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

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.1-5
• /
• 2006

Purpose: IMRT quality assurance(Q.A) is consist of the absolute dosimetry using ionization chamber and relative dosimetry using the film. We have in general used 0.015 cc ionization chamber, because small size and measure the point dose. But this ionization chamber is too small to give an accurate measurement value. In this study, we have examined the degree of calculated to measured dose difference in intensity modulated radiotherapy(IMRT) based on the observed/expected ratio using various kinds of ion chambers, which were used for absolute dosimetry. Materials and Methods: we peformed the 6 cases of IMRT sliding-window method for head and neck cases. Radiation was delivered by using a Clinac 21EX unit(Varian, USA) generating a 6 MV x-ray beam, which is equipped with an integrated multileaf collimator. The dose rate for IMRT treatment is set to 300 MU/min. The ion chamber was located 5cm below the surface of phantom giving 100cm as a source-axis distance(SAD). The various types of ion chambers were used including 0.015cc(pin point type 31014, PTW. Germany), 0.125 cc(micro type 31002, PTW, Germany) and 0.6 cc(famer type 30002, PTW, Germany). The measurement point was carefully chosen to be located at low-gradient area. Results: The experimental results show that the average differences between plan value and measured value are ${\pm}0.91%$ for 0.015 cc pin point chamber, ${\pm}0.52%$ for 0.125 cc micro type chamber and ${\pm}0.76%$ for farmer type 0.6cc chamber. The 0.125 cc micro type chamber is appropriate size for dose measure in IMRT. Conclusion: IMRT Q.A is the important procedure. Based on the various types of ion chamber measurements, we have demonstrated that the dose discrepancy between calculated dose distribution and measured dose distribution for IMRT plans is dependent on the size of ion chambers. The reason is small size ionization chamber have the high signal-to-noise ratio and big size ionization chamber is not located accurate measurement point. Therefore our results suggest the 0.125 cc farmer type chamber is appropriate size for dose measure in IMRT.

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.89-94
• /
• 2008

TomoTherapy has a merit to treat cancer with Intensity modulated radiation and combines precise 3-D imaging from computerized tomography (CT scanning) with highly targeted radiation beams and rotating beamlets. In this paper, we comparing the dose distribution between TomoTherapy and linear accelerator based intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for 10 Head & Neck patients using TomoTherapy which is newly installed and operated at National Cancer Center since Sept. 2006. Furthermore, we estimate how the homogeneity and Normal Tissue Complication Probability (NTCP) are changed by motion of target. Inverse planning was carried out using CadPlan planning system (CadPlan R.6.4.7, Varian Medical System Inc. 3100 Hansen Way, Palo Alto, CA 94304-1129, USA). For each patient, an inverse IMRT plan was also made using TomoTherapy Hi-Art System (Hi-Art2_2_4 2.2.4.15, TomoTherapy Incorporated, 1240 Deming Way, Madson, WI 53717-1954, USA) and using the same targets and optimization goals. All TomoTherapy plans compared favorably with the IMRT plans regarding sparing of the organs at risk and keeping an equivalent target dose homogeneity. Our results suggest that TomoTherapy is able to reduce the normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) further, keeping a similar target dose homogeneity.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.171-180
• /
• 2014

In this study, the authors attempted to measure the skin dose by irradiating the actual dose on to the TLD(Thermo-Luminescence Dosimeter) and EBT3 Film used as the In-vivo dosimetry after planning the same treatment as the actual patient on a Phantom, because the erythema or dermatitis is frequently occurred on the patients' skin at the time of the proton therapy of medulloblastoma patient receiving the proton therapy. They intended to know whether there is the usefulness for the dosimetry of skin by the comparative analysis of the measured dose values with the treatment planned skin dose. The CT scan from the Brain to the Pelvis was done by placing a phantom on the CSI(Cranio-spinal irradiation) Set-up position of Medulloblastoma, and the treatment Isocenter point was aligned by using DIPS(Digital Image Positioning System) in the treatment room after planning a proton therapy. The treatment Isocenter point of 5 areas that the proton beam was entered into them, and Markers of 2 areas shown in the Phantom during CT scans, that is, in all 7 points, TLD and EBT3 Film pre-calibrated are alternatively attached, and the proton beam that the treatment was planned, was irradiated by 10 times, respectively. As a result of the comparative analysis of the average value calculated from the result values obtained by the repeated measurement of 10 times with the Skin Dose measured in the treatment planning system, the measured dose values of 6 points, except for one point that the accurate measurement was lacked due to the measurement position with a difficulty showed the distribution of the absolute dose value ${\pm}2%$ in both TLD and EBT Film. In conclusion, in this study, the clinical usefulness of the TLD and EBT3 Film for the Enterance skin dose measurement in the first proton therapy in Korea was confirmed.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.11-15
• /
• 2008

Purpose: The goal of radiation treatment is to deliver a prescribed radiation dose to the target volume accurately while minimizing dose to normal tissues. In this paper, we comparing the dose distribution between three dimensional conformal radiation radiotherapy (3D-CRT) and helical tomotherapy (TOMO) plan for partial breast cancer. Materials and Methods: Twenty patients were included in the study, and plans for two techniques were developed for each patient (left breast:10 patients, right breast:10 patients). For each patient 3D-CRT planning was using pinnacle planning system, inverse plan was made using Tomotherapy Hi-Art system and using the same targets and optimization goals. We comparing the Homogeneity index (HI), Conformity index (CI) and sparing of the organs at risk for dose-volume histogram. Results: Whereas the HI, CI of TOMO was significantly better than the other, 3D-CRT was observed to have significantly poorer HI, CI. The percentage ipsilateral non-PTV breast volume that was delivered 50% of the prescribed dose was 3D-CRT (mean: 40.4%), TOMO (mean: 18.3%). The average ipsilateral lung volume percentage receiving 20% of the PD was 3D-CRT (mean: 4.8%), TOMO (mean: 14.2), concerning the average heart volume receiving 20% and 10% of the PD during treatment of left breast cancer 3D-CRT (mean: 1.6%, 3.0%), TOMO (mean: 9.7%, 26.3%) Conclusion: In summary, 3D-CRT and TOMO techniques were found to have acceptable PTV coverage in our study. However, in TOMO, high conformity to the PTV and effective breast tissue sparing was achieved at the expense of considerable dose exposure to the lung and heart.

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.311-322
• /
• 2010

In proton therapy, the analysis of secondary particles is important due to delivered dose outside the target volume and thus increased potential risk for the development of secondary cancer. The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of secondary particles from proton beams on fluence and energy deposition in the presence of inhomogeneous material by using Geant4 simulation toolkit. The inhomogeneity was modeled with the condition that the adipose tissue, bone and lung equivalent slab with thickness of 2 cm were inserted at 30% (Plateau region) and 80% (Bragg peak region) dose points of maximum dose in Bragg curve. The energy of proton was varied with 100, 130, 160 and 190 MeV for energy dependency. The results for secondary particles were presented for the fluence and deposited energy of secondary particles at inhomogeneous condition. Our study demonstrates that the fluence of secondary particles is neither influenced insertion of inhomogeneties nor the energy of initial proton, while there is a little effect by material density. The deposited energy of secondary particles has a difference in the position placed inhomogeneous materials. In the Plateau region, deposited energy of secondary particles mostly depends on the density of inserted materials. Deposited energy in the Bragg region, in otherwise, is influenced by both density of inserted material and initial energy of proton beams. Our results suggest a possibility of prediction about the distribution of secondary particles within complex heterogeneity.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2004

The SOI wafer fabrication technique has been developed by using ion-cut process, based on proton implantation and wafer bonding techniques. It has been shown by TRIM simulation that 65 keV proton implantation is required for the standard SOI wafer (200 nm SOI, 400 nm BOX) fabrication. In order to investigate the optimum proton dose and primary annealing condition for wafer splitting, the surface morphologic change has been observed such as blistering and flaking. As a result, effective dose is found to be in the 6∼$9\times10^{16}$ $H^{+}/\textrm{cm}^2$ range, and the annealing at $550^{\circ}C$ for 30 minutes is expected to be optimum for wafer splitting. The depth distribution of implanted hydrogen has been experimentally confirmed by ERD and SIMS measurements. The microstructure evolution in the damaged layer was also studied by X-TEM analysis.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.6
• /
• pp.2018-2025
• /
• 2023

In our previous study, we proposed an integrated PG-PET-based imaging method to increase the prediction accuracy for patient dose distributions. The purpose of the present study is to experimentally validate the feasibility of the PG-PET system. Based on the detector geometry optimized in the previous study, we constructed a dual-head PG-PET system consisting of a 16 × 16 GAGG scintillator and KETEK SiPM arrays, BaSO₄ reflectors, and an 8 × 8 parallel-hole tungsten collimator. The performance of this system as equipped with a proof of principle, we measured the PG and positron emission (PE) distributions from a 3 × 6 × 10 cm³ PMMA phantom for a 45 MeV proton beam. The measured depth was about 17 mm and the expected depth was 16 mm in the computation simulation under the same conditions as the measurements. In the comparison result, we can find a 1 mm difference between computation simulation and measurement. In this study, our results show the feasibility of the PG-PET system for in-vivo range verification. However, further study should be followed with the consideration of the typical measurement conditions in the clinic application.

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.291-297
• /
• 2010

This study examined the dosimetric influence of implanted gold markers in proton therapy and the effects of their positions in the spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP) proton beam. The implanted cylindrical gold markers were 3 mm long and 1.2 mm in diameter. The dosimetric influence of the gold markers was determined with markers at various locations in a proton-beam field. Spatial dose distributions were measured using a three-dimensional moving water phantom and a stereotactic diode detector with an effective diameter of 0.5 mm. Also, a film dosimetry was performed using Gafchromic External Beam Treatment (EBT) film. The GEANT4 simulation toolkit was used for Monte-Carlo simulations to confirm the measurements and to construct the dose-volume histogram with implanting markers. Motion data were obtained from the portal images of 10 patients to investigate the effect of organ motions on the dosimetric influence of markers in the presence of a rectal balloon. The underdosed volume due to a single gold marker, in which the dose was less than 95% of a prescribed amount, was 0.15 cc. The underdosed volume due to the presence of a gold marker is much smaller than the target volume. However, the underdosed volume is inside the gross tumor volume and is not smeared out due to translational prostate motions. The positions of gold markers and the conditions of the proton-beam field give different impacts on the dose distribution of a target with implanted gold markers, and should be considered in all clinical proton-based therapies.

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.14-21
• /
• 2019

Purpose: To report the initial experience of patient-specific quality assurance (pQA) for the wobbling and line-scanning proton therapy at Samsung Medical Center. Materials and Methods: The pQA results of 89 wobbling treatments with 227 fields and 44 line-scanning treatments with 118 fields were analyzed from December 2015 to June 2016. For the wobbling method, proton range and spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP) width were verified. For the line-scanning method, output and two-dimensional dose distribution at multiple depths were verified by gamma analysis with 3%/3 mm criterion. Results: The average range difference was -0.44 mm with a standard deviation (SD) of 1.64 mm and 0.1 mm with an SD of 0.53 mm for the small and middle wobbling radii, respectively. For the line-scanning method, the output difference was within ${\pm}3%$. The gamma passing rates were over 95% with 3%/3 mm criterion for all depths. Conclusions: For the wobbling method, proton range and SOBP width were within the tolerance levels. For the line-scanning method, the output and two-dimensional dose distribution showed excellent agreement with the treatment plans.