• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.143-152
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• 1991

The work suggested in this paper addresses a method for collecting beam data for small circular fields. Beam data were obtained from philips 6 and 8 MV LINAC at Dept. Radiation Therapy at Gainesville Incorporated and Shands Teaching Hospital. Specific quantities measured include tissue maximum ratio (TMR), off-axis ratio (OAR) and relative output factor (ROF) In small field irradiation, special collimators were used to produce circular fields of 1 cm to 3 cm diameter in 2 mm steps, measured at SAO (soura axis distance) of 100 cm. Diode detector was chosen for primary beam measurement and compared with measurements made with photographic film and TLD dosimeters. The measured TMRs and OARs were formulated from limited measurements to generate basic beam data for reference set-up. The empirical formula were later, extended and generalized for any possible set-up using the trends of fitting parameters. The measured TMRs and OARs were well represented by the fitting formula developed.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.127-133
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• 2019

Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify volume changes and dose variations of rectum and bladder during radiation therapy in prostate cancer (PC) patients. Materials and Methods: We analyzed 20 patients with PC treated with helical tomotherapy. Daily image guidance was performed. We re-contoured the entire bladder and rectum including its contents as well as the organ walls on megavoltage computed tomography once a week. Dose variations were analyzed by means of Dmedian, Dmean, Dmax, V₁₀ to V₇₅, as well as the organs at risk (OAR) volume. Further, we investigated the correlation between volume changes and changes in Dmean of OAR. Results: During treatment, the rectal volume ranged from 62% to 223% of its initial volume, the bladder volume from 22% to 375%. The average Dmean ranged from 87% to 118% for the rectum and 58% to 160% for the bladder. The Pearson correlation coefficients between volume changes and corresponding changes in Dmean were -0.82 for the bladder and 0.52 for the rectum. The comparison of the dose wall histogram (DWH) and the dose volume histogram (DVH) showed that the DVH underestimates the percentage of the rectal and bladder volume exposed to the high dose region. Conclusion: Relevant variations in the volume of OAR and corresponding dose variations can be observed. For the bladder, an increase in the volume generally leads to lower doses; for the rectum, the correlation is weaker. Having demonstrated remarkable differences in the dose distribution of the DWH and the DVH, the use of DWHs should be considered.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.33-41
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• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to improve the reduction of coverage of PTVs adjacent to organ at risk (OAR) by setting up overlapping Planning Target Volume (PTV) during Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy(VMAT). Materials and Methods: In patients who received Whole Brain, Gall Bladder and Rectum radiation therapy, We compared the cover change, maximum dose, Homogenicity Index and Conformity Index of PTV and also compared the maximum dose and average dose change of Organ At Risk by organizing treatment plans that are not applied overlaped PTV and treatment plans that are applied overlaped PTV in areas where coverage is insufficient. Results: overage of treatment plans with overlapping PTVs was increased in all patients, and overall coverage was also increased in each of the four patients. The maximum dose for PTV was increased in five patients, and the Homogenicity Index and Conformity Index for all patients did not differ much. The maximum dose of the lens was increased by 1.12 times, and the maximum dose was decreased in two patients for brain stem. The mean dose of the eyeball was increased by a maximum of 1.15 times, and there was no significant difference between both parotid gland. In case of gallbladder cancer patients, the mean dose in the liver and colon was decreased, and the mean dose in the duodenum was increased. In the case of rectal cancer patients, the mean dose was reduced for both femur and bladder set as OARs. The overall MU was shown to be similar in four patients, excluding one. Conclusion: If the critical dose of OAR is considered and used properly, I think it is a useful way to improve coverage of PTV.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.30 no.1_2
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• pp.35-40
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• 2018

Purpose : The range of force differs from the size of proton energy used in our hospital. The compensator enables to change energy size based on distal thickness which also makes changes in dose rate. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of changing the thickness of compensator distal on dose range and beam on time. Subject and Methodology : Five low energy patients who have received proton therapy were selected as subjects for this study. Beam on was checked for the selected patients during the existing therapy. After then, the thickness of distal of compensator was increased by 2 cm up to 14 cm through proton therapy plan system(TPS) for comparative analysis. For the evaluation of dose range, the value of the target's conformity index(CI) and the maximum dose of rear side target's organ at risk(OAR) were compared. Furthermore, to evaluate the effect of therapy time, beam on time was compared by making compensator distal in each thickness. Result : The result of homogeneity index and conformity index of the increased compensator distal showed the same level in all patients. The comparison results of OAR of target rear side showed 7 cGy at spine cord of abdomen at maximum, 88 cGy at eyeball's RT lens, 391 cGy at RT lens of nasal cavity 51 cGy at trachea of the mediastinum, and 661 cGy at a small bowl of the pelvis. The comparison results of the beam on time showed a reduction from 126 seconds to 62 seconds for the abdomen, from 105 seconds to 37 seconds for the eyeball, from 187 seconds to 134 seconds for nasal cavity, from 100 seconds to 40 seconds for mediastinum, from 440 seconds to 118 seconds for the pelvis. Conclusion : The research result showed that as the distal thickness of compensator increased, the size of energy increased. In addition, beam on decreased due to the increase of dose rate. It is expected that the result would help reduce the treatment time and increase the convenience of patients if it is applied to liver patients who need respiratorygated therapy and pediatric patients. However, distal penumbra increased as the size energy increased. Therefore, in treating cases where OAR is in the vicinity of the target rear side, the influence of penumbra should be taken into account in adjusting thickness level of the compensator in proton therapy plan.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.30 no.1_2
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• pp.177-183
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• 2018

Purpose : Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy(VMAT) has the advantage of uniformly and precisely irradiating the tumor to the shape of the tumor while reducing the risk of radiation damage to normal tissues. such as brain cancer, head and neck cancer and prostate cancer, It is being used for treatment. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the usefulness of the Jaw-Tracking technique(JTT) in VMAT for brain and head and neck cancer. Materials and Methods : We selected eight patients with brain and head and neck cancer(4 Brain, 4 head and neck) who were treated with the VMAT treatment technique. Contouring information of the patient's tumor and normal organ was fused to the Rando phantom using the deformable registration of Velocity(Varian, USA). A treatment plan was developed using the Varian Eclipse(ver 15.5, Varian, USA) with the same patient actual beam parameters except for the use of jaw-tracking. As the evaluation index, the maximum dose and mean dose of target and OAR were compared and a portal dosimetry was performed for the treatment plan verification. Results : When using JTT, the relative dose of OAR decreased by 5.24 % and the maximum dose by 7.05 %, respectively, compared with the Static-Jaw technique(SJT). In the various OARs, the mean dose and maximum dose reduction ranges ranged from 0.01 to 3.16 Gy and from 0.12 to 6.27 Gy, respectively. In the case of the target, the maximum dose of GTV, CTV, PTV decreased by 0.17 %, 0.43 %, and 0.37 % in JTT, and the mean dose decreased by 0.24 %, 0.47 % and 0.47 %, respectively. Gamma analysis The JTT and SJT passing rates were $98{\pm}1.73%$ and $97{\pm}1.83%$ on the basis of 3 % / 3 mm, respectively. Comparing the doses of all OARs applied to the experiment, it was found that the use of JTT resulted in a significant decrease in dose due to additional jaw shielding besides MLC than SJT. Conclusion : In radiation therapy using VMAT treatment plan, we can apply JTT in the case of adjacent tumor and normal organs such as brain cancer and head and neck cancer, and in radiotherapy required large field and high energy caused increase leakage dose through MLC. It is considered that the target dose of PTV can be increased by lowering the dose of normal tissue surrounding the tumor.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.18
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• pp.7811-7816
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• 2014

Background: Despite advances in radiotherapy, overall survival of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) patients is still poor. Moreover dosimetrical analyses with these newer treatment methods are insufficient. The current study is aimed to compare intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) linear accelerator (linac) and helical tomotherapy (HT) treatment plans for patients with prognostic aggressive brain tumors. Material and Methods: A total of 20 GBM patient plans were prospectively evaluated in both linac and HT planning systems. Plans are compared with respect to homogenity index, conformity index and organs at risk (OAR) sparing effects of the treatments. Results: Both treatment plans provided good results that can be applied to GBM patients but it was concluded that if the critical organs with relatively lower dose constraints are closer to the target region, HT for radiotherapeutical application could be preferred. Conclusion: Tomotherapy plans were superior to linear accelerator plans from the aspect of OAR sparing with slightly broader low dose ranges over the healthy tissues. In case a clinic has both of these IMRT systems, employment of HT is recommended based on the observed results and future re-irradiation strategies must be considered.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Navigation and Port Research Conference
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• v.1
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• pp.387-392
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• 2006

In the environment where AGVs(Automated Guided Vehicles) operate concurrently in limited space, collisions. deadlocks, and livelocks which have negative effect on the productivity of AGVs occure more frequently. The accelerated motion of an AGV is also the factor that make the AGV routing more difficult because the accelerated motion makes it difficult to estimate the vehicle's exact travel time. In this study, we propose methods of avoiding collisions, deadlocks, and livelocks using OAR(Occupancy Area Reservation) table, and selecting best route by estimating the travel time of an AGV in accelerated motion. A time-driven simulation validated the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.153-162
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• 2020

Purpose: We aim to evaluate the accuracy and effectiveness of an automatically converted radiation therapy plan between Radixact machines by comparing the original plan with the transferred plan. Methods: The study involved a total of 20 patients for each randomly selected treatment site who received radiation treatment with Radixact. We set up the cheese phantom (Gammex RMI, Middleton, WI, USA) with an Exradin A1SL ion chamber (Standard Imaging, Madison, WI, USA) and GAFCHROMIC EBT3 film (International Specialty Products, Wayne, NJ, USA) inserted. We used three methods to evaluate an automatically converted radiation therapy plan using the features of the Plan transfer. First, we evaluated and compared Planning target volume (PTV) coverage (homogeneity index, HI; conformity index, CI) and organs at risk (OAR) dose statistics. Second, we compared the absolute dose using an ion chamber. Lastly, we analyzed gamma passing rates using film. Results: Our results showed that the difference in PTV coverage was 1.72% in HI and 0.17% in CI, and majority of the difference in OAR was within 1% across all sites. The difference (%) in absolute dose values was averaging 0.74%. In addition, the gamma passing rate was 99.64% for 3%/3 mm and 97.08% for 2%/2 mm. Conclusions: The Plan transfer function can be reliably used in appropriate situations.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.255-263
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• 2012

The aim of this study was to evaluate the patient specific quality assurance (QA) results of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) through the AAPM Task Group Report 119. Using the treatment planning system, both IMRT and VMAT treatment plans were established. The absolute dose and relative dose for the target and OAR were measured by using an ion chamber and the bi-planar diode array, respectively. The plan evaluation was used by the Dose volume histogram (DVH) and the dose verification was implemented by compare the measured value with the calculated value. For the evaluation of plan, in case of prostate, both IMRT and VMAT were closed the goal of target and OARs. In case of H&N and Multi-target, IMRT was not reached the goal of target, but VMAT was reached the goal of target and OARs. In case of C-shape(easy), both were reached the goal of target and OARs. In case of C-shape(hard), both were reached the goal of target but not reached the goal of OARs. For the evaluation of absolute dose, in case of IMRT, the mean of relative error (%) between measured and calculated value was $1.24{\pm}2.06%$ and $1.4{\pm}2.9%$ for target and OAR, respectively. The confidence limits were 3.65% and 4.39% for target and OAR, respectively. In case of VMAT the mean of relative error was $2.06{\pm}0.64%$ and $2.21{\pm}0.74%$ for target and OAR, respectively. The confidence limits were 4.09% and 3.04% for target and OAR, respectively. For the evaluation of relative dose, in case of IMRT, the average percentage of passing gamma criteria (3mm/3%) were $98.3{\pm}1.5%$ and the confidence limits were 3.78%. In case of VMAT, the average percentage were $98.2{\pm}1.1%$ and the confidence limits were 3.95%. We performed IMRT and VMAT patient specific QA using TG-119 based procedure, all analyzed results were satisfied with acceptance criteria based on TG-119. So, the IMRT and VMAT of our institution was confirmed the accuracy.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.19-26
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• 2017

Purpose: The application of density override is very important to minimize dose calculation errors by fiducial markers of metal material in proton treatment plan. However, density override with actual material of the fiducial marker could make problem such as inaccurate target contouring and compensator fabrication. Therefore, we perform density override with surrounding material instead of actual material and we intend to evaluate the usefulness of density override with surrounding material of the fiducial marker by analyzing the dose distribution according to the position, material of the fiducial marker and number of beams. Materials and Method: We supposed that the fiducial marker of gold, steel, titanium is located in 1.5, 2.5, 4.0, 6.0 cm from the proton beam's end of range using water phantom. Treatment plans were created by applying density override with the surrounding material and actual material of the fiducial marker. Also, a liver cancer patient who received proton therapy was selected. We located the fiducial marker of gold, steel, titanium in 0, 1.5, 3.5 cm from the proton beam's end of range and the treatment plans were created by same method with water phantom. Homogeneity Index(HI), Conformity Index(CI) and maximum dose of Organ At Risk(OAR) in Planning Target Volume(PTV) as the evaluation index were compared according to the material, position of the fiducial marker and number of beam. Results: The HI value was more decreased when density override with surrounding material of the fiducial marker was performed comparing with density override with actual material. Especially the HI value was increased when the fiducial marker was located farther from the proton beam's end of the range for a single beam and the fiducial marker's position was closer to isocenter for two or more beams. The CI value was close to 1 and OAR maximum dose was greatly reduced when density override with surrounding material of the fiducial marker was performed comparing with density override with actual material. Conclusion: Density override with surrounding material can be expected to achieve more precise proton therapy than density override with actual material of the fiducial marker and could increase the dose uniformity and target coverage and reduce the dose to surrounding normal tissues for the small fiducial markers used in clinical practice. Most of all, it is desirable to plan the treatment by avoiding the fiducial marker of metal material as much as possible. However, if the fiducial marker have on the beam path, density override of the surrounding material can be expected to achieve more precise proton therapy.