• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.100-109
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• 2014

In stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), the accurate location of treatment sites should be guaranteed from the respiratory motions of patients. Lots of studies on this topic have been conducted. In this letter, a new verification method simulating the real respiratory motion of heterogenous treatment regions was proposed to investigate the accuracy of lung SBRT for Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy. Based on the CT images of lung cancer patients, lung phantoms were fabricated to equip in $QUASAR^{TM}$ respiratory moving phantom using 3D printer. The phantom was bisected in order to measure 2D dose distributions by the insertion of EBT3 film. To ensure the dose calculation accuracy in heterogeneous condition, The homogeneous plastic phantom were also utilized. Two dose algorithms; Analytical Anisotropic Algorithm (AAA) and AcurosXB (AXB) were applied in plan dose calculation processes. In order to evaluate the accuracy of treatments under respiratory motion, we analyzed the gamma index between the plan dose and film dose measured under various moving conditions; static and moving target with or without gating. The CT number of GTV region was 78 HU for real patient and 92 HU for the homemade lung phantom. The gamma pass rates with 3%/3 mm criteria between the plan dose calculated by AAA algorithm and the film doses measured in heterogeneous lung phantom under gated and no gated beam delivery with respiratory motion were 88% and 78%. In static case, 95% of gamma pass rate was presented. In the all cases of homogeneous phantom, the gamma pass rates were more than 99%. Applied AcurosXB algorithm, for heterogeneous phantom, more than 98% and for homogeneous phantom, more than 99% of gamma pass rates were achieved. Since the respiratory amplitude was relatively small and the breath pattern had the longer exhale phase than inhale, the gamma pass rates in 3%/3 mm criteria didn't make any significant difference for various motion conditions. In this study, the new phantom model of 4D dose distribution verification using patient-specific lung phantoms moving in real breathing patterns was successfully implemented. It was also evaluated that the model provides the capability to verify dose distributions delivered in the more realistic condition and also the accuracy of dose calculation.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.109-117
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• 2017

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the change of body shape and the patient alignment state during image-guided volumetric modulated arc therapy in head and neck cancer patients, Materials and Methods: We performed a image-guided volumetric modulated arc therapy plan for 89 patients with head and neck cancer who underwent curative radiotherapy. Ten of them were evaluated for set up error. The landmarks of the ramus, chin, posterior neck, and clavicle were specified using ARIA software (Offline review), and the positional difference was analyzed. Results: The re-CT simulation therapy was performed in 60 men with $17{\pm}4$ cycles of treatment. The weight loss rate was $-6.47{\pm}3.5%$. 29 women performed re-CT simulation at $17{\pm}5$ cycles As a result, weight loss rate was $-5.73{\pm}2.7%$. The distance from skin to C1, C3, and C5 was measured, and both clavicle levels were observed to measure the skin shrinkage changes. The skin shrinkage standard deviations were C1 (${\pm}0.44cm$), C3 (${\pm}0.83cm$), and C5 (${\pm}1.35cm$), which is about 1 mm shrinkage per 0.5 kg reduction. Skin shrinkage according to the number of treatments was 1 ~ 4 fractions (no change), 5 ~ 13 fractions (-2 mm), 14 ~ 22 fractions (-4 mm) and 23 ~ 30 fractions (-6 mm). Conclusion: When the body shape changes about 5 mm, the central dose starts to differ about 3 % or more. Therefore, the CT simulation treatment for the adaptive therapy should be additionally performed. In addition, it is necessary to actively study the CT simulation therapy method and set up method of the lower neck and to examine the use of a new immobilization device.

• 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.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.473-479
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• 2023

In this study, the dose of photoneutrons generated during radiotherapy of prostate cancer using high energy was measured using a photo-stimulated luminescence dosimeter. In addition, this study was intended to study the probability of side effects occurring in the abdomen. A medical linear accelerator capable of generating 15 MV energy, True Beam STx (Varian Medical Systems, USA) and a radiation treatment planning system (Eclipse, Varian Medical Systems, USA) were used. A human body phantom was installed on the couch of the linear accelerator, and an Albedo Neutron Optical Stimulation Luminescence Neutron Detector (Landauer Inc., IL, USA) was used to measure the photoneutron dose. The photoneutron dose value in the abdomen of VMAT and 3C-CRT was 52.8 mSv, more than twice as high as VMAT compared to 3D-CRT. During radiotherapy of prostate cancer, the probability of causing side effects in the abdomen due to light neutron dose was calculated to be 3.2 per 1,000 for VMAT and 1.4 for 3D-CRT. By studying the abdomen, which has a major side effect that can occur during radiotherapy of prostate cancer, it is expected that it will be used as a meaningful study to study the quality of life and stochastic effect of prostate cancer patients

• 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.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.127-132
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• 2013

The position of the internal organs can change continually and periodically inside the body due to the respiration. To reduce the respiration induced uncertainty of dose localization, one can use a respiratory gated radiotherapy where a radiation beam is exposed during the specific time of period. The main disadvantage of this method is that it usually requests a long treatment time, the massive effort during the treatment and the limitation of the patient selection. In this sense, the combination of the real-time position management (RPM) system and the volumetric intensity modulated radiotherapy (RapidArc) is promising since it provides a short treatment time compared with the conventional respiratory gated treatments. In this study, we evaluated the accuracy of the respiratory gated RapidArc treatment. Total sic patient cases were used for this study and each case was planned by RapidArc technique using varian ECLIPSE v8.6 planning machine. For the Quality Assurance (QA), a MatriXX detector and I'mRT software were used. The results show that more than 97% of area gives the gamma value less than one with 3% dose and 3 mm distance to agreement condition, which indicates the measured dose is well matched with the treatment plan's dose distribution for the gated RapidArc treatment cases.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.33
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• pp.127-135
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• 2021

Purpose : The purpose of the study is to evaluate the efficiency of Vertical MLC VMAT plan(VMV plan) Using 273° and 350° collimator angle compare to Complemental MLC VMAT plan(CMV plan) using 20° and 340° collimator angle for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Materials & Methods : Thirty patients treated for nasopharyngeal carcinoma with the VMAT technique were retrospectively selected. Those cases were planned by Eclipse, PO and AcurosXB Algorithm with two 6MV 360° arcs and Each arc has 273° and 350° of collimator angle. The Complemental MLC VMAT plans are based on existing treatment plans. Those plans have the same parameters of existing treatment plans but collimator angle. For dosimetric evaluation, the dose-volumetric(DV) parameters of the planning target volume (PTV) and organs at risk (OARs) were calculated for all VMAT plans. MCSv(Modulation complexity score of VMAT), MU and treatment time were also compared. In addition, Pearson's correlation analysis was performed to confirm whether there was a correlation between the difference in the MCSv and the difference in each evaluation index of the two treatment plans. Result : In the case of PTV evaluation index, the CI of PTV_67.5 was improved by 3.76% in the VMV Plan, then for OAR, the dose reduction effect of the spinal cord (-14.05%) and brain stem (-9.34%) was remarkable. In addition, the parotid glands (left parotid : -5.38%, right : -5.97%) and visual organs (left optic nerve: -4.88%, right optic nerve: -5.80%, optic chiasm : -6.12%, left lens: -6.12%, right lens: -5.26%), auditory organs (left: -11.74%, right: -12.31%) and thyroid gland (-2.02%) were also confirmed. The difference in MCSv of the two treatment plans showed a significant negative (-) correlation with the difference in CI (r=-0.55) of PTV_54 and the difference in CI (r=-0.43) of PTV_48. Spinal cord (r=0.40), brain stem (r=0.34), and both salivary glands (left: r=0.36, right: r=0.37) showed a positive (+) correlation. (For all the values, p<.05) Conclusion : Compared to the CMV plan, the VMV plan is considered to be helpful in improving the quality of the treatment plan by allowing the MLC to be modulated more efficiently

• Journal of the Korean Physical Society
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• v.73 no.10
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• pp.1571-1576
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• 2018

We developed and evaluated an algorithm to calculate the target radiation dose in cancer patients by measuring the transmitted dose during 3D conformal radiation treatment (3D-CRT) treatment. The patient target doses were calculated from the transit dose, which was measured using a glass dosimeter positioned 150 cm from the source. The accuracy of the transit dose algorithm was evaluated using a solid water phantom for five patient treatment plans. We performed transit dose-based patient dose verification during the actual treatment of 34 patients who underwent 3D-CRT. These included 17 patients with breast cancer, 11 with pelvic cancer, and 6 with other cancers. In the solid water phantom study, the difference between the transit dosimetry algorithm with the treatment planning system (TPS) and the measurement was $-0.10{\pm}1.93%$. In the clinical study, this difference was $0.94{\pm}4.13%$ for the patients with 17 breast cancers, $-0.11{\pm}3.50%$ for the eight with rectal cancer, $0.51{\pm}5.10%$ for the four with bone cancer, and $0.91{\pm}3.69%$ for the other five. These results suggest that transit-dosimetry-based in-room patient dose verification is a useful application for 3D-CRT. We expect that this technique will be widely applicable for patient safety in the treatment room through improvements in the transit dosimetry algorithm for complicated treatment techniques (including intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) or volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT).

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.137-142
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• 2018

This study aimed to evaluate and verify a process for correcting the extended source-to-imager distance (SID) in portal dosimetry (PD). In this study, eight treatment plans (four volumetric modulated arc therapy and four intensity-modulated radiation therapy plans) at different treatment sites and beam energies were selected for measurement. A Varian PD system with portal dose image prediction (PDIP) was used for the measurement and verification. To verify the integrity of the plan, independent measurements were performed with the MapCHECK device. The predicted and measured fluence were evaluated using the gamma passing rate. The output ratio was defined as the ratio of the absolute dose of the reference SID (100 cm) to that of each SID (120 cm or 140 cm). The measured fluence for each SID was absolutely and relatively compared. The average SID output ratios were 0.687 and 0.518 for 120 SID and 140 SID, respectively; the ratio showed less than 1% agreement with the calculation obtained by using the inverse square law. The resolution of the acquired EPIDs were 0.336, 0.280, and 0.240 for 100, 120, and 140 SID, respectively. The gamma passing rates with PD and MapCHECK exceeded 98% for all treatment plans and SIDs. When autoalignment was performed in PD, the X-offset showed no change, and the Y-offset decreased with increasing SID. The PD-generated PDIP can be used for extended SID without additional correction.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.125-134
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• 2014

This study is to provide basic information regarding photoneutron doses in terms of radiation treatment techniques and the number of portals in intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) by measuring the photoneutron doses. Subjects of experiment were 10 patients who were diagnosed with prostate cancer and have received radiation treatment for 5 months from September 2013 to January 2014 in the department of radiation oncology in S hospital located in Seoul. Thus, radiation treatment plans were created for 3-Dimensional Conformal Radiotherapy (3D-CRT), Volumetric-Modulated Arc Radiotherapy (VMAT), IMRT 5, 7, and 9 portals. The average difference of photoneutron dose was compared through descriptive statistics and variance analysis, and analyzed influence factors through correlation analysis and regression analysis. In summarized results, 3D-CRT showed the lowest average photoneutron dose, while IMRT caused the highest dose with statistically significance (p <.01). The photoneutron dose by number of portals of IMRT was $4.37{\pm}1.08mSv$ in average and statistically showed very significant difference among the number of portals (p <.01). Number of portals and photoneutron dose are shown that the correlation coefficient is 0.570, highly statistically significant positive correlation (p <.01). As a result of the linear regression analysis of number of portals and photoneutron dose, it showed that photoneutron dose significantly increased by 0.373 times in average as the number of portals increased by 1 stage. In conclusion, this study can be expected to be used as a quantitative basic data to select an appropriate IMRT plans regarding photoneutron dose in radiation treatment for prostate cancer.