• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.154-161
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• 2013

This study assessed compared photon and proton treatment techniques, such as intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), uniform scanning proton therapy (USPT), and intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT), for a total of 10 prostate cancers. All treatment plans delivered 70 Gy to 95% of the planned target volume in 28 fractions. IMRT plans had 7 fields for the step and shoot technique, while USPT and IMPT plans employed two equally weighted, parallel-opposed lateral fields to deliver the prescribed dose to the planned target. Inverse planning was then incorporated to optimize IMPT. The homogeneity index (HI) and conformity index (CI) for the target and the normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) for organ at risk (OAR) were calculated. Although the mean HI and CI for target were not significantly different for each treatment techniques, the NTCP of the rectum was 2.233, 3.326, and 1.707 for IMRT, USPT, and IMPT, respectively. The NTCP of the bladder was 0.008, 0.003, and 0.002 respectively. The NTCP values at the rectum and bladder were significantly lower using IMPT. Our study shows that using proton therapy, particularly IMPT, to treat prostate cancer could be beneficial compared to 7-field IMRT with similar target coverage. Given these results, radiotherapy using protons, particularly optimized IMPT, is a worthwhile treatment option for prostate cancer.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.79-86
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to evaluate efficacy and feasibility of adaptive radiotherapy according to tumor volume change (TVC) in early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) using stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). Twenty-two lesions previously treated with SBRT were selected. SBRT was usually performed with a total dose of 48 Gy or 60 Gy in four fractions with an interval of three to four days between treatments. For evaluation of TVC, gross tumor volume (GTV) was contoured on each cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) image used for image guidance. Intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) planning was performed in the first CBCT (CBCT1) using a baseline plan. For ART planning (ART), re-optimization was performed at $2^{nd}$, $3^{rd}$, and $4^{th}$ CBCTs (CBCT2, CBCT3, and CBCT4) using the same angle and constraint used for the baseline plan. The ART plan was compared with the non-ART plan, which generated copying of the baseline plan to other CBCTs. Average GTV volume was 10.7 cc. Average TVC was -1.5%, 7.3%, and -25.1% in CBCT2, CBCT3, and CBCT4 and the TVC after CBCT3 was significant (p<0.05). However, the nine lesions were increased GTV in CBCT2. In the ART plan, $V_{20\;Gy}$, $D_{1500\;cc}$, and $D_{1000\;cc}$ of lung were significantly decreased (p<0.05), and $V_{30\;Gy}$ and $V_{32\;Gy}$ of the chest wall were also decreased (p<0.05). While D min of planning target volume (PTV) decreased by 8.3% in the non-ART plan of CBCT2 compared with the baseline plan in lesions with increased tumor size (p=0.021), PTV coverage was not compromised in the ART plan. Based on this result, use of the ART plan may improve target coverage and OAR saving. Thus ART using CBCT should be considered in early stage NSCLC with SBRT.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.242-275
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• 2022

This study tries to reveal the structure of the "Kisun"(senior envoy ship) taken by senior envoys for the 10^th to 12^th visits to Japan from the perspective of professional shipbuilding engineering focusing on the theory of the ship in the travel logs of royal envoys to Japan (Sahaengrok) written by Joseon Tongsinsa that includes 12 visits to Japan for about 200 years from 1607 to 1811. The results of the study showed that the size of Kisun for the 10^th to 12^th envoy visits was 19 Pa (把) and a half in length and 6 Pa (把) and 2 Cheok (尺) in width. The height of the Sampan was found to be 2 Pa (把) and 1 Cheok (尺) based on records in Gyemisusarok and Jeungjeonggyorinji. The structure of Kisun was different for each visit but, it was found that Kisun was mainly composed of a main deck, bow (bow plate, stem plate), stern (stern plate), Sampan, Meonge (support), Garyong (support), Sinbang, Gungji, deck, two masts and sail, Gurejjak (mast support), Panok, stern Panok, Taru, dodger, anchor reel, stairs, rail, rudder, oar, and anchor. In addition, wood and iron nails were used together for connection. It was also found that the sail was made of herbage and cotton. This study found that Kisun, which was operated for the 10^th and 12^th envoy visits, was big in terms of length and height among the Joseon Tongsinsa fleet to show the authority and dignity of Joseon and that it had passages outside on the sides of the vessel and paddles were located between the sides and Panok structure and rails were installed on four sides on the Panok, improving stability and linear beauty. The walls of Panok were decorated with the royal Dancheong pattern and fancy murals. In addition, it was found that they wished for a safe voyage by drawing a demon face on the bow. Therefore, it was revealed that Kisun, which was taken by envoys as recorded in travel logs, was made by the state and equipped with structures and functions that enabled international voyages.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2013

Purpose: A selection of proper energy in treatment planning is very important because of having different dose distribution in body as photon energy. In generally, the low energy photon has been used in intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for head and neck (H&N) cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of partially used high energy photon at posterior oblique fields on IMRT plan for H&N cancer. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out on 10 patients (nasopharyngeal cancer 5, tonsilar cancer 5) treated with IMRT in Seoul National University Bundang Hospital. CT images were acquired 3 mm of thickness in the same condition and the treatment plan was performed by Eclipse (Ver.7.1, Varian, Palo Alto, USA). Two plans were generated under same planing objectives, dose volume constraints, and eight fields setting: (1) The low energy plan (LEP) created using 6 MV beam alone, (2) the partially used high energy plan (PHEP) created partially using 15 MV beam at two posterior oblique fields with deeper penetration depths, while 6 MV beam was used at the rest of fields. The plans for LEP and PHEP were compared in terms of coverage, conformity index (CI) and homogeneity index (HI) for planning target volume (PTV). For organs at risk (OARs), $D_{mean}$ and $D_{50%}$ were analyzed on both parotid glands and $D_{max}$, $D_{1%}$ for spinal cord were analyzed. Integral dose (ID) and total monitor unit (MU) were compared as addition parameters. For the comparing dose to normal tissue of posterior neck, the posterior-normal tissue volume (P-NTV) was set on the patients respectively. The $D_{mean}$, $V_{20Gy}$ and $V_{25Gy}$ for P-NTV were evaluated by using dose volume histogram (DVH). Results: The dose distributions were similar with regard to coverage, CI and HI for PTV between the LEP and PHEP. No evident difference was observed in the spinal cord. However, the $D_{mean}$, $D_{50%}$ for both parotid gland were slightly reduced by 0.6%, 0.7% in PHEP. The ID was reduced by 1.1% in PHEP, and total MU for PHEP was 1.8% lower than that for LEP. In the P-NTV, the $D_{mean}$, $V_{20Gy}$ and $V_{25Gy}$ of the PHEP were 1.6%, 1.8% and 2.9% lower than those of LEP. Conclusion: Dose to some OARs and a normal tissue, total monitor unit were reduced in IMRT plan with partially used high energy photon. Although these reduction are unclear how have a clinical benefit to patient, application of the partially used high energy photon could improve the overall plan quality of IMRT for head and neck cancer.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.43-49
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• 2019

Purpose: This study examined changes in the position of the heat and lungs depending on the patient's breathing method during left breast cancer radiotherapy and used treatment plans to compare the resulting radiation dose. Materials and methods: The participants consisted of 10 patients with left breast cancer. A CT simulator(SIMENS SOMATOM AS, Germany) was used to obtain images when using three different breathing methods: free breathing(FB), deep inspiration breath hold(DIBH with Abches, DIBH), inspiration breath hold(IBH with CPAP, CPAP). A Ray Station(5.0.2.35, Sweden) was used for treatment planning, the treatment method was volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) with one partial arc of the same angle, and the prescribed dose to the planning target volume (PTV) was a total dose of 50Gy(2Gy/day). In treatment plan analysis, the 95% dose (D95) to the PTV, the conformity index(CI), and the homogeneity index (HI) were compared. The lungs, heart, and left anterior descending artery (LAD) were selected as the organs at risk(OARs). Results: The mean volume of the ipsilateral lung for FB, DIBH, and CPAP was 1245.58±301.31㎤, 1790.09±362.43 ㎤, 1775.44±476.71 ㎤. The mean D95 for the PTV was 46.67±1.89Gy, 46.85±1.72Gy, 46.97±23.4Gy, and the mean CI and HI were 0.95±0.02, 0.96±0.02, 0.95±0.02 and 0.91±0.01, 0.90±0.01, 0.92±0.02. The V20 of Whole Lung was 10.74±4.50%, 8.29±3.14%, 9.12±3.29% and The V20 of the ipsilateral lung was 20.45±8.65%, 17.18±7.04%, 18.85±7.85%, the Dmean of the heart was 7.82±1.27Gy, 6.10±1.27Gy, 5.67±1.56Gy, and the Dmax of the LAD was 20.41±7.56Gy, 14.88±3.57Gy, 14.96±2.81Gy. The distance from the thoracic wall to the LAD was measured to be 11.33±4.70mm, 22.40±6.01mm, 20.14±6.23mm. Conclusion: During left breast cancer radiotherapy, the lung volume was 46.24% larger for DIBH than for FB, and 43.11% larger for CPAP than FB. The larger lung volume increases the distance between the thoracic wall and the heart. In this way, the LAD, which is one of the nearby OARs, can be more effectively protected while still satisfying the treatment plan. The lung volume was largest for DIBH, and the distance between the LAD and thoracic wall was also the greatest. However, when performing treatment with DIBH, the intra-fraction error cannot be ignored. Moreover, communication between the patient and the radiotherapist is also an important factor in DIBH treatment. When communication is problematic, or if the patient has difficulty holding their breath, we believe that CPAP could be used as an alternative to DIBH. In order to verify the clinical efficacy of CPAP, it will be necessary to perform long-term follow-up of a greater number of patients.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.15-25
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• 2012

The aim of this study is to evaluate plan quality and dose accuracy for Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) on the TG-119 and is to investigate the effects on variation of the selectable optimization parameters of VMAT. VMAT treatment planning was implemented on a Varian iX linear accelerator with ARIA record and verify system (Varian Mecical System Palo Alto, CA) and Oncentra MasterPlan treatment planning system (Nucletron BV, Veenendaal, Netherlands). Plan quality and dosimetric accuracy were evaluated by effect of varying a number of arc, gantry spacing and delivery time for the test geometries provided in TG-119. Plan quality for the target and OAR was evaluated by the mean value and the standard deviation of the Dose Volume Histograms (DVHs). The ionization chamber and $Delta^{4PT}$ bi-planar diode array were used for the dose evaluation. For treatment planning evaluation, all structure sets closed to the goals in the case of single arc, except for the C-shape (hard), and all structure sets achieved the goals in the case of dual arc, except for C-shape (hard). For the variation of a number of arc, the simple structure such as a prostate did not have the difference between single arc and dual arc, whereas the complex structure such as a head and neck showed a superior result in the case of dual arc. The dose distribution with gantry spacing of $4^{\circ}$ was shown better plan quality than the gantry spacing of $6^{\circ}$, but was similar results compared with gantry spacing of $2^{\circ}$. For the verification of dose accuracy with single arc and dual arc, the mean value of a relative error between measured and calculated value were within 3% and 4% for point dose and confidence limit values, respectively. For the verification on dose accuracy with the gantry intervals of $2^{\circ}$, $4^{\circ}$ and $6^{\circ}$, the mean values of relative error were within 3% and 5% for point dose and confidence limit values, respectively. In the verification of dose distribution with $Delta^{4PT}$ bi-planar diode array, gamma passing rate was $98.72{\pm}1.52%$ and $98.3{\pm}1.5%$ for single arc and dual arc, respectively. The confidence limit values were within 4%. The smaller the gantry spacing, the more accuracy results were shown. In this study, we performed the VMAT QA based on TG-119 procedure, and demonstrated that all structure sets were satisfied with acceptance criteria. And also, the results for the selective optimization variables informed the importance of selection for the suitable variables according to the clinical cases.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.33-41
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• 2019

Purpose : To evaluate the effectiveness of Jaw-tracking(JT) technique in Intensity-modulated radiation therapy(IMRT) and Volumetric-modulated arc therapy(VMAT) for radiation therapy of esophageal cancer by analyzing volume dose of perimetrical normal organs along with the low-dose volume regions. Materials and Method: A total of 27 patients were selected who received radiation therapy for esophageal cancer with using $VitalBeam^{TM}$(Varian Medical System, U.S.A) in our hospital. Using Eclipse system(Ver. 13.6 Varian, U.S.A), radiation treatment planning was set up with Jaw-tracking technique(JT) and Non-Jaw-tracking technique(NJT), and was conducted for the patients with T-shaped Planning target volume(PTV), including Supraclavicular lymph nodes(SCL). PTV was classified into whether celiac area was included or not to identify the influence on the radiation field. To compare the treatment plans, Organ at risk(OAR) was defined to bilateral lung, heart, and spinal cord and evaluated for Conformity index(CI) and Homogeneity index(HI). Portal dosimetry was performed to verify a clinical application using Electronic portal imaging device(EPID) and Gamma analysis was performed with establishing thresholds of radiation field as a parameter, with various range of 0 %, 5 %, and 10 %. Results: All treatment plans were established on gamma pass rates of 95 % with 3 mm/3 % criteria. For a threshold of 10 %, both JT and NJT passed with rate of more than 95 % and both gamma passing rate decreased more than 1 % in IMRT as the low dose threshold decreased to 5 % and 0 %. For the case of JT in IMRT on PTV without celiac area, $V_5$ and $V_{10}$ of both lung showed a decrease by respectively 8.5 % and 5.3 % in average and up to 14.7 %. A $D_{mean}$ decreased by $72.3{\pm}51cGy$, while there was an increase in radiation dose reduction in PTV including celiac area. A $D_{mean}$ of heart decreased by $68.9{\pm}38.5cGy$ and that of spinal cord decreased by $39.7{\pm}30cGy$. For the case of JT in VMAT, $V_5$ decreased by 2.5 % in average in lungs, and also a little amount in heart and spinal cord. Radiation dose reduction of JT showed an increase when PTV includes celiac area in VMAT. Conclusion: In the radiation treatment planning for esophageal cancer, IMRT showed a significant decrease in $V_5$, and $V_{10}$ of both lungs when applying JT, and dose reduction was greater when the irradiated area in low-dose field is larger. Therefore, IMRT is more advantageous in applying JT than VMAT for radiation therapy of esophageal cancer and can protect the normal organs from MLC leakage and transmitted doses in low-dose field.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.32
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• pp.17-29
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this work was to investigate the dosimetric impact of mixed energy partial arc technique on prostate cancer VMAT. Materials and Methods: This study involved prostate only patients planned with 70Gy in 30 fractions to the planning target volume (PTV). Femoral heads, Bladder and Rectum were considered as oragan at risk (OARs). For this study, mixed energy partial arcs (MEPA) were generated with gantry angle set to 180°~230°, 310°~50° for 6MV arc and 130°~50°, 310°~230° for 15MV arc. Each arc set the avoidance sector which is gantry angle 230°~310°, 50°~130° at first arc and 50°~310° at second arc. After that, two plans were summed and were analyzed the dosimetry parameter of each structure such as Maximum dose, Mean dose, D2%, Homogeneity index (HI) and Conformity Index (CI) for PTV and Maximum dose, Mean dose, V70Gy, V50Gy, V30Gy, and V20Gy for OARs and Monitor Unit (MU) with 6MV 1 ARC, 6MV, 10MV, 15MV 2 ARC plan. Results: In MEPA, the maximum dose, mean dose and D2% were lower than 6MV 1 ARC plan(p<0.0005). However, the average difference of maximum dose was 0.24%, 0.39%, 0.60% (p<0.450, 0.321, 0.139) higher than 6MV, 10MV, 15MV 2 ARC plan, respectively and D2% was 0.42%, 0.49%, 0.59% (p<0.073, 0.087, 0.033) higher than compared plans. The average difference of mean dose was 0.09% lower than 10MV 2 ARC plan, but it is 0.27%, 0.12% (p<0.184, 0.521) higher than 6MV 2 ARC, 15MV 2 ARC plan, respectively. HI was 0.064±0.006 which is the lowest value (p<0.005, 0.357, 0.273, 0.801) among the all plans. For CI, there was no significant differences which were 1.12±0.038 in MEPA, 1.12±0.036, 1.11±0.024, 1.11±0.030, 1.12±0.027 in 6MV 1 ARC, 6MV, 10MV, 15MV 2 ARC, respectively. MEPA produced significantly lower rectum dose. Especially, V70Gy, V50Gy, V30Gy, V20Gy were 3.40, 16.79, 37.86, 48.09 that were lower than other plans. For bladder dose, V30Gy, V20Gy were lower than other plans. However, the mean dose of both femoral head were 9.69±2.93, 9.88±2.5 which were 2.8Gy~3.28Gy higher than other plans. The mean MU of MEPA were 19.53% lower than 6MV 1 ARC, 5.7% lower than 10MV 2 ARC respectively. Conclusion: This study for prostate radiotherapy demonstrated that a choice of MEPA VMAT has the potential to minimize doses to OARs and improve homogeneity to PTV at the expense of a moderate increase in maximum and mean dose to the femoral heads.