patient-specific QAs should be performed to verify the changes in the overall beam delivery system when a target replacement is inevitable; although it is more important to check the beam output in a daily routine.

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.1-5
• /
• 2015

The C-band compact linear accelerator (linac) is being developed at Dongnam Institute of radiological & Medical Sciences (DIRAMS) for medical and industrial applications. This paper was focused on the output measurement of the electron beam generated from the prototype electron linac. The dose rate was measured in unit of cGy/min per unit pulse frequency according to the IAEA TRS-398 protocol. Exradin-A10 Markus type plane parallel chamber used for the measurement was calibrated in terms of dose to water at the reference depth in water. The beam quality index ($R_{50}$) was determined by the radiochromic film with a solid water phantom approximately due to low energy electrons. As a result, the determined electron beam output was $17.0cGy/(min{\cdot}Hz$. The results were used to monitor the accelerator performance during the development procedure.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.54-60
• /
• 1995

Medical Internal Radiation Dose(MIRD) schema was developed for calculating the absorbed dose from the administered radiopharmaceuticals. With the biological distribution data and the physical properties of the radionuclide we can estimate the absorbed dose by the MIRD schema. For the thyroid cancer patients received $^{131}I$ therapy, the absorbed dose to the bone marrow is the limiting factor to the administered dose, and the duration of admission is deter-mined by the retained activity in the whole body. To monitor the whole body radioactivity, we used Eberline Smart 200 system using ionization chamber as a detector. With the time activity curve of the whole body, total body residence time was obtained. From the ICRP publication 53, the residence times of the source organs, such as kidney, urinary bladder content and stomach, were used to calculate the absorbed doses of the target organs, such as stomach, red marrow, bladder wall and remaineder total body. In 8 thyroid cancer patients with 175 mci of $^{131}I$ administered orally, the mean absorbed dose in the bladder wall was 375.1, in the stomach 285.1, red marrow 25.4 and total body 22.4 rad respectively. For the monitoring of the large administered activity, this method seemed to be quite useful.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.196-201
• /
• 2011

Emission from meat cooking may contribute to the concentration of the Particulate Matters(PM) in the city. This study is to investigate the particle size and the emission characteristics of particulate matters from pork and beef cooking. The chamber was installed for sampling of PM generated from pork belly and beef sirloin cooking including seasoned ones. Cascade Impactor and Portable Aerosol Monitor (PAM) were used to analyse the particle size distribution. At the result of the Cascade Impactor sampling, particulate matters from the pork cooking was higher than that of beef. The gravimetric concentration of PM according to the size was highest at the range of $1.95{\sim}3.2{\mu}m$ and the gravimetric concentration of PM from the non-seasoned meat was higher than that of the seasoned one. The emission factors from pork, pork seasoned, beef and beef seasoned were 1.36 g/kg, 1.03 g/kg, 1.23 g/kg, 0.92 g/kg respectively. To see the result of PAM sampling, the ranges of $1.6{\sim}2.5{\mu}m$ and $2.5{\sim}3.5{\mu}m$ were reveled as highest. The ration of $PM_{2.5}/PM_{10}$ from pork and beef was 0.56~0.58. The emission factors from pork, pork seasoned, beef and beef seasoned measured by PAM were revealed as 3.37 g/kg, 2.76 g/kg, 2.93 g/kg, 2.77 g/kg respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.66-72
• /
• 2009

The detection methods are required to monitor and diagnose the abnormality on the insulation condition inside a gas-insulated switchgear (GIS). Due to a good sensitivity to the products decomposed by partial discharges (PDs) in $SF_6$ gas, the development of a SWNT gas sensor is actively in progress. However, a few numerical studies on the diffusion mechanism of the $SF_6$ decomposition products by PD have been reported. In this study, we modeled $SF_6$ decomposition process in a chamber by calculating temperature, pressure and concentration of the decomposition products by using a commercial CFD program in conjunction with experimental data. It was assumed that the mass production rate and the generation temperature of the decomposition products were $5.04{\times}10^{-10}$ [g/s] and over 773 K respectively. To calculate the concentration equation, the Schmidt number was specified to get the diffusion coefficient functioned by viscosity and density of $SF_6$ gas instead rather than setting it directly. The results showed that the drive potential is governed mainly by the gradient of the decomposition concentration. A lower concentration of the decomposition products was observed as the sensors were placed more away from the discharge region. Also, the concentration increased by increasing the discharge time. By installing multiple sensors the location of PD is expected to be identified by monitoring the response time of the sensors, and the information should be very useful for the diagnosis and maintenance of GIS.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.186-193
• /
• 2005

Purpose: To improve the management of a medical linear accelerator, the records of operational failures of a Varian CL2l00C over a ten year period were retrospectively analyzed. Materials and Methods: The failures were classified according to the involved functional subunits, with each class rated Into one of three levels depending on the operational conditions. The relationships between the failure rate and working ratio and between the failure rate and outside temperature were investigated. In addition, the average life time of the main part and the operating efficiency over the last 4 years were analyzed. Results: Among the recorded failures (total 587 failures), the most frequent failure was observed in the parts related with the collimation system, including the monitor chamber, which accounted for $20\%$ of all failures. With regard to the operational conditions, 2nd level of failures, which temporally interrupted treatments, were the most frequent. Third level of failures, which interrupted treatment for more than several hours, were mostly caused by the accelerating subunit. The number of failures was increased with number of treatments and operating time. The average life-times of the Klystron and Thyratron became shorter as the working ratio increased, and were 42 and $83\%$ of the expected values, respectively. The operating efficiency was maintained at $95\%$ or higher, but this value slightly decreased. There was no significant correlation between the number of failures and the outside temperature. Conclusion: The maintenance of detailed equipment problems and failures records over a long period of time can provide good knowledge of equipment function as well as the capability of predicting future failure. Wore rigorous equipment maintenance Is required for old medical linear accelerators for the advanced avoidance of serious failure and to improve the qualify of patient treatment.