• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.300-308
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• 2006

$\underline{Purpose}$: To develop a wireless CCTV system in semi-beam's eye view (BEV) to monitor daily patient setup in radiation therapy. $\underline{Materials\;and\;Methods}$: In order to get patient images in semi-BEV, CCTV cameras are installed in a custom-made acrylic applicator below the treatment head of a linear accelerator. The images from the cameras are transmitted via radio frequency signal (${\sim}2.4\;GHz$ and 10 mW RF output). An expected problem with this system is radio frequency interference, which is solved utilizing RF shielding with Cu foils and median filtering software. The images are analyzed by our custom-made software. In the software, three anatomical landmarks in the patient surface are indicated by a user, then automatically the 3 dimensional structures are obtained and registered by utilizing a localization procedure consisting mainly of stereo matching algorithm and Gauss-Newton optimization. This algorithm is applied to phantom images to investigate the setup accuracy. Respiratory gating system is also researched with real-time image processing. A line-laser marker projected on a patient's surface is extracted by binary image processing and the breath pattern is calculated and displayed in real-time. $\underline{Results}$: More than 80% of the camera noises from the linear accelerator are eliminated by wrapping the camera with copper foils. The accuracy of the localization procedure is found to be on the order of $1.5{\pm}0.7\;mm$ with a point phantom and sub-millimeters and degrees with a custom-made head/neck phantom. With line-laser marker, real-time respiratory monitoring is possible in the delay time of ${\sim}0.17\;sec$. $\underline{Conclusion}$: The wireless CCTV camera system is the novel tool which can monitor daily patient setups. The feasibility of respiratory gating system with the wireless CCTV is hopeful.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.72-78
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• 2014

The aim of the study is to test a hypothesis that quasi-breath-hold (QBH) biofeedback improves the residual respiratory motion management in gated 3D thoracic MR imaging, reducing respiratory motion artifacts with insignificant acquisition time alteration. To test the hypothesis five healthy human subjects underwent two gated MR imaging studies based on a T2 weighted SPACE MR pulse sequence using a respiratory navigator of a 3T Siemens MRI: one under free breathing and the other under QBH biofeedback breathing. The QBH biofeedback system utilized the external marker position on the abdomen obtained with an RPM system (Real-time Position Management, Varian) to audio-visually guide a human subject for 2s breath-hold at 90% exhalation position in each respiratory cycle. The improvement in the upper liver breath-hold motion reproducibility within the gating window using the QBH biofeedback system has been assessed for a group of volunteers. We assessed the residual respiratory motion management within the gating window and respiratory motion artifacts in 3D thoracic MRI both with/without QBH biofeedback. In addition, the RMSE (root mean square error) of abdominal displacement has been investigated. The QBH biofeedback reduced the residual upper liver motion within the gating window during MR acquisitions (~6 minutes) compared to that for free breathing, resulting in the reduction of respiratory motion artifacts in lung and liver of gated 3D thoracic MR images. The abdominal motion reduction in the gated window was consistent with the residual motion reduction of the diaphragm with QBH biofeedback. Consequently, average RMSE (root mean square error) of abdominal displacement obtained from the RPM has been also reduced from 2.0 mm of free breathing to 0.7 mm of QBH biofeedback breathing over the entire cycle (67% reduction, p-value=0.02) and from 1.7 mm of free breathing to 0.7 mm of QBH biofeedback breathing in the gated window (58% reduction, p-value=0.14). The average baseline drift obtained using a linear fit was reduced from 5.5 mm/min with free breathing to 0.6 mm/min (89% reduction, p-value=0.017) with QBH biofeedback. The study demonstrated that the QBH biofeedback improved the upper liver breath-hold motion reproducibility during the gated 3D thoracic MR imaging. This system can provide clinically applicable motion management of the internal anatomy for gated medical imaging as well as gated radiotherapy.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.242-247
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• 2014

To see the discrepancies between the calculated and the delivered dose distribution of IMRT fields for respiratory-induced moving target according to the motion ranges. Four IMRT plans in which there are five fields, for lung and liver patients were selected. The gantry angles were set to $0^{\circ}$ for every field and recalculated using TPS (Eclipse Ver 8.1, Varian Medical Systems, Inc., USA). The ion-chamber array detector (MatriXX, IBA Dosimetry, Germany) was placed on the respiratory simulating platform and made it to move with ranges of 1, 2, and 3 cm, respectively. The IMRT fields were delivered to the detector with 30~70% gating windows. The comparison was performed by gamma index with tolerance of 3 mm and 3%. The average pass rate was 98.63% when there's no motion. When 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 cm motion ranges were simulated, the average pass rate were 98.59%, 97.82%, and 95.84%, respectively. Therefore, ITV margin should be increased or gating windows should be decreased for targets with large motion ranges.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.79-88
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• 2014

The dose distributions within the real volumes of tumor targets and critical organs during internal target volume-based intensity-modulated radiation therapy (ITV-IMRT) for liver cancer were recalculated by applying the effects of actual respiratory organ motion, and the dosimetric features were analyzed through comparison with gating IMRT (Gate-IMRT) plan results. The ITV was created using MIM software, and a moving phantom was used to simulate respiratory motion. The doses were recalculated with a 3 dose-volume histogram (3DVH) program based on the per-field data measured with a MapCHECK2 2-dimensional diode detector array. Although a sufficient prescription dose covered the PTV during ITV-IMRT delivery, the dose homogeneity in the PTV was inferior to that with the Gate-IMRT plan. We confirmed that there were higher doses to the organs-at-risk (OARs) with ITV-IMRT, as expected when using an enlarged field, but the increased dose to the spinal cord was not significant and the increased doses to the liver and kidney could be considered as minor when the reinforced constraints were applied during IMRT plan optimization. Because the Gate-IMRT method also has disadvantages such as unsuspected dosimetric variations when applying the gating system and an increased treatment time, it is better to perform a prior analysis of the patient's respiratory condition and the importance and fulfillment of the IMRT plan dose constraints in order to select an optimal IMRT method with which to correct the respiratory organ motional effect.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.61-67
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• 2013

In this study, we developed and evaluated the patient respiration training method which can help to avoid the problems for the limitation of RGRT applicable patient cases. By using the MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical-system) acceleration sensor, we measured movement of motion phantom. We had compared the response of MEMS with commercially introduced real time patient monitoring (RPM) system. We measured the response of the MEMS with 1 dimensional motion phantom movement for 2.5, 3.0, 3.5 second of period and the 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 cm of the amplitudes. The measured period error of the MEMS system was 0.6~6.0% compared with measured period using RPM system. We found that the shape of MEMS signals were similar with RPM system. From this study, we found the possibility of MEMS as patient training system.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.53-60
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• 2002

Motion of lung tumors from respiration has been reported in the literature to be as large as of 1-2 cm. This motion requires an additional margin between the Clinical Target Volume (CTV) and the Planning Target Volume (PTV). While such a margin is necessary, it may not be sufficient to ensure proper delivery of Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) to the CTV during the simultaneous movement of the DMLC. Gated treatment has been proposed to improve normal tissues sparing as well as to ensure accurate dose coverage of the tumor volume. The following questions have not been addressed in the literature: a) what is the dose error to a target volume without gated IMRT treatment\ulcorner b) what is an acceptable gating window for such treatment. In this study, we address these questions by proposing a novel technique for calculating the 3D dose error that would result if a lung IMRT plan were delivered without gating. The method is also generalized for gated treatment with an arbitrary triggering window. IMRT plans for three patients with lung tumor were studied. The treatment plans were generated with HELIOS for delivery with 6 MV on a CL2100 Varian linear accelerator with a 26 pair MLC. A CTV to PTV margin of 1 cm was used. An IMRT planning system searches for an optimized fluence map ${\Phi}$ (x,y) for each port, which is then converted into a dynamic MLC file (DMLC). The DMLC file contains information about MLC subfield shapes and the fractional Monitor Units (MUs) to be delivered for each subfield. With a lung tumor, a CTV that executes a quasi periodic motion z(t) does not receive ${\Phi}$ (x,y), but rather an Effective Incident Fluence EIF(x,y). We numerically evaluate the EIF(x,y) from a given DMLC file by a coordinate transformation to the Target's Eye View (TEV). In the TEV coordinate system, the CTV itself is stationary, and the MLC is seen to execute a motion -z(t) that is superimposed on the DMLC motion. The resulting EIF(x,y)is inputted back into the dose calculation engine to estimate the 3D dose to a moving CTV. In this study, we model respiratory motion as a sinusoidal function with an amplitude of 10 mm in the superior-inferior direction, a period of 5 seconds, and an initial phase of zero.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.73-78
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• 2015

Purpose : Under the assumption of change to the amplitude based sorting, the study will use four dimensional computed tomography imaging (4DCT) arrayed using the phase based sorting to analyze the respiratory phase difference. Materials and Methods : The study analyzed the 4DCT (4-dimensional computed tomography) images of 10 liver cancer patients that were treated with respiratory gated radiotherapy from 2015 February to March. Using RPM respiratory gating (RPM 1.7.5, Varian, USA) equipment, imaging according to respiratory cycle of phase based sorting was acquired and using a treatment planning system (Pinnacle 9.2, Philips, USA) the acquired imaging according to respiratory cycle was used to measure the abdominal movement value by respiratory cycle. The measuring point was the point where the center point of the Marker Block and the body surface met in the 50% phase image and here the coordinate values Lateral, Vertical, Longitudinal (X, Y, Z) were set as reference points, and on the X, Z plane identical to the reference point, using the identical method the Y axis coordinate value of each 0%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 80% phase images were acquired to quantitatively measure the variation of distance to the Y axis. The abdominal movement value according to respiration was applied to the theoretical model that the value decreases linearly from maximum inhalation to maximum exhalation to divide the variation of my value to predict as amplitude value by respiratory cycle and conversely the variation in amplitude was recalculated with the phase variation deviation value to analyze. Results : The deviation value between expected value and actual location was the largest in the 30% phase with 0.24 cm, and standard deviation was also the largest in 30% phase with 0.13 cm. The effective value of the deviation value derived from the average of the deviation squared value of each patient appeared as minimum 0.7 cm, maximum 0.18 cm, average 0.12 cm, and standard deviation 0.4 cm. Also by dividing the actual movement distance value with the peak expiration value then converting it into %Phase, the deviation value with actual phase 16.5% in 30% phase, 10.0% and 40% phase, 10.0% and 60% phase, 15.4% and 80% phase, and overall average about 13%, and arraying based on amplitude, phase shift occurred and further it was from peak expiration the chance of deviation occurrence was increasingly measured. Conclusion : Based on the results of the study there were differences between value acquired based on theoretical model and actual value. Therefore in respiratory gated radiotherapy using external surrogates, there needs to be establishment of respiration gated radiation system that avoids the combination of two Sorting methods considering that there will be occurrence of treatment and corresponding clinical differences due to the phase difference that occur due to the Amplitude based Phase Sorting.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.25-32
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• 2010

Purpose: In radiotherapy that takes into account respiration using a RPM (Real time Position Management, Varian, USA) system, which can treat in consideration of the movement of tumor, infrared reflective markers supplied by manufacturers cannot obtain respiratory signal if the couch rotates at a certain angle or larger. In order to solve this problem, the author developed the 3D infrared reflective marker named 'Kw-marker' that can obtain respiratory signal at any angle, and evaluate its usefulness. Materials and Methods: In order to measure the stability of respiratory signal, we put the infrared reflective marker on the 3D moving phantom that can reproduce respiratory movement and acquired respiratory signal for 3 minutes under each of 3 conditions (A: $couch\;0^{\circ}$, a manufacturer's infrared reflective marker B: $couch\;0^{\circ}$, Kw-marker C: $couch\;90^{\circ}$, Kw-marker). By analyzing the respiratory signal using a breath analysis program (Labview Ver. 7.0), we obtained the peak value, valley value, standard deviation, variation value, and amplitude value. In order to examine the rotation error and moving range of the target, we placed a B.B phantom on the 3D moving phantom, and obtained images at a couch angle of $0^{\circ}$ and $90^{\circ}$ using OBI, and then acquired the X, Y and Z values (mm) of the ball bearing at the center of the B.B phantom. Results: According to the results of analyzing the respiratory signal, the standard deviation at the peak value was A: 0.002, B: 0.002 and C: 0.003, and the stability of respiration for amplitude was A: 0.15%, B: 0.14% and C:0.13%, showing that we could get respiratory signal stably by using the Kw-marker. When the couch rotated $couch\;90^{\circ}$, the mean rotation error of the ball bearing, namely, the target was X: -1.25 mm, Y: -0.45 mm and Z: +0.1 mm, which were within 1.3 mm on the average in all directions, and the difference in the moving range of the target was within 0.3 mm. Conclusion: When we obtained respiratory signal using the Kw-marker in non-coplanar treatment where the couch rotated, we could acquire respiratory signal stably and the Kw-marker was effective enough to substitute for the manufacturer's infrared reflective marker. When the rotation error and moving range of the target were measured, there was little difference, indicating that the displacement of the reflector movement in couch rotation is the cause of change in the scale and amplitude of respiratory signal. If the converted value of amplitude height according to couch angle is studied further and applied, it may be possible to perform non-coplanar phase-based gating treatment.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.127-136
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to perform a dosimetric evaluation of amplitude-based respiratory gating for the delivery of volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). We selected two types of breathing patterns, subjectively among patients with respiratory-gated treatment log files. For patients that showed consistent breathing patterns (CBP) relative to the 4D CT respiration patterns, the variability of the breath-holding position during treatment was observed within the thresholds. However, patients with inconsistent breathing patterns (IBP) show differences relative to those with CBP. The relative isodose distribution was evaluated using an EBT3 film by comparing gated delivery to static delivery, and an absolute dose measurement was performed with a $0.6cm^3$ Farmer-type ion chamber. The passing rate percentages under the 3%/3 mm gamma analysis for Patients 1, 2 and 3 were respectively 93.18%, 91.16%, and 95.46% for CBP, and 66.77%, 48.79%, and 40.36% for IBP. Under the more stringent criteria of 2%/2 mm, passing rates for Patients 1, 2 and 3 were respectively 73.05%, 67.14%, and 86.85% for CBP, and 46.53%, 32.73%, and 36.51% for IBP. The ion chamber measurements were within 3.5%, on average, of those calculated by the TPS and within 2.0%, on average, when compared to the static-point dose measurements for all cases of CBP. Inconsistent breathing patterns between 4D CT simulation and treatment may cause considerable dosimetric differences. Therefore, patient training is important to maintain consistent breathing amplitude during CT scan acquisition and treatment delivery.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.33
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• pp.25-33
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• 2021

Purpose : The purpose of this study is to evaluate the accuracy and usefulness of the Trigger mode for the Respiratory Gated Radiation Therapy (RGRT) Materials and methods : A QUASAR respiratory phantom that inserted a 3 mm fiducial marker (a gold marker) was used to estimate the accuracy of the Trigger mode. And the 20 bpm was used as reference respiration rate in this study. The marker that placed at the center of the phantom was contoured, and the lower threshold of a gating window was fixed at 2.0 mm using an OBI with Truebeam STx^TM. The upper threshold was measured every 0.5 mm from 1.0 mm to 3.0 mm. The respiration rates were changed every 10 bpm from 10 bpm to 60 bpm. We repeatedly measured five times to check the error rate of the trigger mode in the same condition. Result : The differences of a distance from a peak phase to upper threshold, 1.0 to 3.0 mm at a 20 bpm as a reference for 3 days in a row were 0.68±0.05 mm, 0.91±0.03 mm, 1.23±0.03 mm, 1.42±0.04 mm, and 1.66±0.06 mm, respectively. Measurement result of changes in respiratory rate compared to baseline respiratory rate in maximum absolute difference. The coefficient of determination (R2) to estimate the correlation between the respiration velocity and variation of absolute difference was on average 0.838, 0.887, 0.770, 0.850, and 0.906. The p-values of all the variables were below 0.05. Conclusion : Using Trigger mode during respiratory gated radiation therapy (RGRT), accuracy and usefulness of trigger mode at reference breathing rate were confirmed. However, inaccuracies depending on the rate of breathing it could be uncertain in case of respiration rate is faster than 20 bpm as a standard respiration rate compared to slower than 20 bpm. Consequently, when conducting a RGRT using the trigger mode, real time monitoring is required with well educated respiration.