Sample records for dosimetry study evaluating

  1. Quantitative evaluation of patient-specific quality assurance using online dosimetry system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jung, Jae-Yong; Shin, Young-Ju; Sohn, Seung-Chang; Min, Jung-Whan; Kim, Yon-Lae; Kim, Dong-Su; Choe, Bo-Young; Suh, Tae-Suk

    2018-01-01

    In this study, we investigated the clinical performance of an online dosimetry system (Mobius FX system, MFX) by 1) dosimetric plan verification using gamma passing rates and dose volume metrics and 2) error-detection capability evaluation by deliberately introduced machine error. Eighteen volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans were studied. To evaluate the clinical performance of the MFX, we used gamma analysis and dose volume histogram (DVH) analysis. In addition, to evaluate the error-detection capability, we used gamma analysis and DVH analysis utilizing three types of deliberately introduced errors (Type 1: gantry angle-independent multi-leaf collimator (MLC) error, Type 2: gantry angle-dependent MLC error, and Type 3: gantry angle error). A dosimetric verification comparison of physical dosimetry system (Delt4PT) and online dosimetry system (MFX), gamma passing rates of the two dosimetry systems showed very good agreement with treatment planning system (TPS) calculation. For the average dose difference between the TPS calculation and the MFX measurement, most of the dose metrics showed good agreement within a tolerance of 3%. For the error-detection comparison of Delta4PT and MFX, the gamma passing rates of the two dosimetry systems did not meet the 90% acceptance criterion with the magnitude of error exceeding 2 mm and 1.5 ◦, respectively, for error plans of Types 1, 2, and 3. For delivery with all error types, the average dose difference of PTV due to error magnitude showed good agreement between calculated TPS and measured MFX within 1%. Overall, the results of the online dosimetry system showed very good agreement with those of the physical dosimetry system. Our results suggest that a log file-based online dosimetry system is a very suitable verification tool for accurate and efficient clinical routines for patient-specific quality assurance (QA).

  2. Evaluation of Dosimetry Check software for IMRT patient-specific quality assurance.

    PubMed

    Narayanasamy, Ganesh; Zalman, Travis; Ha, Chul S; Papanikolaou, Niko; Stathakis, Sotirios

    2015-05-08

    The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of the Dosimetry Check system for patient-specific IMRT QA. Typical QA methods measure the dose in an array dosimeter surrounded by homogenous medium for which the treatment plan has been recomputed. With the Dosimetry Check system, fluence measurements acquired on a portal dosimeter is applied to the patient's CT scans. Instead of making dose comparisons in a plane, Dosimetry Check system produces isodose lines and dose-volume histograms based on the planning CT images. By exporting the dose distribution from the treatment planning system into the Dosimetry Check system, one is able to make a direct comparison between the calculated dose and the planned dose. The versatility of the software is evaluated with respect to the two IMRT techniques - step and shoot and volumetric arc therapy. The system analyzed measurements made using EPID, PTW seven29, and IBA MatriXX, and an intercomparison study was performed. Plans from patients previously treated at our institution with treated anatomical site on brain, head & neck, liver, lung, and prostate were analyzed using Dosimetry Check system for any anatomical site dependence. We have recommendations and possible precautions that may be necessary to ensure proper QA with the Dosimetry Check system.

  3. Evaluation and implementation of triple‐channel radiochromic film dosimetry in brachytherapy

    PubMed Central

    Bradley, David; Nisbet, Andrew

    2014-01-01

    The measurement of dose distributions in clinical brachytherapy, for the purpose of quality control, commissioning or dosimetric audit, is challenging and requires development. Radiochromic film dosimetry with a commercial flatbed scanner may be suitable, but careful methodologies are required to control various sources of uncertainty. Triple‐channel dosimetry has recently been utilized in external beam radiotherapy to improve the accuracy of film dosimetry, but its use in brachytherapy, with characteristic high maximum doses, steep dose gradients, and small scales, has been less well researched. We investigate the use of advanced film dosimetry techniques for brachytherapy dosimetry, evaluating uncertainties and assessing the mitigation afforded by triple‐channel dosimetry. We present results on postirradiation film darkening, lateral scanner effect, film surface perturbation, film active layer thickness, film curling, and examples of the measurement of clinical brachytherapy dose distributions. The lateral scanner effect in brachytherapy film dosimetry can be very significant, up to 23% dose increase at 14 Gy, at ± 9 cm lateral from the scanner axis for simple single‐channel dosimetry. Triple‐channel dosimetry mitigates the effect, but still limits the useable width of a typical scanner to less than 8 cm at high dose levels to give dose uncertainty to within 1%. Triple‐channel dosimetry separates dose and dose‐independent signal components, and effectively removes disturbances caused by film thickness variation and surface perturbations in the examples considered in this work. The use of reference dose films scanned simultaneously with brachytherapy test films is recommended to account for scanner variations from calibration conditions. Postirradiation darkening, which is a continual logarithmic function with time, must be taken into account between the reference and test films. Finally, films must be flat when scanned to avoid the Callier

  4. Nuclear accident dosimetry intercomparison studies

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sims, C.S.

    1989-09-01

    Twenty-two nuclear accident dosimetry intercomparison studies utilizing the fast-pulse Health Physics Research Reactor at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been conducted since 1965. These studies have provided a total of 62 different organizations a forum for discussion of criticality accident dosimetry, an opportunity to test their neutron and gamma-ray dosimetry systems under a variety of simulated criticality accident conditions, and the experience of comparing results with reference dose values as well as with the measured results obtained by others making measurements under identical conditions. Sixty-nine nuclear accidents (27 with unmoderated neutron energy spectra and 42 with eight different shieldedmore » spectra) have been simulated in the studies. Neutron doses were in the 0.2-8.5 Gy range and gamma doses in the 0.1-2.0 Gy range. A total of 2,289 dose measurements (1,311 neutron, 978 gamma) were made during the intercomparisons. The primary methods of neutron dosimetry were activation foils, thermoluminescent dosimeters, and blood sodium activation. The main methods of gamma dose measurement were thermoluminescent dosimeters, radiophotoluminescent glass, and film. About 68% of the neutron measurements met the accuracy guidelines (+/- 25%) and about 52% of the gamma measurements met the accuracy criterion (+/- 20%) for accident dosimetry.« less

  5. Evaluation of radiochromic gel dosimetry and polymer gel dosimetry in a clinical dose verification

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vandecasteele, Jan; De Deene, Yves

    2013-09-01

    A quantitative comparison of two full three-dimensional (3D) gel dosimetry techniques was assessed in a clinical setting: radiochromic gel dosimetry with an in-house developed optical laser CT scanner and polymer gel dosimetry with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). To benchmark both gel dosimeters, they were exposed to a 6 MV photon beam and the depth dose was compared against a diamond detector measurement that served as golden standard. Both gel dosimeters were found accurate within 4% accuracy. In the 3D dose matrix of the radiochromic gel, hotspot dose deviations up to 8% were observed which are attributed to the fabrication procedure. The polymer gel readout was shown to be sensitive to B0 field and B1 field non-uniformities as well as temperature variations during scanning. The performance of the two gel dosimeters was also evaluated for a brain tumour IMRT treatment. Both gel measured dose distributions were compared against treatment planning system predicted dose maps which were validated independently with ion chamber measurements and portal dosimetry. In the radiochromic gel measurement, two sources of deviations could be identified. Firstly, the dose in a cluster of voxels near the edge of the phantom deviated from the planned dose. Secondly, the presence of dose hotspots in the order of 10% related to inhomogeneities in the gel limit the clinical acceptance of this dosimetry technique. Based on the results of the micelle gel dosimeter prototype presented here, chemical optimization will be subject of future work. Polymer gel dosimetry is capable of measuring the absolute dose in the whole 3D volume within 5% accuracy. A temperature stabilization technique is incorporated to increase the accuracy during short measurements, however keeping the temperature stable during long measurement times in both calibration phantoms and the volumetric phantom is more challenging. The sensitivity of MRI readout to minimal temperature fluctuations is demonstrated which

  6. Evaluation and mitigation of potential errors in radiochromic film dosimetry due to film curvature at scanning.

    PubMed

    Palmer, Antony L; Bradley, David A; Nisbet, Andrew

    2015-03-08

    This work considers a previously overlooked uncertainty present in film dosimetry which results from moderate curvature of films during the scanning process. Small film samples are particularly susceptible to film curling which may be undetected or deemed insignificant. In this study, we consider test cases with controlled induced curvature of film and with film raised horizontally above the scanner plate. We also evaluate the difference in scans of a film irradiated with a typical brachytherapy dose distribution with the film naturally curved and with the film held flat on the scanner. Typical naturally occurring curvature of film at scanning, giving rise to a maximum height 1 to 2 mm above the scan plane, may introduce dose errors of 1% to 4%, and considerably reduce gamma evaluation passing rates when comparing film-measured doses with treatment planning system-calculated dose distributions, a common application of film dosimetry in radiotherapy. The use of a triple-channel dosimetry algorithm appeared to mitigate the error due to film curvature compared to conventional single-channel film dosimetry. The change in pixel value and calibrated reported dose with film curling or height above the scanner plate may be due to variations in illumination characteristics, optical disturbances, or a Callier-type effect. There is a clear requirement for physically flat films at scanning to avoid the introduction of a substantial error source in film dosimetry. Particularly for small film samples, a compression glass plate above the film is recommended to ensure flat-film scanning. This effect has been overlooked to date in the literature.

  7. Feasibility study on dosimetry verification of volumetric-modulated arc therapy-based total marrow irradiation.

    PubMed

    Liang, Yun; Kim, Gwe-Ya; Pawlicki, Todd; Mundt, Arno J; Mell, Loren K

    2013-03-04

    The purpose of this study was to develop dosimetry verification procedures for volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT)-based total marrow irradiation (TMI). The VMAT based TMI plans were generated for three patients: one child and two adults. The planning target volume (PTV) was defined as bony skeleton, from head to mid-femur, with a 3 mm margin. The plan strategy similar to published studies was adopted. The PTV was divided into head and neck, chest, and pelvic regions, with separate plans each of which is composed of 2-3 arcs/fields. Multiple isocenters were evenly distributed along the patient's axial direction. The focus of this study is to establish a dosimetry quality assurance procedure involving both two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) volumetric verifications, which is desirable for a large PTV treated with multiple isocenters. The 2D dose verification was performed with film for gamma evaluation and absolute point dose was measured with ion chamber, with attention to the junction between neighboring plans regarding hot/cold spots. The 3D volumetric dose verification used commercial dose reconstruction software to reconstruct dose from electronic portal imaging devices (EPID) images. The gamma evaluation criteria in both 2D and 3D verification were 5% absolute point dose difference and 3 mm of distance to agreement. With film dosimetry, the overall average gamma passing rate was 98.2% and absolute dose difference was 3.9% in junction areas among the test patients; with volumetric portal dosimetry, the corresponding numbers were 90.7% and 2.4%. A dosimetry verification procedure involving both 2D and 3D was developed for VMAT-based TMI. The initial results are encouraging and warrant further investigation in clinical trials.

  8. Evaluation and mitigation of potential errors in radiochromic film dosimetry due to film curvature at scanning

    PubMed Central

    Bradley, David A.; Nisbet, Andrew

    2015-01-01

    This work considers a previously overlooked uncertainty present in film dosimetry which results from moderate curvature of films during the scanning process. Small film samples are particularly susceptible to film curling which may be undetected or deemed insignificant. In this study, we consider test cases with controlled induced curvature of film and with film raised horizontally above the scanner plate. We also evaluate the difference in scans of a film irradiated with a typical brachytherapy dose distribution with the film naturally curved and with the film held flat on the scanner. Typical naturally occurring curvature of film at scanning, giving rise to a maximum height 1 to 2 mm above the scan plane, may introduce dose errors of 1% to 4%, and considerably reduce gamma evaluation passing rates when comparing film‐measured doses with treatment planning system‐calculated dose distributions, a common application of film dosimetry in radiotherapy. The use of a triple‐channel dosimetry algorithm appeared to mitigate the error due to film curvature compared to conventional single‐channel film dosimetry. The change in pixel value and calibrated reported dose with film curling or height above the scanner plate may be due to variations in illumination characteristics, optical disturbances, or a Callier‐type effect. There is a clear requirement for physically flat films at scanning to avoid the introduction of a substantial error source in film dosimetry. Particularly for small film samples, a compression glass plate above the film is recommended to ensure flat‐film scanning. This effect has been overlooked to date in the literature. PACS numbers: 87.55.Qr, 87.56.bg, 87.55.km PMID:26103181

  9. The effects of small field dosimetry on the biological models used in evaluating IMRT dose distributions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cardarelli, Gene A.

    The primary goal in radiation oncology is to deliver lethal radiation doses to tumors, while minimizing dose to normal tissue. IMRT has the capability to increase the dose to the targets and decrease the dose to normal tissue, increasing local control, decrease toxicity and allow for effective dose escalation. This advanced technology does present complex dose distributions that are not easily verified. Furthermore, the dose inhomogeneity caused by non-uniform dose distributions seen in IMRT treatments has caused the development of biological models attempting to characterize the dose-volume effect in the response of organized tissues to radiation. Dosimetry of small fields can be quite challenging when measuring dose distributions for high-energy X-ray beams used in IMRT. The proper modeling of these small field distributions is essential in reproducing accurate dose for IMRT. This evaluation was conducted to quantify the effects of small field dosimetry on IMRT plan dose distributions and the effects on four biological model parameters. The four biological models evaluated were: (1) the generalized Equivalent Uniform Dose (gEUD), (2) the Tumor Control Probability (TCP), (3) the Normal Tissue Complication Probability (NTCP) and (4) the Probability of uncomplicated Tumor Control (P+). These models are used to estimate local control, survival, complications and uncomplicated tumor control. This investigation compares three distinct small field dose algorithms. Dose algorithms were created using film, small ion chamber, and a combination of ion chamber measurements and small field fitting parameters. Due to the nature of uncertainties in small field dosimetry and the dependence of biological models on dose volume information, this examination quantifies the effects of small field dosimetry techniques on radiobiological models and recommends pathways to reduce the errors in using these models to evaluate IMRT dose distributions. This study demonstrates the importance

  10. Hanford internal dosimetry program manual

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Carbaugh, E.H.; Sula, M.J.; Bihl, D.E.

    1989-10-01

    This document describes the Hanford Internal Dosimetry program. Program Services include administrating the bioassay monitoring program, evaluating and documenting assessments of internal exposure and dose, ensuring that analytical laboratories conform to requirements, selecting and applying appropriate models and procedures for evaluating internal radionuclide deposition and the resulting dose, and technically guiding and supporting Hanford contractors in matters regarding internal dosimetry. 13 refs., 16 figs., 42 tabs.

  11. SU-E-T-624: Quantitative Evaluation of 2D Versus 3D Dosimetry for Stereotactic Volumetric Modulated Arc Delivery Using COMPASS

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Vikraman, S; Karrthick, K; Rajesh, T

    2014-06-15

    Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate quantitatively 2D versus 3D dosimetry for stereotactic volumetric modulated arc delivery using COMPASS with 2D array. Methods: Twenty-five patients CT images and RT structures of different sites like brain, head and neck, thorax, abdomen and spine were taken from Multiplan planning system for this study. All these patients underwent radical stereotactic treatment in Cyberknife. For each patient, linac based VMAT stereotactic plans were generated in Monaco TPS v 3.1 using Elekta Beam Modulator MLC. Dose prescription was in the range of 5-20Gy/fraction.TPS calculated VMAT plan delivery accuracy was quantitatively evaluated withmore » COMPASS measured dose and calculated dose based on DVH metrics. In order to ascertain the potential of COMPASS 3D dosimetry for stereotactic plan delivery, 2D fluence verification was performed with MatriXX using Multicube. Results: For each site, D{sub 9} {sub 5} was achieved with 100% of prescription dose with maximum 0.05SD. Conformity index (CI) was observed closer to 1.15 in all cases. Maximum deviation of 2.62 % was observed for D{sub 9} {sub 5} when compared TPS versus COMPASS measured. Considerable deviations were observed in head and neck cases compare to other sites. The maximum mean and standard deviation for D{sub 9} {sub 5}, average target dose and average gamma were -0.78±1.72, -1.10±1.373 and 0.39±0.086 respectively. Numbers of pixels passing 2D fluence verification were observed as a mean of 99.36% ±0.455 SD with 3% dose difference and 3mm DTA. For critical organs in head and neck cases, significant dose differences were observed in 3D dosimetry while the target doses were matched well within limit in both 2D and 3D dosimetry. Conclusion: The quantitative evaluations of 2D versus 3D dosimetry for stereotactic volumetric modulated plans showed the potential of highlighting the delivery errors. This study reveals that COMPASS 3D dosimetry is an effective tool for

  12. Topical Review: Polymer gel dosimetry

    PubMed Central

    Baldock, C; De Deene, Y; Doran, S; Ibbott, G; Jirasek, A; Lepage, M; McAuley, K B; Oldham, M; Schreiner, L J

    2010-01-01

    Polymer gel dosimeters are fabricated from radiation sensitive chemicals which, upon irradiation, polymerize as a function of the absorbed radiation dose. These gel dosimeters, with the capacity to uniquely record the radiation dose distribution in three-dimensions (3D), have specific advantages when compared to one-dimensional dosimeters, such as ion chambers, and two-dimensional dosimeters, such as film. These advantages are particularly significant in dosimetry situations where steep dose gradients exist such as in intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and stereotactic radiosurgery. Polymer gel dosimeters also have specific advantages for brachytherapy dosimetry. Potential dosimetry applications include those for low-energy x-rays, high-linear energy transfer (LET) and proton therapy, radionuclide and boron capture neutron therapy dosimetries. These 3D dosimeters are radiologically soft-tissue equivalent with properties that may be modified depending on the application. The 3D radiation dose distribution in polymer gel dosimeters may be imaged using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), optical-computerized tomography (optical-CT), x-ray CT or ultrasound. The fundamental science underpinning polymer gel dosimetry is reviewed along with the various evaluation techniques. Clinical dosimetry applications of polymer gel dosimetry are also presented. PMID:20150687

  13. Evaluation of a LED-based flatbed document scanner for radiochromic film dosimetry in transmission mode.

    PubMed

    Lárraga-Gutiérrez, José Manuel; García-Garduño, Olivia Amanda; Treviño-Palacios, Carlos; Herrera-González, José Alfredo

    2018-03-01

    Flatbed scanners are the most frequently used reading instrument for radiochromic film dosimetry because its low cost, high spatial resolution, among other advantages. These scanners use a fluorescent lamp and a CCD array as light source and detector, respectively. Recently, manufacturers of flatbed scanners replaced the fluorescent lamp by light emission diodes (LED) as a light source. The goal of this work is to evaluate the performance of a commercial flatbed scanner with LED based source light for radiochromic film dosimetry. Film read out consistency, response uniformity, film-scanner sensitivity, long term stability and total dose uncertainty was evaluated. In overall, the performance of the LED flatbed scanner is comparable to that of a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL). There are important spectral differences between LED and CCFL lamps that results in a higher sensitivity of the LED scanner in the green channel. Total dose uncertainty, film response reproducibility and long-term stability of LED scanner are slightly better than those of the CCFL. However, the LED based scanner has a strong non-uniform response, up to 9%, that must be adequately corrected for radiotherapy dosimetry QA. The differences in light emission spectra between LED and CCFL lamps and its potential impact on film-scanner sensitivity suggest that the design of a dedicated flat-bed scanner with LEDs may improve sensitivity and dose uncertainty in radiochromic film dosimetry. Copyright © 2018 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Workshop report on atomic bomb dosimetry-residual radiation exposure: recent research and suggestions for future studies.

    PubMed

    Kerr, George D; Egbert, Stephen D; Al-Nabulsi, Isaf; Beck, Harold L; Cullings, Harry M; Endo, Satoru; Hoshi, Masaharu; Imanaka, Tetsuji; Kaul, Dean C; Maruyama, Satoshi; Reeves, Glen I; Ruehm, Werner; Sakaguchi, Aya; Simon, Steven L; Spriggs, Gregory D; Stram, Daniel O; Tonda, Tetsuji; Weiss, Joseph F; Weitz, Ronald L; Young, Robert W

    2013-08-01

    There is a need for accurate dosimetry for studies of health effects in the Japanese atomic bomb survivors because of the important role that these studies play in worldwide radiation protection standards. International experts have developed dosimetry systems, such as the Dosimetry System 2002 (DS02), which assess the initial radiation exposure to gamma rays and neutrons but only briefly consider the possibility of some minimal contribution to the total body dose by residual radiation exposure. In recognition of the need for an up-to-date review of the topic of residual radiation exposure in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, recently reported studies were reviewed at a technical session at the 57th Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society in Sacramento, California, 22-26 July 2012. A one-day workshop was also held to provide time for detailed discussion of these newer studies and to evaluate their potential use in clarifying the residual radiation exposures to the atomic-bomb survivors at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Suggestions for possible future studies are also included in this workshop report.

  15. Workshop Report on Atomic Bomb Dosimetry--Residual Radiation Exposure: Recent Research and Suggestions for Future Studies

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    None

    2013-06-06

    There is a need for accurate dosimetry for studies of health effects in the Japanese atomic bomb survivors because of the important role that these studies play in worldwide radiation protection standards. International experts have developed dosimetry systems, such as the Dosimetry System 2002 (DS02), which assess the initial radiation exposure to gamma rays and neutrons but only briefly consider the possibility of some minimal contribution to the total body dose by residual radiation exposure. In recognition of the need for an up-to-date review of the topic of residual radiation exposure in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, recently reported studies were reviewedmore » at a technical session at the 57th Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society in Sacramento, California, 22-26 July 2012. A one-day workshop was also held to provide time for detailed discussion of these newer studies and to evaluate their potential use in clarifying the residual radiation exposures to the atomic-bomb survivors at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Suggestions for possible future studies are also included in this workshop report.« less

  16. Reactor Dosimetry State of the Art 2008

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Voorbraak, Wim; Debarberis, Luigi; D'Hondt, Pierre; Wagemans, Jan

    2009-08-01

    data, damage correlations. Two-dimensional mapping of the calculated fission power for the full-size fuel plate experiment irradiated in the advanced test reactor / G. S. Chang and M. A. Lillo. The radiation safety information computational center: a resource for reactor dosimetry software and nuclear data / B. L. Kirk. Irradiated xenon isotopic ratio measurement for failed fuel detection and location in fast reactor / C. Ito, T. Iguchi and H. Harano. Characterization of dosimetry of the BMRR horizontal thimble tubes and broad beam facility / J.-P. Hu, R. N. Reciniello and N. E. Holden. 2007 nuclear data review / N. E. Holden. Further dosimetry studies at the Rhode Island nuclear science / R. N. Reciniello ... [et al.]. Characterization of neutron fields in the experimental fast reactor Joyo MK-III core / S. Maeda ... [et al.]. Measuring [symbol]Li(n, t) and [symbol]B(n, [symbol]) cross sections using the NIST alpha-gamma apparatus / M. S. Dewey ... [et al.]. Improvement of neutron/gamma field evaluation for restart of JMTR / Y. Nagao ... [et al.]. Monitoring of the irradiated neutron fluence in the neutron transmutation doping process of HANARO / M.-S. Kim and S.-J. Park.Training reactor VR-l neutron spectrum determination / M. Vins, A. Kolros and K. Katovsky. Differential cross sections for gamma-ray production by 14 MeV neutrons on iron and bismuth / V. M. Bondar ... [et al.]. The measurements of the differential elastic neutron cross-sections of carbon for energies from 2 to 133 ke V / O. Gritzay ... [et al.]. Determination of neutron spectrum by the dosimetry foil method up to 35 Me V / S. P. Simakov ... [et al.]. Extension of the BGL broad group cross section library / D. Kirilova, S. Belousov and Kr. Ilieva. Measurements of neutron capture cross-section for tantalum at the neutron filtered beams / O. Gritzayand V. Libman. Measurements of microscopic data at GELINA in support of dosimetry / S. Kopecky ... [et al.]. Nuclide guide and international chart of

  17. Evaluation of a 3D diamond detector for medical radiation dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kanxheri, K.; Servoli, L.; Oh, A.; Munoz Sanchez, F.; Forcolin, G. T.; Murphy, S. A.; Aitkenhead, A.; Moore, C. J.; Morozzi, A.; Passeri, D.; Bellini, M.; Corsi, C.; Lagomarsino, S.; Sciortino, S.

    2017-01-01

    Synthetic diamond has several properties that are particularly suited to applications in medical radiation dosimetry. It is tissue equivalent, not toxic and shows a high resistance to radiation damage, low leakage current and stability of response. It is an electrical insulator, robust and realizable in small size; due to these features there are several examples of diamond devices, mainly planar single-crystalline chemical vapor depositation (sCVD) diamond, used for relative dose measurement in photon beams. Thanks to a new emerging technology, diamond devices with 3-dimensional structures are produced by using laser pulses to create graphitic paths in the diamond bulk. The necessary bias voltage to operate such detector decreases considerably while the signal response and radiation resistance increase. In order to evaluate the suitability of this new technology for measuring the dose delivered by radiotherapy beams in oncology a 3D polycrystalline (pCVD) diamond detector designed for single charged particle detection has been tested and the photon beam profile has been studied. The good linearity and high sensitivity to the dose observed in the 3D diamond, opens the way to the possibility of realizing a finely segmented device with the potential for dose distribution measurement in a single exposure for small field dosimetry that nowadays is still extremely challenging.

  18. A comprehensive evaluation of the PRESAGE/optical-CT 3D dosimetry system

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sakhalkar, H. S.; Adamovics, J.; Ibbott, G.

    2009-01-15

    This work presents extensive investigations to evaluate the robustness (intradosimeter consistency and temporal stability of response), reproducibility, precision, and accuracy of a relatively new 3D dosimetry system comprising a leuco-dye doped plastic 3D dosimeter (PRESAGE) and a commercial optical-CT scanner (OCTOPUS 5x scanner from MGS Research, Inc). Four identical PRESAGE 3D dosimeters were created such that they were compatible with the Radiologic Physics Center (RPC) head-and-neck (H and N) IMRT credentialing phantom. Each dosimeter was irradiated with a rotationally symmetric arrangement of nine identical small fields (1x3 cm{sup 2}) impinging on the flat circular face of the dosimeter. A repetitiousmore » sequence of three dose levels (4, 2.88, and 1.28 Gy) was delivered. The rotationally symmetric treatment resulted in a dose distribution with high spatial variation in axial planes but only gradual variation with depth along the long axis of the dosimeter. The significance of this treatment was that it facilitated accurate film dosimetry in the axial plane, for independent verification. Also, it enabled rigorous evaluation of robustness, reproducibility and accuracy of response, at the three dose levels. The OCTOPUS 5x commercial scanner was used for dose readout from the dosimeters at daily time intervals. The use of improved optics and acquisition technique yielded substantially improved noise characteristics (reduced to {approx}2%) than has been achieved previously. Intradosimeter uniformity of radiochromic response was evaluated by calculating a 3D gamma comparison between each dosimeter and axially rotated copies of the same dosimeter. This convenient technique exploits the rotational symmetry of the distribution. All points in the gamma comparison passed a 2% difference, 1 mm distance-to-agreement criteria indicating excellent intradosimeter uniformity even at low dose levels. Postirradiation, the dosimeters were all found to exhibit a slight

  19. Evaluation of a single-scan protocol for radiochromic film dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Shimohigashi, Yoshinobu; Araki, Fujio; Maruyama, Masato; Nakaguchi, Yuji; Kuwahara, Satoshi; Nagasue, Nozomu; Kai, Yudai

    2015-03-08

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate a single-scan protocol using Gafchromic EBT3 film (EBT3) by comparing it with the commonly used 24-hr measurement protocol for radiochromic film dosimetry. Radiochromic film is generally scanned 24 hr after film exposure (24-hr protocol). The single-scan protocol enables measurement results within a short time using only the verification film, one calibration film, and unirradiated film. The single-scan protocol was scanned 30 min after film irradiation. The EBT3 calibration curves were obtained with the multichannel film dosimetry method. The dose verifications for each protocol were performed with the step pattern, pyramid pattern, and clinical treatment plans for intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). The absolute dose distributions for each protocol were compared with those calculated by the treatment planning system (TPS) using gamma evaluation at 3% and 3 mm. The dose distribution for the single-scan protocol was within 2% of the 24-hr protocol dose distribution. For the step pattern, the absolute dose discrepancies between the TPS for the single-scan and 24-hr protocols were 2.0 ± 1.8 cGy and 1.4 ± 1.2 cGy at the dose plateau, respectively. The pass rates were 96.0% for the single-scan protocol and 95.9% for the 24-hr protocol. Similarly, the dose discrepancies for the pyramid pattern were 3.6 ± 3.5cGy and 2.9 ± 3.3 cGy, respectively, while the pass rates for the pyramid pattern were 95.3% and 96.4%, respectively. The average pass rates for the four IMRT plans were 96.7% ± 1.8% for the single-scan protocol and 97.3% ± 1.4% for the 24-hr protocol. Thus, the single-scan protocol measurement is useful for dose verification of IMRT, based on its accuracy and efficiency.

  20. Internal dosimetry technical basis manual

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Not Available

    1990-12-20

    The internal dosimetry program at the Savannah River Site (SRS) consists of radiation protection programs and activities used to detect and evaluate intakes of radioactive material by radiation workers. Examples of such programs are: air monitoring; surface contamination monitoring; personal contamination surveys; radiobioassay; and dose assessment. The objectives of the internal dosimetry program are to demonstrate that the workplace is under control and that workers are not being exposed to radioactive material, and to detect and assess inadvertent intakes in the workplace. The Savannah River Site Internal Dosimetry Technical Basis Manual (TBM) is intended to provide a technical and philosophicalmore » discussion of the radiobioassay and dose assessment aspects of the internal dosimetry program. Detailed information on air, surface, and personal contamination surveillance programs is not given in this manual except for how these programs interface with routine and special bioassay programs.« less

  1. Quantitative evaluation of 3D dosimetry for stereotactic volumetric‐modulated arc delivery using COMPASS

    PubMed Central

    Manigandan, Durai; Karrthick, Karukkupalayam Palaniappan; Sambasivaselli, Raju; Senniandavar, Vellaingiri; Ramu, Mahendran; Rajesh, Thiyagarajan; Lutz, Muller; Muthukumaran, Manavalan; Karthikeyan, Nithyanantham; Tejinder, Kataria

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate quantitatively the patient‐specific 3D dosimetry tool COMPASS with 2D array MatriXX detector for stereotactic volumetric‐modulated arc delivery. Twenty‐five patients CT images and RT structures from different sites (brain, head & neck, thorax, abdomen, and spine) were taken from CyberKnife Multiplan planning system for this study. All these patients underwent radical stereotactic treatment in CyberKnife. For each patient, linac based volumetric‐modulated arc therapy (VMAT) stereotactic plans were generated in Monaco TPS v3.1 using Elekta Beam Modulator MLC. Dose prescription was in the range of 5–20 Gy per fraction. Target prescription and critical organ constraints were tried to match the delivered treatment plans. Each plan quality was analyzed using conformity index (CI), conformity number (CN), gradient Index (GI), target coverage (TC), and dose to 95% of volume (D95). Monaco Monte Carlo (MC)‐calculated treatment plan delivery accuracy was quantitatively evaluated with COMPASS‐calculated (CCA) dose and COMPASS indirectly measured (CME) dose based on dose‐volume histogram metrics. In order to ascertain the potential of COMPASS 3D dosimetry for stereotactic plan delivery, 2D fluence verification was performed with MatriXX using MultiCube phantom. Routine quality assurance of absolute point dose verification was performed to check the overall delivery accuracy. Quantitative analyses of dose delivery verification were compared with pass and fail criteria of 3 mm and 3% distance to agreement and dose differences. Gamma passing rate was compared with 2D fluence verification from MatriXX with MultiCube. Comparison of COMPASS reconstructed dose from measured fluence and COMPASS computed dose has shown a very good agreement with TPS calculated dose. Each plan was evaluated based on dose volume parameters for target volumes such as dose at 95% of volume (D95) and average dose. For critical organs dose at 20% of

  2. Evaluation of a single‐scan protocol for radiochromic film dosimetry

    PubMed Central

    Araki, Fujio; Maruyama, Masato; Nakaguchi, Yuji; Kuwahara, Satoshi; Nagasue, Nozomu; Kai, Yudai

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate a single‐scan protocol using Gafchromic EBT3 film (EBT3) by comparing it with the commonly used 24‐hr measurement protocol for radiochromic film dosimetry. Radiochromic film is generally scanned 24 hr after film exposure (24‐hr protocol). The single‐scan protocol enables measurement results within a short time using only the verification film, one calibration film, and unirradiated film. The single‐scan protocol was scanned 30 min after film irradiation. The EBT3 calibration curves were obtained with the multichannel film dosimetry method. The dose verifications for each protocol were performed with the step pattern, pyramid pattern, and clinical treatment plans for intensity‐modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). The absolute dose distributions for each protocol were compared with those calculated by the treatment planning system (TPS) using gamma evaluation at 3% and 3 mm. The dose distribution for the single‐scan protocol was within 2% of the 24‐hr protocol dose distribution. For the step pattern, the absolute dose discrepancies between the TPS for the single‐scan and 24‐hr protocols were 2.0±1.8 cGy and 1.4±1.2 cGy at the dose plateau, respectively. The pass rates were 96.0% for the single‐scan protocol and 95.9% for the 24‐hr protocol. Similarly, the dose discrepancies for the pyramid pattern were 3.6±3.5 cGy and 2.9±3.3 cGy, respectively, while the pass rates for the pyramid pattern were 95.3% and 96.4%, respectively. The average pass rates for the four IMRT plans were 96.7%±1.8% for the single‐scan protocol and 97.3%±1.4% for the 24‐hr protocol. Thus, the single‐scan protocol measurement is useful for dose verification of IMRT, based on its accuracy and efficiency. PACS number: 87.55.Qr PMID:26103194

  3. SU-F-T-50: Evaluation of Monte Carlo Simulations Performance for Pediatric Brachytherapy Dosimetry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Chatzipapas, C; Kagadis, G; Papadimitroulas, P

    Purpose: Pediatric tumors are generally treated with multi-modal procedures. Brachytherapy can be used with pediatric tumors, especially given that in this patient population low toxicity on normal tissues is critical as is the suppression of the probability for late malignancies. Our goal is to validate the GATE toolkit on realistic brachytherapy applications, and evaluate brachytherapy plans on pediatrics for accurate dosimetry on sensitive and critical organs of interest. Methods: The GATE Monte Carlo (MC) toolkit was used. Two High Dose Rate (HDR) 192Ir brachytherapy sources were simulated (Nucletron mHDR-v1 and Varian VS2000), and fully validated using the AAPM and ESTROmore » protocols. A realistic brachytherapy plan was also simulated using the XCAT anthropomorphic computational model .The simulated data were compared to the clinical dose points. Finally, a 14 years old girl with vaginal rhabdomyosarcoma was modelled based on clinical procedures for the calculation of the absorbed dose per organ. Results: The MC simulations resulted in accurate dosimetry in terms of dose rate constant (Λ), radial dose gL(r) and anisotropy function F(r,θ) for both sources.The simulations were executed using ∼1010 number of primaries resulting in statistical uncertainties lower than 2%.The differences between the theoretical values and the simulated ones ranged from 0.01% up to 3.3%, with the largest discrepancy (6%) being observed in the dose rate constant calculation.The simulated DVH using an adult female XCAT model was also compared to a clinical one resulting in differences smaller than 5%. Finally, a realistic pediatric brachytherapy simulation was performed to evaluate the absorbed dose per organ and to calculate DVH with respect to heterogeneities of the human anatomy. Conclusion: GATE is a reliable tool for brachytherapy simulations both for source modeling and for dosimetry in anthropomorphic voxelized models. Our project aims to evaluate a variety of pediatric

  4. Specific issues in small animal dosimetry and irradiator calibration

    PubMed Central

    Yoshizumi, Terry; Brady, Samuel L.; Robbins, Mike E.; Bourland, J. Daniel

    2013-01-01

    Purpose In response to the increased risk of radiological terrorist attack, a network of Centers for Medical Countermeasures against Radiation (CMCR) has been established in the United States, focusing on evaluating animal model responses to uniform, relatively homogenous whole- or partial-body radiation exposures at relatively high dose rates. The success of such studies is dependent not only on robust animal models but on accurate and reproducible dosimetry within and across CMCR. To address this issue, the Education and Training Core of the Duke University School of Medicine CMCR organised a one-day workshop on small animal dosimetry. Topics included accuracy in animal dosimetry accuracy, characteristics and differences of cesium-137 and X-ray irradiators, methods for dose measurement, and design of experimental irradiation geometries for uniform dose distributions. This paper summarises the information presented and discussed. Conclusions Without ensuring accurate and reproducible dosimetry the development and assessment of the efficacy of putative countermeasures will not prove successful. Radiation physics support is needed, but is often the weakest link in the small animal dosimetry chain. We recommend: (i) A user training program for new irradiator users, (ii) subsequent training updates, and (iii) the establishment of a national small animal dosimetry center for all CMCR members. PMID:21961967

  5. WE-F-201-03: Evaluate Clinical Cases Using Commercially Available Systems and Compare to TG-43 Dosimetry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Beaulieu, L.

    With the recent introduction of heterogeneity correction algorithms for brachytherapy, the AAPM community is still unclear on how to commission and implement these into clinical practice. The recently-published AAPM TG-186 report discusses important issues for clinical implementation of these algorithms. A charge of the AAPM-ESTRO-ABG Working Group on MBDCA in Brachytherapy (WGMBDCA) is the development of a set of well-defined test case plans, available as references in the software commissioning process to be performed by clinical end-users. In this practical medical physics course, specific examples on how to perform the commissioning process are presented, as well as descriptions of themore » clinical impact from recent literature reporting comparisons of TG-43 and heterogeneity-based dosimetry. Learning Objectives: Identify key clinical applications needing advanced dose calculation in brachytherapy. Review TG-186 and WGMBDCA guidelines, commission process, and dosimetry benchmarks. Evaluate clinical cases using commercially available systems and compare to TG-43 dosimetry.« less

  6. ESR dosimetry for atomic bomb survivors and radiologic technologists

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tatsumi-Miyajima, Junko

    1987-06-01

    An individual absorbed dose for atomic bomb (A-bomb) survivors and radiologic technologists has been estimated using a new personal dosimetry. This dosimetry is based on the electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy of the CO 33- radicals, which are produced in their teeth by radiation. Measurements were carried out to study the characteristics of the dosimetry; the ESR signals of the CO 33- radicals were stable and increased linearly with the radiation dose. In the evaluation of the absorbed dose, the ESR signals were considered to be a function of photon energy. The absorbed doses in ten cases of A-bomb victims and eight cases of radiologic technologists were determined. For A-bomb survivors, the adsorbed doses, which were estimated using the ESR dosimetry, were consistent with the ones obtained using the calculations of the tissue dose in air of A-bomb, and also with the ones obtained using the chromosome measurements. For radiologic technologists, the absorbed doses, which were estimated using the ESR dosimetry, agreed with the ones calculated using the information on the occupational history and conditions. The advantages of this method are that the absorbed dose can be directly estimated by measuring the ESR signals obtained from the teeth of persons, who are exposed to radiation. Therefore, the ESR dosimetry is useful to estimate the accidental exposure and the long term cumulative dose.

  7. Updating and extending the IRDF-2002 dosimetry library

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Capote, R.; Zolotarev, K.I.; Pronyaev, V.G.

    The International Reactor Dosimetry File (IRDF)-2002 released in 2004 by the IAEA (see http://www-nds.iaea.org/irdf2002/) contains cross-section data and corresponding uncertainties for 66 dosimetry reactions. New cross-section evaluations have become available recently that re-define some of these dosimetry reactions including: (1) high-fidelity evaluation work undertaken by one of the authors (KIZ); (2) evaluations from the US ENDF/B-VII.0 and candidate evaluations from the US ENDF/B-VII.1 libraries that cover reactions within the International Evaluation of Neutron Cross-Section Standards; (3) European JEFF3.1 library; and (4) Japanese JENDL-4.0 library. Additional high-threshold reactions not included in IRDF-2002 (e.g., {sup 59C}o(n,3n) and {sup 209}Bi(n,3n)) have been alsomore » evaluated to characterize higher-energy neutron fields. Overall, 37 new evaluations of dosimetry reactions have been assessed and intercomparisons made with integral measurements in reference neutron fields to determine whether they should be adopted to update and improve IRDF-2002. Benchmark calculations performed for newly evaluated reactions using the ENDF/B-VII.0 {sup 235}U thermal fission and {sup 252}Cf spontaneous fission neutron spectra show that calculated integral cross sections exhibit improved agreement with evaluated experimental data when compared with the equivalent data from the IRDF-2002 library. Data inconsistencies or deficiencies of new evaluations have been identified for {sup 63}Cu(n,2n), {sup 60}Ni(n,p) {sup 60m+g}Co, {sup 55}Mn(n,{gamma}), and {sup 232}Th(n,f) reactions. Compared with IRDF-2002, the upper neutron energy boundary was formally increased from the actual maximum energy of typically 20 MeV up to 60 MeV by using the TENDL-2010 cross sections and covariance matrices. This extension would allow the updated IRDF library to be also used in fusion dosimetry applications. Uncertainties in the cross sections for all new evaluations are given in the form

  8. Absorbed dose to water based dosimetry versus air kerma based dosimetry for high-energy photon beams: an experimental study.

    PubMed

    Palmans, Hugo; Nafaa, Laila; De, Jans Jo; Gillis, Sofie; Hoornaert, Marie-Thérèse; Martens, Chantal; Piessens, Marleen; Thierens, Hubert; Van der Plaetsen, Ann; Vynckier, Stefaan

    2002-02-07

    In recent years, a change has been proposed from air kerma based reference dosimetry to absorbed dose based reference dosimetry for all radiotherapy beams of ionizing radiation. In this paper, a dosimetry study is presented in which absorbed dose based dosimetry using recently developed formalisms was compared with air kerma based dosimetry using older formalisms. Three ionization chambers of each of three different types were calibrated in terms of absorbed dose to water and air kerma and sent to five hospitals. There, reference dosimetry with all the chambers was performed in a total of eight high-energy clinical photon beams. The selected chamber types were the NE2571, the PTW-30004 and the Wellhöfer-FC65G (previously Wellhöfer-IC70). Having a graphite wall, they exhibit a stable volume and the presence of an aluminium electrode ensures the robustness of these chambers. The data were analysed with the most important recommendations for clinical dosimetry: IAEA TRS-398, AAPM TG-51, IAEA TRS-277, NCS report-2 (presently recommended in Belgium) and AAPM TG-21. The necessary conversion factors were taken from those protocols, or calculated using the data in the different protocols if data for a chamber type are lacking. Polarity corrections were within 0.1% for all chambers in all beams. Recombination corrections were consistent with theoretical predictions, did not vary within a chamber type and only slightly between different chamber types. The maximum chamber-to-chamber variations of the dose obtained with the different formalisms within the same chamber type were between 0.2% and 0.6% for the NE2571, between 0.2% and 0.6% for the PTW-30004 and 0.1% and 0.3% for the Wellhöfer-FC65G for the different beams. The absorbed dose results for the NE2571 and Wellhöfer-FC65G chambers were in good agreement for all beams and all formalisms. The PTW-30004 chambers gave a small but systematically higher result compared to the result for the NE2571 chambers (on the

  9. Dosimetry in dentistry.

    PubMed

    Asha, M L; Chatterjee, Ingita; Patil, Preeti; Naveen, S

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this paper was to review various dosimeters used in dentistry and the cumulative results of various studies done with various dosimeters. Several relevant PubMed indexed articles from 1999 to 2013 were electronically searched by typing "dosimeters", "dosimeters in dentistry", "properties of dosimeters", "thermoluminescent and optically stimulated dosimeters", "recent advancements in dosimetry in dentistry." The searches were limited to articles in English to prepare a concise review on dental dosimetry. Titles and abstracts were screened, and articles that fulfilled the criteria of use of dosimeters in dental applications were selected for a full-text reading. Article was divided into four groups: (1) Biological effects of radiation, (2) properties of dosimeters, (3) types of dosimeters and (4) results of various studies using different dosimeters. The present review on dosimetry based on various studies done with dosimeters revealed that, with the advent of radiographic technique the effective dose delivered is low. Therefore, selection of radiological technique plays an important role in dental dose delivery.

  10. Evaluation and clinical implementation of in vivo dosimetry for kV radiotherapy using radiochromic film and micro-silica bead thermoluminescent detectors.

    PubMed

    Palmer, Antony L; Jafari, Shakardokht M; Mone, Ioanna; Muscat, Sarah

    2017-10-01

    kV radiotherapy treatment calculations are based on flat, homogenous, full-scatter reference conditions. However, clinical treatments often include surface irregularities and inhomogeneities, causing uncertainty. Therefore, confirmation of actual delivered doses in vivo is valuable. The current study evaluates, and implements, radiochromic film and micro silica bead TLD for in vivo kV dosimetry. The kV energy and dose response of EBT3 film and silica bead TLD was established and uncertainty budgets determined. In vivo dosimetry measurements were made for a consecutive series of 30 patients using the two dosimetry systems. Energy dependent calibration factors were required for both dosimetry systems. The standard uncertainty estimate for in vivo measurement with film was 1.7% and for beads was 1.5%. The mean measured dose was -2.1% for film and -2.6% for beads compared to prescription. Deviations up to -9% were found in cases of large surface irregularity, or with underlying air cavities or bone. Dose shielding by beads could be clinically relevant at low kV energies and superficial depths. Both film and beads may be used to provide in vivo verification of delivered doses in kV radiotherapy, particularly for complex situations that are not well represented by standard reference condition calculations. Copyright © 2017 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Inhomogeneity in optical properties of rat brain: a study for LLLT dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sousa, Marcelo V. P.; Prates, Renato; Kato, Ilka T.; Sabino, Caetano P.; Yoshimura, Tania M.; Suzuki, Luis C.; Magalhães, Ana C.; Yoshimura, Elisabeth M.; Ribeiro, Martha S.

    2013-03-01

    Over the last few years, low-level light therapy (LLLT) has shown an incredible suitability for a wide range of applications for central nervous system (CNS) related diseases. In this therapeutic modality light dosimetry is extremely critical so the study of light propagation through the CNS organs is of great importance. To better understand how light intensity is delivered to the most relevant neural sites we evaluated optical transmission through slices of rat brain point by point. We experimented red (λ = 660 nm) and near infrared (λ = 808 nm) diode laser light analyzing the light penetration and distribution in the whole brain. A fresh Wistar rat (Rattus novergicus) brain was cut in sagittal slices and illuminated with a broad light beam. A high-resolution digital camera was employed to acquire data of transmitted light. Spatial profiles of the light transmitted through the sample were obtained from the images. Peaks and valleys in the profiles show sites where light was less or more attenuated. The peak intensities provide information about total attenuation and the peak widths are correlated to the scattering coefficient at that individual portion of the sample. The outcomes of this study provide remarkable information for LLLT dose-dependent studies involving CNS and highlight the importance of LLLT dosimetry in CNS organs for large range of applications in animal and human diseases.

  12. Evaluation of Effective Sources in Uncertainty Measurements of Personal Dosimetry by a Harshaw TLD System

    PubMed Central

    Hosseini Pooya, SM; Orouji, T

    2014-01-01

    Background: The accurate results of the individual doses in personal dosimety which are reported by the service providers in personal dosimetry are very important. There are national / international criteria for acceptable dosimetry system performance. Objective: In this research, the sources of uncertainties are identified, measured and calculated in a personal dosimetry system by TLD. Method: These sources are included; inhomogeneity of TLDs sensitivity, variability of TLD readings due to limited sensitivity and background, energy dependence, directional dependence, non-linearity of the response, fading, dependent on ambient temperature / humidity and calibration errors, which may affect on the dose responses. Some parameters which influence on the above sources of uncertainty are studied for Harshaw TLD-100 cards dosimeters as well as the hot gas Harshaw 6600 TLD reader system. Results: The individual uncertainties of each sources was measured less than 6.7% in 68% confidence level. The total uncertainty was calculated 17.5% with 95% confidence level. Conclusion: The TLD-100 personal dosimeters as well as the Harshaw TLD-100 reader 6600 system show the total uncertainty value which is less than that of admissible value of 42% for personal dosimetry services. PMID:25505769

  13. Applicability of Topaz Composites to Electron Dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bomfim, K. S.; Souza, D. N.

    2010-11-01

    Thermoluminescent dosimetric topaz properties have been investigated and the results have shown that this mineral presents characteristics of a good dosimeter mainly in doses evaluation in radiotherapy with photons beams in radiotherapy. Typical applications of thermoluminescent dosimeters in radiotherapy are: in vivo dosimetry on patients (either as a routine quality assurance procedure or for dose monitoring in special cases); verification of treatment techniques; dosimetry audits; and comparisons among hospitals. The mean aim of this work was to evaluate the efficiency of topaz-Teflon pellets as thermoluminescent dosimeters in high-energy electron beams used to radiotherapy. Topaz-Teflon pellets were used as TLD.

  14. Film dosimetry using a smart device camera: a feasibility study for point dose measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Aland, Trent; Jhala, Ekta; Kairn, Tanya; Trapp, Jamie

    2017-10-01

    In this work, a methodology for using a smartphone camera, in conjunction with a light-tight box operating in reflective transmission mode, is investigated as a proof of concept for use as a film dosimetry system. An imaging system was designed to allow the camera of a smartphone to be used as a pseudo densitometer. Ten pieces of Gafchromic EBT3 film were irradiated to doses up to 16.89 Gy and used to evaluate the effects of reproducibility and orientation, as well as the ability to create an accurate dose response curve for the smartphone based dosimetry system, using all three colour channels. Results were compared to a flatbed scanner system. Overall uncertainty was found to be best for the red channel with an uncertainty of 2.4% identified for film irradiated to 2.5 Gy and digitised using the smartphone system. This proof of concept exercise showed that although uncertainties still exceed a flatbed scanner system, the smartphone system may be useful for providing point dose measurements in situations where conventional flatbed scanners (or other dosimetry systems) are unavailable or unaffordable.

  15. Film dosimetry using a smart device camera: a feasibility study for point dose measurements.

    PubMed

    Aland, Trent; Jhala, Ekta; Kairn, Tanya; Trapp, Jamie

    2017-10-03

    In this work, a methodology for using a smartphone camera, in conjunction with a light-tight box operating in reflective transmission mode, is investigated as a proof of concept for use as a film dosimetry system. An imaging system was designed to allow the camera of a smartphone to be used as a pseudo densitometer. Ten pieces of Gafchromic EBT3 film were irradiated to doses up to 16.89 Gy and used to evaluate the effects of reproducibility and orientation, as well as the ability to create an accurate dose response curve for the smartphone based dosimetry system, using all three colour channels. Results were compared to a flatbed scanner system. Overall uncertainty was found to be best for the red channel with an uncertainty of 2.4% identified for film irradiated to 2.5 Gy and digitised using the smartphone system. This proof of concept exercise showed that although uncertainties still exceed a flatbed scanner system, the smartphone system may be useful for providing point dose measurements in situations where conventional flatbed scanners (or other dosimetry systems) are unavailable or unaffordable.

  16. 3D dosimetry by optical-CT scanning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Oldham, Mark

    2006-12-01

    The need for an accurate, practical, low-cost 3D dosimetry system is becoming ever more critical as modern dose delivery techniques increase in complexity and sophistication. A recent report from the Radiological Physics Center (RPC) (1), revealed that 38% of institutions failed the head-and-neck IMRT phantom credentialing test at the first attempt. This was despite generous passing criteria (within 7% dose-difference or 4mm distance-to-agreement) evaluated at a half-dozen points and a single axial plane. The question that arises from this disturbing finding is - what percentage of institutions would have failed if a comprehensive 3D measurement had been feasible, rather than measurements restricted to the central film-plane and TLD points? This question can only be adequately answered by a comprehensive 3D-dosimetry system, which presents a compelling argument for its development as a clinically viable low cost dosimetry solution. Optical-CT dosimetry is perhaps the closest system to providing such a comprehensive solution. In this article, we review the origins and recent developments of optical-CT dosimetry systems. The principle focus is on first generation systems known to have highest accuracy but longer scan times.

  17. Retrospective dosimetry analyses of reactor vessel cladding samples

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Greenwood, L. R.; Soderquist, C. Z.; Fero, A. H.

    2011-07-01

    Reactor pressure vessel cladding samples for Ringhals Units 3 and 4 in Sweden were analyzed using retrospective reactor dosimetry techniques. The objective was to provide the best estimates of the neutron fluence for comparison with neutron transport calculations. A total of 51 stainless steel samples consisting of chips weighing approximately 100 to 200 mg were removed from selected locations around the pressure vessel and were sent to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for analysis. The samples were fully characterized and analyzed for radioactive isotopes, with special interest in the presence of Nb-93m. The RPV cladding retrospective dosimetry results will be combinedmore » with a re-evaluation of the surveillance capsule dosimetry and with ex-vessel neutron dosimetry results to form a comprehensive 3D comparison of measurements to calculations performed with 3D deterministic transport code. (authors)« less

  18. In vivo thermoluminescence dosimetry for total body irradiation.

    PubMed

    Palkosková, P; Hlavata, H; Dvorák, P; Novotný, J; Novotný, J

    2002-01-01

    An improvement in the clinical results obtained using total body irradiation (TBI) with photon beams requires precise TBI treatment planning, reproducible irradiation, precise in vivo dosimetry, accurate documentation and careful evaluation. In vivo dosimetry using LiF Harshaw TLD-100 chips was used during the TBI treatments performed in our department. The results of in vivo thermoluminescence dosimetry (TLD) show that using TLD measurements and interactive adjustment of some treatment parameters based on these measurements, like monitor unit calculations, lung shielding thickness and patient positioning, it is possible to achieve high precision in absorbed dose delivery (less than 0.5%) as well as in homogeneity of irradiation (less than 6%).

  19. Student Perceptions of an Online Medical Dosimetry Program

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lenards, Nishele, E-mail: lenards.nish@uwlax.ed

    2011-07-01

    The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse offers the first online medical dosimetry program in the nation. There is no data to research a program of this type. This research consisted of the evaluation of other distance education programs including health profession programs in addition to face-to-face medical dosimetry programs. There was a need to collect and analyze student perceptions of online learning in medical dosimetry. This research provided a guide for future implementation by other programs as well as validated the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse program. Methodology used consisted of an electronic survey sent to all previous and currently enrolled studentsmore » in the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse medical dosimetry program. The survey was both quantitative and qualitative in demonstrating attitudinal perceptions of students in the program. Quantitative data was collected and analyzed using a 5-point Likert scale. Qualitative data was gathered based on the open-ended responses and the identifying themes from the responses. The results demonstrated an overall satisfaction with this program, the instructor, and the online courses. Students felt a sense of belonging to the courses and the program. Considering that a majority of the students had never taken an online course previously, the students felt there were no technology issues. Future research should include an evaluation of board exam statistics for students enrolled in the online and face-to-face medical dosimetry programs.« less

  20. Unexplained overexposures on physical dosimetry reported by biological dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Montoro, A; Almonacid, M; Villaescusa, J I; Verdu, G

    2009-01-01

    The Medical Service of the Radiation Protection Service from the University Hospital La Fe (Valencia, Spain), carries out medical examinations of the workers occupationally exposed to ionising radiation. The Biological Dosimetry Laboratory is developing its activity since 2001. Up to now, the activities have been focused in performing biological dosimetry studies of Interventionists workers from La Fe Hospital. Recently, the Laboratory has been authorized by the Health Authority in the Valencian Community. Unexplained overexposures of workers and patients are also studied. Workers suspected of being overexposed to ionising radiation were referred for investigation by cytogenetic analysis. Two of these were from Hospitals of the Valencian Community and one belonged to an uranium mine from Portugal. Hospital workers had a physical dose by thermoluminiscence dosimeters (TLD) that exceeded the established limit. The worker of the uranium mine received a dose from a lost source of Cesium 137 with an activity of 170 mCi. All three cases showed normal values after the hematological analysis. Finally, the aim of this study consist to determine whether the dose showed by the dosimeter is reliable or not. In the case of workers that wore dosimeter, it is concluded that the doses measured by dosimeter are not corresponding to real doses. Hospital worker with a physical dose of 2.6 Sv and 0.269 Sv had an estimated absorbed dose by biological dosimetry of 0.076 Gy (0-0.165 Gy) and 0 Gy (0-0.089 Gy), respectively. In case of the mine worker an estimated absorbed dose of 0.073 Gy (0-0.159 Gy) was obtained by biological dosimetry. In all cases we used the odds ratio to present the results due to a very low frequency of observed aberrations [1].

  1. Dosimetry quality audit of high energy photon beams in greek radiotherapy centers.

    PubMed

    Hourdakis, Constantine J; Boziari, A

    2008-04-01

    Dosimetry quality audits and intercomparisons in radiotherapy centers is a useful tool in order to enhance the confidence for an accurate therapy and to explore and dissolve discrepancies in dose delivery. This is the first national comprehensive study that has been carried out in Greece. During 2002--2006 the Greek Atomic Energy Commission performed a dosimetry quality audit of high energy external photon beams in all (23) Greek radiotherapy centers, where 31 linacs and 13 Co-60 teletherapy units were assessed in terms of their mechanical performance characteristics and relative and absolute dosimetry. The quality audit in dosimetry of external photon beams took place by means of on-site visits, where certain parameters of the photon beams were measured, calculated and assessed according to a specific protocol and the IAEA TRS 398 dosimetry code of practice. In each radiotherapy unit (Linac or Co-60), certain functional parameters were measured and the results were compared to tolerance values and limits. Doses in water under reference and non reference conditions were measured and compared to the stated values. Also, the treatment planning systems (TPS) were evaluated with respect to irradiation time calculations. The results of the mechanical tests, dosimetry measurements and TPS evaluation have been presented in this work and discussed in detail. This study showed that Co-60 units had worse performance mechanical characteristics than linacs. 28% of all irradiation units (23% of linacs and 42% of Co-60 units) exceeded the acceptance limit at least in one mechanical parameter. Dosimetry accuracy was much worse in Co60 units than in linacs. 61% of the Co60 units exhibited deviations outside +/-3% and 31% outside +/-5%. The relevant percentages for the linacs were 24% and 7% respectively. The results were grouped for each hospital and the sources of errors (functional and human) have been investigated and discussed in details. This quality audit proved to be a

  2. A method for evaluating treatment quality using in vivo EPID dosimetry and statistical process control in radiation therapy.

    PubMed

    Fuangrod, Todsaporn; Greer, Peter B; Simpson, John; Zwan, Benjamin J; Middleton, Richard H

    2017-03-13

    Purpose Due to increasing complexity, modern radiotherapy techniques require comprehensive quality assurance (QA) programmes, that to date generally focus on the pre-treatment stage. The purpose of this paper is to provide a method for an individual patient treatment QA evaluation and identification of a "quality gap" for continuous quality improvement. Design/methodology/approach A statistical process control (SPC) was applied to evaluate treatment delivery using in vivo electronic portal imaging device (EPID) dosimetry. A moving range control chart was constructed to monitor the individual patient treatment performance based on a control limit generated from initial data of 90 intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and ten volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) patient deliveries. A process capability index was used to evaluate the continuing treatment quality based on three quality classes: treatment type-specific, treatment linac-specific, and body site-specific. Findings The determined control limits were 62.5 and 70.0 per cent of the χ pass-rate for IMRT and VMAT deliveries, respectively. In total, 14 patients were selected for a pilot study the results of which showed that about 1 per cent of all treatments contained errors relating to unexpected anatomical changes between treatment fractions. Both rectum and pelvis cancer treatments demonstrated process capability indices were less than 1, indicating the potential for quality improvement and hence may benefit from further assessment. Research limitations/implications The study relied on the application of in vivo EPID dosimetry for patients treated at the specific centre. Sampling patients for generating the control limits were limited to 100 patients. Whilst the quantitative results are specific to the clinical techniques and equipment used, the described method is generally applicable to IMRT and VMAT treatment QA. Whilst more work is required to determine the level of clinical significance, the

  3. MO-B-BRB-04: 3D Dosimetry in End-To-End Dosimetry QA

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ibbott, G.

    Full three-dimensional (3D) dosimetry using volumetric chemical dosimeters probed by 3D imaging systems has long been a promising technique for the radiation therapy clinic, since it provides a unique methodology for dose measurements in the volume irradiated using complex conformal delivery techniques such as IMRT and VMAT. To date true 3D dosimetry is still not widely practiced in the community; it has been confined to centres of specialized expertise especially for quality assurance or commissioning roles where other dosimetry techniques are difficult to implement. The potential for improved clinical applicability has been advanced considerably in the last decade by themore » development of improved 3D dosimeters (e.g., radiochromic plastics, radiochromic gel dosimeters and normoxic polymer gel systems) and by improved readout protocols using optical computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. In this session, established users of some current 3D chemical dosimeters will briefly review the current status of 3D dosimetry, describe several dosimeters and their appropriate imaging for dose readout, present workflow procedures required for good dosimetry, and analyze some limitations for applications in select settings. We will review the application of 3D dosimetry to various clinical situations describing how 3D approaches can complement other dose delivery validation approaches already available in the clinic. The applications presented will be selected to inform attendees of the unique features provided by full 3D techniques. Learning Objectives: L. John Schreiner: Background and Motivation Understand recent developments enabling clinically practical 3D dosimetry, Appreciate 3D dosimetry workflow and dosimetry procedures, and Observe select examples from the clinic. Sofie Ceberg: Application to dynamic radiotherapy Observe full dosimetry under dynamic radiotherapy during respiratory motion, and Understand how the measurement of high resolution dose data

  4. Hanford Internal Dosimetry Project manual. Revision 1

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Carbaugh, E.H.; Bihl, D.E.; MacLellan, J.A.

    1994-07-01

    This document describes the Hanford Internal Dosimetry Project, as it is administered by Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) in support of the US Department of Energy and its Hanford contractors. Project services include administrating the bioassay monitoring program, evaluating and documenting assessment of potential intakes and internal dose, ensuring that analytical laboratories conform to requirements, selecting and applying appropriate models and procedures for evaluating radionuclide deposition and the resulting dose, and technically guiding and supporting Hanford contractors in matters regarding internal dosimetry. Specific chapters deal with the following subjects: practices of the project, including interpretation of applicable DOE Orders, regulations, andmore » guidance into criteria for assessment, documentation, and reporting of doses; assessment of internal dose, including summary explanations of when and how assessments are performed; recording and reporting practices for internal dose; selection of workers for bioassay monitoring and establishment of type and frequency of bioassay measurements; capability and scheduling of bioassay monitoring services; recommended dosimetry response to potential internal exposure incidents; quality control and quality assurance provisions of the program.« less

  5. Australasian brachytherapy audit: results of the 'end-to-end' dosimetry pilot study.

    PubMed

    Haworth, Annette; Wilfert, Lisa; Butler, Duncan; Ebert, Martin A; Todd, Stephen; Bucci, Joseph; Duchesne, Gillian M; Joseph, David; Kron, Tomas

    2013-08-01

    We present the results of a pilot study to test the feasibility of a brachytherapy dosimetry audit. The feasibility study was conducted at seven sites from four Australian states in both public and private centres. A purpose-built cylindrical water phantom was imaged using the local imaging protocol and a treatment plan was generated to deliver 1 Gy to the central (1 of 3) thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD) from six dwell positions. All centres completed the audit, consisting of three consecutive irradiations, within a 2-h time period, with the exception of one centre that uses a pulsed dose rate brachytherapy unit. All TLD results were within 4.5% of the predicted value, with the exception of one subset where the dwell position step size was incorrectly applied. While the limited data collected in the study demonstrated considerable heterogeneity in clinical practice, the study proved a brachytherapy dosimetry audit to be feasible. Future studies should include verification of source strength using a Standard Dosimetry Laboratory calibrated chamber, a phantom that more closely mimics the clinical situation, a more comprehensive review of safety and quality assurance (QA) procedures including source dwell time and position accuracy, and a review of patient treatment QA procedures such as applicator position verification. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology © 2013 The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists.

  6. Phase 1 Evaluation of [(64)Cu]DOTA-Patritumab to Assess Dosimetry, Apparent Receptor Occupancy, and Safety in Subjects with Advanced Solid Tumors.

    PubMed

    Lockhart, A Craig; Liu, Yongjian; Dehdashti, Farrokh; Laforest, Richard; Picus, Joel; Frye, Jennifer; Trull, Lauren; Belanger, Stefanie; Desai, Madhuri; Mahmood, Syed; Mendell, Jeanne; Welch, Michael J; Siegel, Barry A

    2016-06-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety, dosimetry, and apparent receptor occupancy (RO) of [(64)Cu]DOTA-patritumab, a radiolabeled monoclonal antibody directed against HER3/ERBB3 in subjects with advanced solid tumors. Dosimetry subjects (n = 5) received [(64)Cu]DOTA-patritumab and underwent positron emission tomography (PET)/X-ray computed tomography (CT) at 3, 24, and 48 h. Evaluable RO subjects (n = 3 out of 6) received [(64)Cu]DOTA-patritumab at day 1 and day 8 (after 9.0 mg/kg patritumab) followed by PET/CT at 24 h post-injection. Endpoints included safety, tumor uptake, and efficacy. The tumor SUVmax (± SD) was 5.6 ± 4.5, 3.3 ± 1.7, and 3.0 ± 1.1 at 3, 24, and 48 h in dosimetry subjects. The effective dose and critical organ dose (liver) averaged 0.044 ± 0.008 mSv/MBq and 0.46 ± 0.086 mGy/MBq, respectively. In RO subjects, tumor-to-blood ratio decreased from 1.00 ± 0.32 at baseline to 0.57 ± 0.17 after stable patritumab, corresponding to a RO of 42.1 ± 3. [(64)Cu]DOTA-patritumab was safe. These limited results suggest that this PET-based method can be used to determine tumor-apparent RO.

  7. Comparison and uncertainty evaluation of different calibration protocols and ionization chambers for low-energy surface brachytherapy dosimetry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Candela-Juan, C., E-mail: ccanjuan@gmail.com; Vijande, J.; García-Martínez, T.

    2015-08-15

    Purpose: A surface electronic brachytherapy (EBT) device is in fact an x-ray source collimated with specific applicators. Low-energy (<100 kVp) x-ray beam dosimetry faces several challenges that need to be addressed. A number of calibration protocols have been published for x-ray beam dosimetry. The media in which measurements are performed are the fundamental difference between them. The aim of this study was to evaluate the surface dose rate of a low-energy x-ray source with small field applicators using different calibration standards and different small-volume ionization chambers, comparing the values and uncertainties of each methodology. Methods: The surface dose rate ofmore » the EBT unit Esteya (Elekta Brachytherapy, The Netherlands), a 69.5 kVp x-ray source with applicators of 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 mm diameter, was evaluated using the AAPM TG-61 (based on air kerma) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) TRS-398 (based on absorbed dose to water) dosimetry protocols for low-energy photon beams. A plane parallel T34013 ionization chamber (PTW Freiburg, Germany) calibrated in terms of both absorbed dose to water and air kerma was used to compare the two dosimetry protocols. Another PTW chamber of the same model was used to evaluate the reproducibility between these chambers. Measurements were also performed with two different Exradin A20 (Standard Imaging, Inc., Middleton, WI) chambers calibrated in terms of air kerma. Results: Differences between surface dose rates measured in air and in water using the T34013 chamber range from 1.6% to 3.3%. No field size dependence has been observed. Differences are below 3.7% when measurements with the A20 and the T34013 chambers calibrated in air are compared. Estimated uncertainty (with coverage factor k = 1) for the T34013 chamber calibrated in water is 2.2%–2.4%, whereas it increases to 2.5% and 2.7% for the A20 and T34013 chambers calibrated in air, respectively. The output factors, measured with the PTW

  8. FERRET-SAND II physics-dosimetry analysis for N Reactor Pressure Tubes 2954, 3053 and 1165 using a WIMS calculated input spectrum

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    McElroy, W.N.; Kellogg, L.S.; Matsumoto, W.Y.

    1988-05-01

    This report is in response to a request from Westinghouse Hanford Company (WHC) that the PNL National Dosimetry Center (NDC) perform physics-dosimetry analyses (E > MeV) for N Reactor Pressure Tubes 2954 and 3053. As a result of these analyses, and recommendations for additional studies, two physics-dosimetry re-evaluations for Pressure Tube 1165 were also accomplished. The primary objective of Pacific Northwest Laboratories' (PNL) National Dosimetry Center (NDC) physics-dosimetry work for N Reactor was to provide FERRET-SAND II physics-dosimetry results to assist in the assessment of neutron radiation-induced changes in the physical and mechanical properties of N Reactor pressure tubes. 15more » refs., 6 figs., 5 tabs.« less

  9. Solid state TL detectors for in vivo dosimetry in brachytherapy.

    PubMed

    Gambarini, G; Borroni, M; Grisotto, S; Maucione, A; Cerrotta, A; Fallai, C; Carrara, M

    2012-12-01

    In vivo dosimetry provides information about the actual dose delivered to the patient treated with radiotherapy and can be adopted within a routinary treatment quality assurance protocol. Aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of performing in vivo rectal dosimetry by placing thermoluminescence detectors directly on the transrectal ultrasound probe adopted for on-line treatment planning of high dose rate brachytherapy boosts of prostate cancer patients. A suitable protocol for TLD calibration has been set up. In vivo measurements resulted to be in good agreement with the calculated doses, showing that the proposed method is feasible and returns accurate results. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Assessment of national dosimetry quality audits results for teletherapy machines from 1989 to 2015.

    PubMed

    Muhammad, Wazir; Ullah, Asad; Mahmood, Khalid; Matiullah

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to ensure accuracy in radiation dose delivery, external dosimetry quality audit has an equal importance with routine dosimetry performed at clinics. To do so, dosimetry quality audit was organized by the Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratory (SSDL) of Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH) at the national level to investigate and minimize uncertainties involved in the measurement of absorbed dose, and to improve the accuracy of dose measurement at different radiotherapy hospitals. A total of 181 dosimetry quality audits (i.e., 102 of Co-60 and 79 of linear accelerators) for teletherapy units installed at 22 different sites were performed from 1989 to 2015. The percent deviation between users’ calculated/stated dose and evaluated dose (in the result of on-site dosimetry visits) were calculated and the results were analyzed with respect to the limits of ± 2.5% (ICRU "optimal model") ± 3.0% (IAEA on-site dosimetry visits limit) and ± 5.0% (ICRU minimal or "lowest acceptable" model). The results showed that out of 181 total on-site dosimetry visits, 20.44%, 16.02%, and 4.42% were out of acceptable limits of ± 2.5% ± 3.0%, and ± 5.0%, respectively. The importance of a proper ongoing quality assurance program, recommendations of the followed protocols, and properly calibrated thermometers, pressure gauges, and humidity meters at radiotherapy hospitals are essential in maintaining consistency and uniformity of absorbed dose measurements for precision in dose delivery.

  11. RESPIRATORY DOSE TO SUSCEPTIBLE POPULATIONS ASSESSED BY EXPOSURE AND DOSIMETRY STUDIES

    EPA Science Inventory

    Respiratory Dose to Susceptible Populations Assessed by Exposure and Dosimetry Studies

    Chong Kim1 and Ronald Williams2, 1USEPA National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory and 2USEPA National Exposure Research Laboratory, RTP, NC.

    Rationale: Parti...

  12. The ENEA neutron personal dosimetry service.

    PubMed

    Morelli, B; Mariotti, F; Fantuzzi, E

    2006-01-01

    The ENEA Radiation Protection Institute has been operating the only neutron personal dosimetry service in Italy since the 1970s. Since the 1980s the service has been based on PADC (poly allyl diglycol carbonate) for fast neutron dosimetry, while thermal neutron dosimetry has been performed using thermoluminescence (TL) dosemeters. Since the service was started, a number of aspects have undergone evolution. The latest and most important changes are as follows: in 1998 a new PADC material was introduced in routine, since 2001 TL thermal dosimetry has been based on LiF(Mg,Cu,P) [GR-200] and (7)LiF(Mg,Cu,P) [GR-207] detectors and since 2003 a new image analysis reading system for the fast neutron dosemeters has been used. Herein an updated summary of how the service operates and performs today is presented. The approaches to calibration and traceability to estimate the quantity of H(p)(10) are mentioned. Results obtained at the performance test of dosimetric services in the EU member states and Switzerland sponsored by the European Commission and organised by Eurados in 1999 are reported. Last but not least, quality assurance (QA) procedures introduced in the routine operation to track the whole process of dose evaluation (i.e. plastic QA, acceptance test, test etching bath reproducibility and 'dummy customer' (blind test) for each issuing monitoring period) are presented and discussed.

  13. Thin film tritium dosimetry

    DOEpatents

    Moran, Paul R.

    1976-01-01

    The present invention provides a method for tritium dosimetry. A dosimeter comprising a thin film of a material having relatively sensitive RITAC-RITAP dosimetry properties is exposed to radiation from tritium, and after the dosimeter has been removed from the source of the radiation, the low energy electron dose deposited in the thin film is determined by radiation-induced, thermally-activated polarization dosimetry techniques.

  14. Develop real-time dosimetry concepts and instrumentation for long term missions

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Braby, L. A.

    1981-01-01

    The development of a rugged portable dosimetry system, based on microdosimetry techniques, which will measure dose and evaluate dose equivalent in a mixed radiation field is described. Progress in the desired dosimetry system can be divided into three distinct areas: development of the radiation detector, and electron system are presented. The mathematical techniques required are investigated.

  15. Evaluation of the Gafchromic{sup Registered-Sign} EBT2 film for the dosimetry of radiosurgical beams

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Larraga-Gutierrez, Jose M.; Garcia-Hernandez, Diana; Garcia-Garduno, Olivia A.

    2012-10-15

    Purpose: Radiosurgery uses small fields and high-radiation doses to treat intra- and extracranial lesions in a single session. The lack of a lateral electronic equilibrium and the presence of high-dose gradients in these fields are challenges for adequate measurements. The availability of radiation detectors with the high spatial resolution required is restricted to only a few. Stereotactic diodes and EBT radiochromic films have been demonstrated to be good detectors for small-beam dosimetry. Because the stereotactic diode is the standard measurement for the dosimetry of radiosurgical beams, the goal of this work was to perform measurements with the radiochromic film Gafchromic{supmore » Registered-Sign} EBT2 and compare its results with a stereotactic diode. Methods: Total scatter factors, tissue maximum, and off-axis ratios from a 6 MV small photon beams were measured using EBT2 radiochromic film in a water phantom. The film-measured data were evaluated by comparing it with the data measured with a stereotactic field diode (IBA-Dosimetry). Results: The film and diode measurements had excellent agreement. The differences between the detectors were less than or equal to 2.0% for the tissue maximum and the off-axis ratios. However, for the total scatter factors, there were significant differences, up to 4.9% (relative to the reference field), for field sizes less than 1.0 cm. Conclusions: This work found that the Gafchromic{sup Registered-Sign} EBT2 film is adequate for small photon beam measurements, particularly for tissue maximum and off-axis ratios. However, careful attention must be taken when measuring output factors of small beams below 1.0 cm due to the film's energy dependence. The measurement differences may be attributable to the film's active layer composition because EBT2 incorporates higher Z elements (i.e., bromide and potassium), hence revealing a potential energy dependence for the dosimetry of small photon beams.« less

  16. Thermoluminescent dosimetry in veterinary diagnostic radiology.

    PubMed

    Hernández-Ruiz, L; Jimenez-Flores, Y; Rivera-Montalvo, T; Arias-Cisneros, L; Méndez-Aguilar, R E; Uribe-Izquierdo, P

    2012-12-01

    This paper presents the results of Environmental and Personnel Dosimetry made in a radiology area of a veterinary hospital. Dosimetry was realized using thermoluminescent (TL) materials. Environmental Dosimetry results show that areas closer to the X-ray equipment are safe. Personnel Dosimetry shows important measurements of daily workday in some persons near to the limit established by ICRP. TL results of radiation measurement suggest TLDs are good candidates as a dosimeter to radiation dosimetry in veterinary radiology. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. LWR pressure vessel surveillance dosimetry improvement program: LWR power reactor surveillance physics-dosimetry data base compendium

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    McElroy, W.N.

    1985-08-01

    This NRC physics-dosimetry compendium is a collation of information and data developed from available research and commercial light water reactor vessel surveillance program (RVSP) documents and related surveillance capsule reports. The data represents the results of the HEDL least-squares FERRET-SAND II Code re-evaluation of exposure units and values for 47 PWR and BWR surveillance capsules for W, B and W, CE, and GE power plants. Using a consistent set of auxiliary data and dosimetry-adjusted reactor physics results, the revised fluence values for E > 1 MeV averaged 25% higher than the originally reported values. The range of fluence values (new/old)more » was from a low of 0.80 to a high of 2.38. These HEDL-derived FERRET-SAND II exposure parameter values are being used for NRC-supported HEDL and other PWR and BWR trend curve data development and testing studies. These studies are providing results to support Revision 2 of Regulatory Guide 1.99. As stated by Randall (Ra84), the Guide is being updated to reflect recent studies of the physical basis for neutron radiation damage and efforts to correlate damage to chemical composition and fluence.« less

  18. Workshop Report on Atomic Bomb Dosimetry--Review of Dose Related Factors for the Evaluation of Exposures to Residual Radiation at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

    PubMed

    Kerr, George D; Egbert, Stephen D; Al-Nabulsi, Isaf; Bailiff, Ian K; Beck, Harold L; Belukha, Irina G; Cockayne, John E; Cullings, Harry M; Eckerman, Keith F; Granovskaya, Evgeniya; Grant, Eric J; Hoshi, Masaharu; Kaul, Dean C; Kryuchkov, Victor; Mannis, Daniel; Ohtaki, Megu; Otani, Keiko; Shinkarev, Sergey; Simon, Steven L; Spriggs, Gregory D; Stepanenko, Valeriy F; Stricklin, Daniela; Weiss, Joseph F; Weitz, Ronald L; Woda, Clemens; Worthington, Patricia R; Yamamoto, Keiko; Young, Robert W

    2015-12-01

    Groups of Japanese and American scientists, supported by international collaborators, have worked for many years to ensure the accuracy of the radiation dosimetry used in studies of health effects in the Japanese atomic bomb survivors. Reliable dosimetric models and systems are especially critical to epidemiologic studies of this population because of their importance in the development of worldwide radiation protection standards. While dosimetry systems, such as Dosimetry System 1986 (DS86) and Dosimetry System 2002 (DS02), have improved, the research groups that developed them were unable to propose or confirm an additional contribution by residual radiation to the survivor's total body dose. In recognition of the need for an up-to-date review of residual radiation exposures in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a half-day technical session was held for reports on newer studies at the 59 th Annual HPS Meeting in 2014 in Baltimore, MD. A day-and-a-half workshop was also held to provide time for detailed discussion of the newer studies and to evaluate their potential use in clarifying the residual radiation exposure to atomic bomb survivors at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The process also involved a re-examination of very early surveys of radioisotope emissions from ground surfaces at Hiroshima and Nagasaki and early reports of health effects. New insights were reported on the potential contribution to residual radiation from neutron-activated radionuclides in the airburst's dust stem and pedestal and in unlofted soil, as well as from fission products and weapon debris from the nuclear cloud. However, disparate views remain concerning the actual residual radiation doses received by the atomic bomb survivors at different distances from the hypocenter. The workshop discussion indicated that measurements made using thermal luminescence and optically stimulated luminescence, like earlier measurements, especially in very thin layers of the samples, could be expanded to detect possible

  19. Personnel neutron dosimetry using electrochemically etched CR-39 foils

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hankins, D.E.; Homann, S.; Westermark, J.

    1986-09-17

    A personnel neutron dosimetry system has been developed based on the electrochemical etching of CR-39 plastic at elevated temperatures. The doses obtained using this dosimeter system are more accurate than those obtained using other dosimetry systems, especially when varied neutron spectra are encountered. This Cr-39 dosimetry system does not have the severe energy dependence that exists with albedo neutron dosimeters or the fading and reading problems encountered with NTA film. The dosimetry system employs an electrochemical etch procedure that be used to process large numbers of Cr-39 dosimeters. The etch procedure is suitable for operations where the number of personnelmore » requires that many CR-39 dosimeters be processed. Experience shows that one full-time technician can etch and evaluate 2000 foils per month. The energy response to neutrons is fairly flat from about 80 keV to 3.5 MeV, but drops by about a factor of three in the 13 to 16 MeV range. The sensitivity of the dosimetry system is about 7 tracks/cm/sup 2//mrem, with a background equivalent to about 8 mrem for new CR-39 foils. The limit of sensitivity is approximately 10 mrem. The dosimeter has a significant variation in directional dependence, dropping to about 20% at 90/sup 0/. This dosimeter has been used for personnel neutron dosimetry at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for more tha 18 months. 6 refs., 23 figs., 2 tabs.« less

  20. Quantitative imaging for clinical dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bardiès, Manuel; Flux, Glenn; Lassmann, Michael; Monsieurs, Myriam; Savolainen, Sauli; Strand, Sven-Erik

    2006-12-01

    Patient-specific dosimetry in nuclear medicine is now a legal requirement in many countries throughout the EU for targeted radionuclide therapy (TRT) applications. In order to achieve that goal, an increased level of accuracy in dosimetry procedures is needed. Current research in nuclear medicine dosimetry should not only aim at developing new methods to assess the delivered radiation absorbed dose at the patient level, but also to ensure that the proposed methods can be put into practice in a sufficient number of institutions. A unified dosimetry methodology is required for making clinical outcome comparisons possible.

  1. Radiotherapy dosimetry using a commercial OSL system.

    PubMed

    Viamonte, A; da Rosa, L A R; Buckley, L A; Cherpak, A; Cygler, J E

    2008-04-01

    A commercial optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) system developed for radiation protection dosimetry by Landauer, Inc., the InLight microStar reader, was tested for dosimetry procedures in radiotherapy. The system uses carbon-doped aluminum oxide, Al2O3:C, as a radiation detector material. Using this OSL system, a percent depth dose curve for 60Co gamma radiation was measured in solid water. Field size and SSD dependences of the detector response were also evaluated. The dose response relationship was investigated between 25 and 400 cGy. The decay of the response with time following irradiation and the energy dependence of the Al2O3:C OSL detectors were also measured. The results obtained using OSL dosimeters show good agreement with ionization chamber and diode measurements carried out under the same conditions. Reproducibility studies show that the response of the OSL system to repeated exposures is 2.5% (1sd), indicating a real possibility of applying the Landauer OSL commercial system for radiotherapy dosimetric procedures.

  2. Photon beam dosimetry with EBT3 film in heterogeneous regions: Application to the evaluation of dose-calculation algorithms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jung, Hyunuk; Kum, Oyeon; Han, Youngyih; Park, Byungdo; Cheong, Kwang-Ho

    2014-12-01

    For a better understanding of the accuracy of state-of-the-art-radiation therapies, 2-dimensional dosimetry in a patient-like environment will be helpful. Therefore, the dosimetry of EBT3 films in non-water-equivalent tissues was investigated, and the accuracy of commercially-used dose-calculation algorithms was evaluated with EBT3 measurement. Dose distributions were measured with EBT3 films for an in-house-designed phantom that contained a lung or a bone substitute, i.e., an air cavity (3 × 3 × 3 cm3) or teflon (2 × 2 × 2 cm3 or 3 × 3 × 3 cm3), respectively. The phantom was irradiated with 6-MV X-rays with field sizes of 2 × 2, 3 × 3, and 5 × 5 cm2. The accuracy of EBT3 dosimetry was evaluated by comparing the measured dose with the dose obtained from Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. A dose-to-bone-equivalent material was obtained by multiplying the EBT3 measurements by the stopping power ratio (SPR). The EBT3 measurements were then compared with the predictions from four algorithms: Monte Carlo (MC) in iPlan, acuros XB (AXB), analytical anisotropic algorithm (AAA) in Eclipse, and superposition-convolution (SC) in Pinnacle. For the air cavity, the EBT3 measurements agreed with the MC calculation to within 2% on average. For teflon, the EBT3 measurements differed by 9.297% (±0.9229%) on average from the Monte Carlo calculation before dose conversion, and by 0.717% (±0.6546%) after applying the SPR. The doses calculated by using the MC, AXB, AAA, and SC algorithms for the air cavity differed from the EBT3 measurements on average by 2.174, 2.863, 18.01, and 8.391%, respectively; for teflon, the average differences were 3.447, 4.113, 7.589, and 5.102%. The EBT3 measurements corrected with the SPR agreed with 2% on average both within and beyond the heterogeneities with MC results, thereby indicating that EBT3 dosimetry can be used in heterogeneous media. The MC and the AXB dose calculation algorithms exhibited clinically-acceptable accuracy (<5%) in

  3. Dose perturbations due to in vivo dosimetry with diodes.

    PubMed

    Alecu, R; Feldmeier, J J; Alecu, M

    1997-03-01

    In vivo dosimetry performed with semiconductor detectors is a reliable method for patient dose control. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the perturbations introduced in the patient's absorbed dose distribution by three types of commercially available diodes (Isorad, Sun Nuclear Corp.; model 114200, 114300 and 114400) from the same company and to present possible solutions for minimizing this side-effect.

  4. Multichannel film dosimetry with nonuniformity correction.

    PubMed

    Micke, Andre; Lewis, David F; Yu, Xiang

    2011-05-01

    A new method to evaluate radiochromic film dosimetry data scanned in multiple color channels is presented. This work was undertaken to demonstrate that the multichannel method is fundamentally superior to the traditional single channel method. The multichannel method allows for the separation and removal of the nondose-dependent portions of a film image leaving a residual image that is dependent only on absorbed dose. Radiochromic films were exposed to 10 x 10 cm radiation fields (Co-60 and 6 MV) at doses up to about 300 cGy. The films were scanned in red-blue-green (RGB) format on a flatbed color scanner and measured to build calibration tables relating the absorbed dose to the response of the film in each of the color channels. Film images were converted to dose maps using two methods. The first method used the response from a single color channel and the second method used the response from all three color channels. The multichannel method allows for the separation of the scanned signal into one part that is dose-dependent and another part that is dose-independent and enables the correction of a variety of disturbances in the digitized image including nonuniformities in the active coating on the radiochromic film as well as scanner related artifacts. The fundamental mathematics of the two methods is described and the dose maps calculated from film images using the two methods are compared and analyzed. The multichannel dosimetry method was shown to be an effective way to separate out non-dose-dependent abnormalities from radiochromic dosimetry film images. The process was shown to remove disturbances in the scanned images caused by nonhomogeneity of the radiochromic film and artifacts caused by the scanner and to improve the integrity of the dose information. Multichannel dosimetry also reduces random noise in the dose images and mitigates scanner-related artifacts such as lateral position dependence. In providing an ability to calculate dose maps from data in

  5. Implementation of IMRT and VMAT using Delta4 phantom and portal dosimetry as dosimetry verification tools

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Daci, Lulzime, E-mail: lulzime.daci@nodlandssykehuset.no; Malkaj, Partizan, E-mail: malkaj-p@hotmail.com

    2016-03-25

    In this study we analyzed and compared the dose distribution of different IMRT and VMAT plans with the intent to provide pre-treatment quality assurance using two different tools. Materials/Methods: We have used the electronic portal imaging device EPID after calibration to dose and correction for the background offset signal and also the Delta4 phantom after en evaluation of angular sensitivity. The Delta4 phantom has a two-dimensional array with ionization chambers. We analyzed three plans for each anatomical site calculated by Eclipse treatment planning system. The measurements were analyzed using γ-evaluation method with passing criteria 3% absolute dose and 3 mm distancemore » to agreement (DTA). For all the plans the range of score has been from 97% to 99% for gantry fixed at 0° while for rotational planes there was a slightly decreased pass rates and above 95%. Point measurement with a ionization chamber were done in additional to see the accuracy of portal dosimetry and to evaluate the Delta4 device to various dose rates. Conclusions: Both Delt4 and Portal dosimetry shows good results between the measured and calculated doses. While Delta4 is more accurate in measurements EPID is more time efficient. We have decided to use both methods in the first steps of IMRT and VMAT implementation and later on to decide which of the tools to use depending on the complexity of plans, how much accurate we want to be and the time we have on the machine.« less

  6. SU-E-T-376: Evaluation of a New Stereotactic Diode for Small Field Dosimetry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kralik, J; Kosterin, P; Mooij, R

    2015-06-15

    Purpose: To evaluate the performance of a new stereotactic diode for dosimetry of small photon fields. Methods: A new stereotactic diode, consisting of an unshielded p-type silicon chip, and with improved radiation hardness energy dependence was recently developed (IBA Dosimetry, Schwarzenbruch, Germany). The diode has an active volume of 0.6 mm dia. x 0.02 mm thick. Two new diodes were evaluated, one which was pre-irradiated to 100kGy with 10 MeV electrons and another which received no prior irradiation. Sensitivity, stability, reproducibility, and linearity as a function of dose were assessed. Beam profiles and small field output factors were measured onmore » a CyberKnife (CK) and compared with measurements using two commercially available diodes. Results: The new diodes exhibit linear behavior (within 0.6%) over a dose range 0.02 – 50 Gy; a commercially available device exhibits excursions of up to 4% over the same range. The sensitivity is 4.1 and 3.8 nC/Gy for the un-irradiated and pre-irradiated diodes, respectively. When irradiated with 150 Gy in dose increments of 5, 20 and 35 Gy, both new diodes provide a stable response within 0.5%. Output factors measured with the two new diodes are identical and compare favorably with other commercially available diodes and published data. Similarly, no differences in measured field size or penumbra were observed among the devices tested. Conclusion: The new diodes show excellent stability and sensitivity. The beam characterization in terms of output factors and beam profiles is consistent with that obtained with commercially available diodes.« less

  7. Characterising an aluminium oxide dosimetry system.

    PubMed

    Conheady, Clement F; Gagliardi, Frank M; Ackerly, Trevor

    2015-09-01

    In vivo dosimetry is recommended as a defence-in-depth strategy in radiotherapy treatments and is currently employed by clinics around the world. The characteristics of a new optically stimulated luminescence dosimetry system were investigated for the purpose of replacing an aging thermoluminescence dosimetry system for in vivo dosimetry. The stability of the system was not sufficient to satisfy commissioning requirements and therefore it has not been released into clinical service at this time.

  8. SU-G-TeP2-03: Comparison of Standard Dosimetry Protocol in Japan and AAPM TG-51 Addendum in Order to Establish Optimal Dosimetry for FFF Beam

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Matsunaga, T; Adachi, Y; Hayashi, N

    Purpose: Japan Standard Dosimetry of Absorbed dose to water in external beam radiotherapy (JSDP12) is widely used to measure radiation dose in radiotherapy. However, JSDP12 does not take flattening-filter-free (FFF) beam into consideration. In addition, JSDP12 applied TPR20,10 for dose quality index for photon beam. The purpose of this study is to compare JSDP12 with AAPM TG-51 addendum in order to establish optimal dosimetry procedure for FFF beam. Method: We evaluated the ion-recombination factor (ks) and the correction factor of radial beam profile (Prp) in FFF beam dosimetry. The ks was introduced by 2 voltages method and verified by Jaffe’smore » plot. The Prp was given by both film measurement and calculation of treatment planning system, and compared them. Next, we compared the dose quality indexes (kQ) between TPR20,10 method and PDD(10)x method. Finally we considered optimal dosimetry protocol for FFF photon beam using JSDP12 with referring TG-51 addendum protocols. The FFF photon beams of 6 MV (6X-FFF) and 10 MV (10X-FFF) from TrueBeam were investigated in this study. Results: The ks for 6X-FFF and 10X-FFF beams were 1.005 and 1.010, respectively. The Prp of 0.6 cc ionization chamber for 6X-FFF and 10X-FFF beams (Film, TPS) were (1.004, 1.008) and (1.005, 1.008), respectively. The kQ for 6X-FFF and 10X-FFF beams (JSDP12, TG-51 addendum) were (0.9950, 0.9947) and (0.9851, 0.9845), respectively. The most effective factor for uncertainty in FFF photon beam measurement was Prp for JSDP12 formalism. Total dosimetric differences between JSDP12 and TG-51 addendum for 6X-FFF and 10X-FFF were -0.47% and -0.73%, respectively. Conclusion: The total dosimetric difference between JSDP12 and TG-51 addendum was within 1%. The introduction of kQ given by JSDP is feasible for FFF photon beam dosimetry. However, we think Prp should be considered for optimal dosimetry procedure even if JSDP12 is used for FFF photon beam dosimetry.« less

  9. Phase 1 Evaluation of 64Cu-DOTA-Patritumab to Assess Dosimetry, Apparent Receptor Occupancy, and Safety in Subjects with Advanced Solid Tumors

    PubMed Central

    Lockhart, A. Craig; Liu, Yongjian; Dehdashti, Farrokh; Laforest, Richard; Picus, Joel; Frye, Jennifer; Trull, Lauren; Belanger, Stefanie; Desai, Madhuri; Mahmood, Syed; Mendell, Jeanne; Welch, Michael J.; Siegel, Barry A.

    2017-01-01

    Purpose Evaluate safety, dosimetry and apparent receptor occupancy (RO) of 64Cu-DOTA-patritumab, a radiolabeled monoclonal antibody directed against HER3/ERBB3 in subjects with advanced solid tumors. Procedures Dosimetry subjects (N=5) received 64Cu-DOTA-patritumab and underwent PET/CT at 3, 24, and 48 hours. Evaluable RO subjects (N=3 out of 6) received 64Cu-DOTA-patritumab Day 1 and Day 8 (after 9.0 mg/kg patritumab) followed by PET/CT at 24 hours post injection. Endpoints included safety, tumor uptake and efficacy. Results The tumor SUVmax (±SD) was 5.6±4.5, 3.3±1.7 and 3.0±1.1 at 3, 24 and 48 hours in dosimetry subjects. The effective dose and critical organ dose (liver) averaged 0.044±0.008 mSv/MBq and 0.46±0.086 mGy/MBq, respectively. In RO subjects, tumor-to-blood ratio decreased from 1.00±0.32 at baseline to 0.57±0.17 after stable patritumab, corresponding to a RO of 42.1±3.9%. There were no unexpected adverse events. Conclusion 64Cu-DOTA-patritumab was safe. These limited results suggest that this PET-based method can be used to determine tumor apparent RO. PMID:26567113

  10. A survey of current in vivo radiotherapy dosimetry practice.

    PubMed

    Edwards, C R; Grieveson, M H; Mountford, P J; Rolfe, P

    1997-03-01

    A questionnaire was sent out to 57 radiotherapy physics departments in the United Kingdom to determine the type of dosemeters used for in vivo measurements inside and outside X-ray treatment fields, and whether any correction is made for energy dependence when the dose to critical organs outside the main beam is estimated. 44 responses were received. 11 centres used a semi-conductor for central axis dosimetry compared with only two centres which used thermoluminescent dosimetry (TLD). 37 centres carried out dosimetry measurements outside the main beam; 25 centres used TLD and 12 centres used a semi-conductor detector. Of the 16 centres measuring the dose at both sites. 11 used a semi-conductor for the central axis measurement, but only four of those 11 changed to TLD for critical organ dosimetry despite the latter's lower variation in energy response. None of the centres stated that they made a correction for the variation in detector energy response when making measurements outside the main beam, indicating a need for a more detailed evaluation of the energy response of these detectors and the energy spectra outside the main beam.

  11. Characterization of α-spodumene to OSL dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    d'Amorim, R. A. P. O.; de Vasconcelos, D. A. A.; de Barros, V. S. M.; Khoury, H. J.; Souza, S. O.

    2014-02-01

    The aim of this paper is to evaluate the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) response of spodumene (LiAlSi2O6) silicate and its potential use for gamma radiation dosimetry. A natural Brazilian crystal of α-spodumene was used in this study. After the crystal grinding, pellets with the diameter of 6.0 mm were prepared using a mixture of α-spodumene and polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon®) (1:2). To study the OSL response, the samples were irradiated with gamma radiation beam of Co-60 and the response was measured using an OSL Reader in two modes of operation: Continuous-wave and pulsed stimulation. The results of the integrated OSL curve of the pellets irradiated with the dose of 30 Gy showed that their response is reproducible within ±2%. The variation of the OSL response upon the dose exhibits a linear response in the range from 30 Gy to 10 kGy, with a correlation coefficient of 0.99. It is possible to conclude that the α-LiAlSi2O6/Teflon® has a great potential for OSL dosimetry of high gamma doses.

  12. Study of homogeneity and inhomogeneity phantom in CUDA EGS for small field dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yani, Sitti; Rhani, Mohamad Fahdillah; Haryanto, Freddy; Arif, Idam

    2017-02-01

    CUDA EGS was CUDA implementation to simulate transport photon in a material based on Monte Carlo algorithm for X-ray imaging. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of inhomogeneities in inhomogeneity phantom for small field dosimetry (1×1, 2×2, 3×3, 4×4 and 5×5 cm2). Two phantoms, homogeneity and inhomogeneity phantom were used. The interaction in homogeneity and inhomogeneity phantom was dominated by Compton interaction and multiple scattering. The CUDA EGS can represent the inhomogeneity effect in small field dosimetry by combining the grayscale curve between homogeneity and inhomogeneity phantom. The grayscale curve in inhomogeneity phantom is not asymmetric because of the existence of different material in phantom.

  13. Comparison of parameters affecting GNP-loaded choroidal melanoma dosimetry; Monte Carlo study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sharabiani, Marjan; Asadi, Somayeh; Barghi, Amir Rahnamai; Vaezzadeh, Mehdi

    2018-04-01

    The current study reports the results of tumor dosimetry in the presence of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) with different sizes and concentrations. Due to limited number of works carried out on the brachytherapy of choroidal melanoma in combination with GNPs, this study was performed to determine the optimum size and concentration for GNPs which contributes the highest dose deposition in tumor region, using two phantom test cases namely water phantom and a full Monte Carlo model of human eye. Both water and human eye phantoms were simulated with MCNP5 code. Tumor dosimetry was performed for a typical point photon source with an energy of 0.38 MeV as a high energy source and 103Pd brachytherapy source with an average energy of 0.021 MeV as a low energy source in water phantom and eye phantom respectively. Such a dosimetry was done for different sizes and concentrations of GNPs. For all of the diameters, increase in concentration of GNPs resulted in an increase in dose deposited in the region of interest. In a certain concentration, GNPs with larger diameters contributed more dose to the tumor region, which was more pronounced using eye phantom. 100 nm was reported as the optimum size in order to achieve the highest energy deposition within the target. This work investigated the optimum parameters affecting macroscopic dose enhancement in GNP-aided brachytherapy of choroidal melanoma. The current work also had implications on using low energy photon sources in the presence of GNPs to acquire the highest dose enhancement. This study is conducted through four different sizes and concentrations of GNPs. Considering the sensitivity of human eye tissue, in order to report the precise optimum parameters affecting radiosensitivity, a comprehensive study on a wide range of sizes and concentrations are required.

  14. EPR dosimetry in a mixed neutron and gamma radiation field.

    PubMed

    Trompier, F; Fattibene, P; Tikunov, D; Bartolotta, A; Carosi, A; Doca, M C

    2004-01-01

    Suitability of Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy for criticality dosimetry was evaluated for tooth enamel, mannose and alanine pellets during the 'international intercomparison of criticality dosimetry techniques' at the SILENE reactor held in Valduc in June 2002, France. These three materials were irradiated in neutron and gamma-ray fields of various relative intensities and spectral distributions in order to evaluate their neutron sensitivity. The neutron response was found to be around 10% for tooth enamel, 45% for mannose and between 40 and 90% for alanine pellets according their type. According to the IAEA recommendations on the early estimate of criticality accident absorbed dose, analyzed results show the EPR potentiality and complementarity with regular criticality techniques.

  15. MO-B-BRB-00: Three Dimensional Dosimetry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    NONE

    Full three-dimensional (3D) dosimetry using volumetric chemical dosimeters probed by 3D imaging systems has long been a promising technique for the radiation therapy clinic, since it provides a unique methodology for dose measurements in the volume irradiated using complex conformal delivery techniques such as IMRT and VMAT. To date true 3D dosimetry is still not widely practiced in the community; it has been confined to centres of specialized expertise especially for quality assurance or commissioning roles where other dosimetry techniques are difficult to implement. The potential for improved clinical applicability has been advanced considerably in the last decade by themore » development of improved 3D dosimeters (e.g., radiochromic plastics, radiochromic gel dosimeters and normoxic polymer gel systems) and by improved readout protocols using optical computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. In this session, established users of some current 3D chemical dosimeters will briefly review the current status of 3D dosimetry, describe several dosimeters and their appropriate imaging for dose readout, present workflow procedures required for good dosimetry, and analyze some limitations for applications in select settings. We will review the application of 3D dosimetry to various clinical situations describing how 3D approaches can complement other dose delivery validation approaches already available in the clinic. The applications presented will be selected to inform attendees of the unique features provided by full 3D techniques. Learning Objectives: L. John Schreiner: Background and Motivation Understand recent developments enabling clinically practical 3D dosimetry, Appreciate 3D dosimetry workflow and dosimetry procedures, and Observe select examples from the clinic. Sofie Ceberg: Application to dynamic radiotherapy Observe full dosimetry under dynamic radiotherapy during respiratory motion, and Understand how the measurement of high resolution dose data

  16. Experimental analysis of a novel and low-cost pin photodiode dosimetry system for diagnostic radiology

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Nazififard, Mohammad, E-mail: nazifi@kashanu.ac.ir; Mahmoudieh, Afshin; Suh, Kune Y.

    Silicon PIN photodiode has recently found broad and exciting applications in the ionizing radiation dosimetry. In this study a compact and novel dosimetry system using a commercially available PIN photodiode (BPW34) has been experimentally tested for diagnostic radiology. The system was evaluated with clinical beams routinely used for diagnostic radiology and calibrated using a secondary reference standard. Measured dose with PIN photodiode (Air Kerma) varied from 10 to 430 μGy for tube voltages from 40 to 100 kVp and tube current from 0.4 to 40 mAs. The minimum detectable organ dose was estimated to be 10 μGy with 20% uncertainty.more » Results showed a linear correlation between the PIN photodiode readout and dose measured with standard dosimeters spanning doses received. The present dosimetry system having advantages of suitable sensitivity with immediate readout of dose values, low cost, and portability could be used as an alternative to passive dosimetry system such as thermoluminescent dosimeter for dose measurements in diagnostic radiology.« less

  17. Relationship between student selection criteria and learner success for medical dosimetry students

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Baker, Jamie, E-mail: jabaker@mdanderson.org; Tucker, Debra; Raynes, Edilberto

    Medical dosimetry education occupies a specialized branch of allied health higher education. Noted international shortages of health care workers, reduced university funding, limitations on faculty staffing, trends in learner attrition, and increased enrollment of nontraditional students force medical dosimetry educational leadership to reevaluate current admission practices. Program officials wish to select medical dosimetry students with the best chances of successful graduation. The purpose of the quantitative ex post facto correlation study was to investigate the relationship between applicant characteristics (cumulative undergraduate grade point average (GPA), science grade point average (SGPA), prior experience as a radiation therapist, and previous academic degrees)more » and the successful completion of a medical dosimetry program, as measured by graduation. A key finding from the quantitative study was the statistically significant positive correlation between a student's previous degree and his or her successful graduation from the medical dosimetry program. Future research investigations could include a larger research sample, representative of more medical dosimetry student populations, and additional studies concerning the relationship of previous work as a radiation therapist and the effect on success as a medical dosimetry student. Based on the quantitative correlation analysis, medical dosimetry leadership on admissions committees could revise student selection rubrics to place less emphasis on an applicant's undergraduate cumulative GPA and increase the weight assigned to previous degrees.« less

  18. Twenty new ISO standards on dosimetry for radiation processing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Farrar, H., IV

    2000-03-01

    Twenty standards on essentially all aspects of dosimetry for radiation processing were published as new ISO standards in December 1998. The standards are based on 20 standard practices and guides developed over the past 14 years by Subcommittee E10.01 of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). The transformation to ISO standards using the 'fast track' process under ISO Technical Committee 85 (ISO/TC85) commenced in 1995 and resulted in some overlap of technical information between three of the new standards and the existing ISO Standard 11137 Sterilization of health care products — Requirements for validation and routine control — Radiation sterilization. Although the technical information in these four standards was consistent, compromise wording in the scopes of the three new ISO standards to establish precedence for use were adopted. Two of the new ISO standards are specifically for food irradiation applications, but the majority apply to all forms of gamma, X-ray, and electron beam radiation processing, including dosimetry for sterilization of health care products and the radiation processing of fruit, vegetables, meats, spices, processed foods, plastics, inks, medical wastes, and paper. Most of the standards provide exact procedures for using individual dosimetry systems or for characterizing various types of irradiation facilities, but one covers the selection and calibration of dosimetry systems, and another covers the treatment of uncertainties using the new ISO Type A and Type B evaluations. Unfortunately, nine of the 20 standards just adopted by the ISO are not the most recent versions of these standards and are therefore already out of date. To help solve this problem, efforts are being made to develop procedures to coordinate the ASTM and ISO development and revision processes for these and future ASTM-originating dosimetry standards. In the meantime, an additional four dosimetry standards have recently been published by the ASTM but

  19. Feasibility study on the verification of actual beam delivery in a treatment room using EPID transit dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Baek, Tae Seong; Chung, Eun Ji; Son, Jaeman; Yoon, Myonggeun

    2014-12-04

    The aim of this study is to evaluate the ability of transit dosimetry using commercial treatment planning system (TPS) and an electronic portal imaging device (EPID) with simple calibration method to verify the beam delivery based on detection of large errors in treatment room. Twenty four fields of intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) plans were selected from four lung cancer patients and used in the irradiation of an anthropomorphic phantom. The proposed method was evaluated by comparing the calculated dose map from TPS and EPID measurement on the same plane using a gamma index method with a 3% dose and 3 mm distance-to-dose agreement tolerance limit. In a simulation using a homogeneous plastic water phantom, performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, the average passing rate of the transit dose based on gamma index was high enough, averaging 94.2% when there was no error during beam delivery. The passing rate of the transit dose for 24 IMRT fields was lower with the anthropomorphic phantom, averaging 86.8% ± 3.8%, a reduction partially due to the inaccuracy of TPS calculations for inhomogeneity. Compared with the TPS, the absolute value of the transit dose at the beam center differed by -0.38% ± 2.1%. The simulation study indicated that the passing rate of the gamma index was significantly reduced, to less than 40%, when a wrong field was erroneously irradiated to patient in the treatment room. This feasibility study suggested that transit dosimetry based on the calculation with commercial TPS and EPID measurement with simple calibration can provide information about large errors for treatment beam delivery.

  20. TU-F-201-00: Radiochromic Film Dosimetry Update

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    NONE

    Since the introduction of radiochromic films (RCF) for radiation dosimetry, the scope of RCF dosimetry has expanded steadily to include many medical applications, such as radiation therapy and diagnostic radiology. The AAPM Task Group (TG) 55 published a report on the recommendations for RCF dosimetry in 1998. As the technology is advancing rapidly, and its routine clinical use is expanding, TG 235 has been formed to provide an update to TG-55 on radiochromic film dosimetry. RCF dosimetry applications in clinical radiotherapy have become even more widespread, expanding from primarily brachytherapy and radiosurgery applications, and gravitating towards (but not limited to)more » external beam therapy (photon, electron and protons), such as quality assurance for IMRT, VMAT, Tomotherapy, SRS/SRT, and SBRT. In addition, RCF applications now extend to measurements of radiation dose in particle beams and patients undergoing medical exams, especially fluoroscopically guided interventional procedures and CT. The densitometers/scanners used for RCF dosimetry have also evolved from the He-Ne laser scanner to CCD-based scanners, including roller-based scanner, light box-based digital camera, and flatbed color scanner. More recently, multichannel RCF dosimetry introduced a new paradigm for external beam dose QA for its high accuracy and efficiency. This course covers in detail the recent advancements in RCF dosimetry. Learning Objectives: Introduce the paradigm shift on multichannel film dosimetry Outline the procedures to achieve accurate dosimetry with a RCF dosimetry system Provide comprehensive guidelines on RCF dosimetry for various clinical applications One of the speakers has a research agreement from Ashland Inc., the manufacturer of Gafchromic film.« less

  1. AFRRI Neutron Dosimetry and Radiobiology Conference

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1988-11-09

    Neutron Dosimetry and Radiobiology 8 - 9 November 1988 Sponsored by Defense Nuclear Agency ARMED FORCES RADIOBIOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE...neutron radiation is less amenable to amelioration by chemical radioprotectants and more difficult to assess by means of physical dosimetry . These...neutron dosimetry and radiobiology we have witnessed in the past several years,could not have been possible without the sustained efforts of many

  2. Study of The Non-linear Uv Dosimetry In Simulated Extraterrestrial Conditions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Berces, A.; Kerekgyarto, T.; Ronto, G.; Lammer, H.; Kargl, G.; Komle, N. I.

    In UV biological dosimetry the UV dose scale is additive starting at a value of zero ac- cording to the definition of CIE (Technical Report TC-6-18). The biological dose can be defined by a measured end-effect. In our dosimeters (phage T7 and uracil dosime- ter) exposed to natural (terrestrial) UV radiation the proportion of pyrimidin photo- products among the total photoproducts is smaller than 10 and the linear correlation between the biological and physical dose is higher than 0.9. According to the experi- mental data this linear relationship is often not valid. We observed that UV radiation did not only induce dimerisation but shorter wavelengths caused monomerisation of pyrimidin dimers. Performing the irradiation in oxygen free environment and using a Deuterium lamp as UV source, we could increase monomerisation against dimerisa- tion thus the DNA-based dosimetrySs additivity rule is not fulfilled in these conditions. In this study we will demonstrate those non-linear experiments which constitute the basis of our biological experiments on the International Space Station.

  3. Relationship between student selection criteria and learner success for medical dosimetry students.

    PubMed

    Baker, Jamie; Tucker, Debra; Raynes, Edilberto; Aitken, Florence; Allen, Pamela

    2016-01-01

    Medical dosimetry education occupies a specialized branch of allied health higher education. Noted international shortages of health care workers, reduced university funding, limitations on faculty staffing, trends in learner attrition, and increased enrollment of nontraditional students force medical dosimetry educational leadership to reevaluate current admission practices. Program officials wish to select medical dosimetry students with the best chances of successful graduation. The purpose of the quantitative ex post facto correlation study was to investigate the relationship between applicant characteristics (cumulative undergraduate grade point average (GPA), science grade point average (SGPA), prior experience as a radiation therapist, and previous academic degrees) and the successful completion of a medical dosimetry program, as measured by graduation. A key finding from the quantitative study was the statistically significant positive correlation between a student׳s previous degree and his or her successful graduation from the medical dosimetry program. Future research investigations could include a larger research sample, representative of more medical dosimetry student populations, and additional studies concerning the relationship of previous work as a radiation therapist and the effect on success as a medical dosimetry student. Based on the quantitative correlation analysis, medical dosimetry leadership on admissions committees could revise student selection rubrics to place less emphasis on an applicant׳s undergraduate cumulative GPA and increase the weight assigned to previous degrees. Copyright © 2016 American Association of Medical Dosimetrists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Recent Progress in Electromagnetic Absorption and Dosimetry in Biological Systems.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1978-12-21

    AEROSPACE M!DICAL RESEARCH LABORATORY NAVAL AIR STATION PENSACOLA, FLORIDA 32508 L4 oj6L I SUMMARY PAGE Ti9(PROSLEM Dosimetry , as a subset of research In...absonce of sound dosimetry design, lacks credibility. This study provides a usable orientation in present and future dosimetric technology through a...leading experiment; while at other times experimental results lead the way. Progress In absorption and dosimetry Is still urderway, and higher degrees

  5. SU-F-T-52: Study of Energy Dependent Effect of Dosimetry Systems Used in Therapeutic Soft X-Ray Energy Range

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Souri, S; Qian, X; Gill, G

    Purpose: To investigate energy dependent effects of different dosimetry systems which can be used as in vivo dosimetry monitoring for intraoperative radiotherapy in therapeutic soft x-ray energy range. Methods: Three dosimetry systems were evaluated in therapeutic soft x-ray energy range: optically stimulated luminescent dosimeter (OSLD) nanoDots, radiochromic EBT2 and EBT3 films. The x-ray photons were produced by a Zeiss Intrabeam 50 kV x-ray radiotherapy system. Solid water and bolus slabs with different thicknesses were used in the process of irradiation. An aluminum filter set was used to measure HVLs of X-rays. Calibration curves were made at different depth of boluses.more » Results: Half Value Layers at depths of 0, 3, 10, and 20 mm of solid water were measured to represent the energy change versus depth, yielding 0.306, 0.482, 0.865 and 0.901 respectively and indicating nearly unchanged HVL beyond 1 cm depth. The responses of each system at different depths were normalized to the response at 2 cm depth. In film dosimetry, the response is calculated as optical density (OD). The results show that there is nearly the same energy dependence for EBT2 and EBT3. At a HVL of 0.482 mm Al, the relative responses of nanoDots and EBT3 are 0.85 ± 0.04 and 0.89 ± 0.03 compared to those at 0.901 mm Al HVL, respectively, indicating no obvious difference between those two systems within the measurement uncertainty. Conclusion: It was observed that the studied dosimeter response increases about 13% from the x-ray energy of 0.48 mm Al to 0.90 mm Al. Therefore, caution should be exercised in using an appropriate calibration curve, and x-ray beam hardening effect has to be taken into account.« less

  6. 10 CFR 835.1304 - Nuclear accident dosimetry.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Nuclear accident dosimetry. 835.1304 Section 835.1304... Nuclear accident dosimetry. (a) Installations possessing sufficient quantities of fissile material to... nuclear accident is possible, shall provide nuclear accident dosimetry for those individuals. (b) Nuclear...

  7. 10 CFR 835.1304 - Nuclear accident dosimetry.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Nuclear accident dosimetry. 835.1304 Section 835.1304... Nuclear accident dosimetry. (a) Installations possessing sufficient quantities of fissile material to... nuclear accident is possible, shall provide nuclear accident dosimetry for those individuals. (b) Nuclear...

  8. 10 CFR 835.1304 - Nuclear accident dosimetry.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Nuclear accident dosimetry. 835.1304 Section 835.1304... Nuclear accident dosimetry. (a) Installations possessing sufficient quantities of fissile material to... nuclear accident is possible, shall provide nuclear accident dosimetry for those individuals. (b) Nuclear...

  9. 10 CFR 835.1304 - Nuclear accident dosimetry.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Nuclear accident dosimetry. 835.1304 Section 835.1304... Nuclear accident dosimetry. (a) Installations possessing sufficient quantities of fissile material to... nuclear accident is possible, shall provide nuclear accident dosimetry for those individuals. (b) Nuclear...

  10. 10 CFR 835.1304 - Nuclear accident dosimetry.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Nuclear accident dosimetry. 835.1304 Section 835.1304... Nuclear accident dosimetry. (a) Installations possessing sufficient quantities of fissile material to... nuclear accident is possible, shall provide nuclear accident dosimetry for those individuals. (b) Nuclear...

  11. On the use of unshielded cables in ionization chamber dosimetry for total-skin electron therapy.

    PubMed

    Chen, Z; Agostinelli, A; Nath, R

    1998-03-01

    The dosimetry of total-skin electron therapy (TSET) usually requires ionization chamber measurements in a large electron beam (up to 120 cm x 200 cm). Exposing the chamber's electric cable, its connector and part of the extension cable to the large electron beam will introduce unwanted electronic signals that may lead to inaccurate dosimetry results. While the best strategy to minimize the cable-induced electronic signal is to shield the cables and its connector from the primary electrons, as has been recommended by the AAPM Task Group Report 23 on TSET, cables without additional shielding are often used in TSET dosimetry measurements for logistic reasons, for example when an automatic scanning dosimetry is used. This paper systematically investigates the consequences and the acceptability of using an unshielded cable in ionization chamber dosimetry in a large TSET electron beam. In this paper, we separate cable-induced signals into two types. The type-I signal includes all charges induced which do not change sign upon switching the chamber polarity, and type II includes all those that do. The type-I signal is easily cancelled by the polarity averaging method. The type-II cable-induced signal is independent of the depth of the chamber in a phantom and its magnitude relative to the true signal determines the acceptability of a cable for use under unshielded conditions. Three different cables were evaluated in two different TSET beams in this investigation. For dosimetry near the depth of maximum buildup, the cable-induced dosimetry error was found to be less than 0.2% when the two-polarity averaging technique was applied. At greater depths, the relative dosimetry error was found to increase at a rate approximately equal to the inverse of the electron depth dose. Since the application of the two-polarity averaging technique requires a constant-irradiation condition, it was demonstrated than an additional error of up to 4% could be introduced if the unshielded cable

  12. The Latin American Biological Dosimetry Network (LBDNet).

    PubMed

    García, O; Di Giorgio, M; Radl, A; Taja, M R; Sapienza, C E; Deminge, M M; Fernández Rearte, J; Stuck Oliveira, M; Valdivia, P; Lamadrid, A I; González, J E; Romero, I; Mandina, T; Guerrero-Carbajal, C; ArceoMaldonado, C; Cortina Ramírez, G E; Espinoza, M; Martínez-López, W; Di Tomasso, M

    2016-09-01

    Biological Dosimetry is a necessary support for national radiation protection programmes and emergency response schemes. The Latin American Biological Dosimetry Network (LBDNet) was formally founded in 2007 to provide early biological dosimetry assistance in case of radiation emergencies in the Latin American Region. Here are presented the main topics considered in the foundational document of the network, which comprise: mission, partners, concept of operation, including the mechanism to request support for biological dosimetry assistance in the region, and the network capabilities. The process for network activation and the role of the coordinating laboratory during biological dosimetry emergency response is also presented. This information is preceded by historical remarks on biological dosimetry cooperation in Latin America. A summary of the main experimental and practical results already obtained by the LBDNet is also included. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  13. Self-expanding stent effects on radiation dosimetry in esophageal cancer.

    PubMed

    Francis, Samual R; Anker, Christopher J; Wang, Brian; Williams, Greg V; Cox, Kristen; Adler, Douglas G; Shrieve, Dennis C; Salter, Bill J

    2013-07-08

    It is the purpose of this study to evaluate how self-expanding stents (SESs) affect esophageal cancer radiation planning target volumes (PTVs) and dose delivered to surrounding organs at risk (OARs). Ten patients were evaluated, for whom a SES was placed before radiation. A computed tomography (CT) scan obtained before stent placement was fused to the post-stent CT simulation scan. Three methods were used to represent pre-stent PTVs: 1) image fusion (IF), 2) volume approximation (VA), and 3) diameter approximation (DA). PTVs and OARs were contoured per RTOG 1010 protocol using Eclipse Treatment Planning software. Post-stent dosimetry for each patient was compared to approximated pre-stent dosimetry. For each of the three pre-stent approximations (IF, VA, and DA), the mean lung and liver doses and the estimated percentages of lung volumes receiving 5 Gy, 10 Gy, 20 Gy, and 30 Gy, and heart volumes receiving 40 Gy were significantly lower (p-values < 0.02) than those estimated in the post-stent treatment plans. The lung V5, lung V10, and heart V40 constraints were achieved more often using our pre-stent approximations. Esophageal SES placement increases the dose delivered to the lungs, heart, and liver. This may have clinical importance, especially when the dose-volume constraints are near the recommended thresholds, as was the case for lung V5, lung V10, and heart V40. While stents have established benefits for treating patients with significant dysphagia, physicians considering stent placement and radiation therapy must realize the effects stents can have on the dosimetry.

  14. A practical three-dimensional dosimetry system for radiation therapy

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Guo Pengyi; Adamovics, John; Oldham, Mark

    2006-10-15

    There is a pressing need for a practical three-dimensional (3D) dosimetry system, convenient for clinical use, and with the accuracy and resolution to enable comprehensive verification of the complex dose distributions typical of modern radiation therapy. Here we introduce a dosimetry system that can achieve this challenge, consisting of a radiochromic dosimeter (PRESAGE trade mark sign ) and a commercial optical computed tomography (CT) scanning system (OCTOPUS trade mark sign ). PRESAGE trade mark sign is a transparent material with compelling properties for dosimetry, including insensitivity of the dose response to atmospheric exposure, a solid texture negating the need formore » an external container (reducing edge effects), and amenability to accurate optical CT scanning due to radiochromic optical contrast as opposed to light-scattering contrast. An evaluation of the performance and viability of the PRESAGE trade mark sign /OCTOPUS, combination for routine clinical 3D dosimetry is presented. The performance of the two components (scanner and dosimeter) was investigated separately prior to full system test. The optical CT scanner has a spatial resolution of {<=}1 mm, geometric accuracy within 1 mm, and high reconstruction linearity (with a R{sup 2} value of 0.9979 and a standard error of estimation of {approx}1%) relative to independent measurement. The overall performance of the PRESAGE trade mark sign /OCTOPUS system was evaluated with respect to a simple known 3D dose distribution, by comparison with GAFCHROMIC[reg] EBT film and the calculated dose from a commissioned planning system. The 'measured' dose distribution in a cylindrical PRESAGE trade mark sign dosimeter (16 cm diameter and 11 cm height) was determined by optical-CT, using a filtered backprojection reconstruction algorithm. A three-way Gamma map comparison (4% dose difference and 4 mm distance to agreement), between the PRESAGE trade mark sign , EBT and calculated dose distributions, showed

  15. Direct comparison of radiation dosimetry of six PET tracers using human whole-body imaging and murine biodistribution studies.

    PubMed

    Sakata, Muneyuki; Oda, Keiichi; Toyohara, Jun; Ishii, Kenji; Nariai, Tadashi; Ishiwata, Kiichi

    2013-04-01

    We investigated the whole-body biodistributions and radiation dosimetry of five (11)C-labeled and one (18)F-labeled radiotracers in human subjects, and compared the results to those obtained from murine biodistribution studies. The radiotracers investigated were (11)C-SA4503, (11)C-MPDX, (11)C-TMSX, (11)C-CHIBA-1001, (11)C-4DST, and (18)F-FBPA. Dynamic whole-body positron emission tomography (PET) was performed in three human subjects after a single bolus injection of each radiotracer. Emission scans were collected in two-dimensional mode in five bed positions. Regions of interest were placed over organs identified in reconstructed PET images. The OLINDA program was used to estimate radiation doses from the number of disintegrations of these source organs. These results were compared with the predicted human radiation doses on the basis of biodistribution data obtained from mice by dissection. The ratios of estimated effective doses from the human-derived data to those from the mouse-derived data ranged from 0.86 to 1.88. The critical organs that received the highest absorbed doses in the human- and mouse-derived studies differed for two of the six radiotracers. The differences between the human- and mouse-derived dosimetry involved not only the species differences, including faster systemic circulation of mice and differences in the metabolism, but also measurement methodologies. Although the mouse-derived effective doses were roughly comparable to the human-derived doses in most cases, considerable differences were found for critical organ dose estimates and pharmacokinetics in certain cases. Whole-body imaging for investigation of radiation dosimetry is desirable for the initial clinical evaluation of new PET probes prior to their application in subsequent clinical investigations.

  16. Experimental Study of In-vivo Dosimetry Using Glass Rod Dosimeters to Minimize the Initialization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jeon, Hosang; Nam, Jiho; Lee, Jayoung; Lee, Juhye; Park, Dahl; Kim, Wontaek; Ki, Yongkan; Kim, Donghyun

    2018-03-01

    In-vivo dosimetry, in which small detector elements are attached to a patient's body, is an important technique for directly evaluating radiation treatment doses. The glass rod dosimeter (GRD) possesses several advantages over alternatives, which makes it one of the most useful detectors for in-vivo dosimetry. However, because the GRD initialization process requires a prolonged exposure at very high temperatures, as well as subsequent gradual quenching, each measurement takes approximately a day to complete. Therefore, we investigated the reliability of a GRD used repeatedly without initialization processes to improve efficiency. Ten doses of 0.5 Gy were delivered and read using three GRD elements. Then, the same procedure was performed for doses of 1.0 Gy. A readout error of less than 2% was maintained for up to three irradiation doses. However, the fluctuations in the readout data increased significantly as the number of irradiation doses increased. In addition, we discovered that the combined uncertainty of the readouts was influenced more heavily by the cumulative amount of irradiation than it was by the number of doses. Our results should provide guidance for accurate and efficient GRD use.

  17. A novel geometry-dosimetry label fusion method in multi-atlas segmentation for radiotherapy: a proof-of-concept study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chang, Jina; Tian, Zhen; Lu, Weiguo; Gu, Xuejun; Chen, Mingli; Jiang, Steve B.

    2017-05-01

    Multi-atlas segmentation (MAS) has been widely used to automate the delineation of organs at risk (OARs) for radiotherapy. Label fusion is a crucial step in MAS to cope with the segmentation variabilities among multiple atlases. However, most existing label fusion methods do not consider the potential dosimetric impact of the segmentation result. In this proof-of-concept study, we propose a novel geometry-dosimetry label fusion method for MAS-based OAR auto-contouring, which evaluates the segmentation performance in terms of both geometric accuracy and the dosimetric impact of the segmentation accuracy on the resulting treatment plan. Differently from the original selective and iterative method for performance level estimation (SIMPLE), we evaluated and rejected the atlases based on both Dice similarity coefficient and the predicted error of the dosimetric endpoints. The dosimetric error was predicted using our previously developed geometry-dosimetry model. We tested our method in MAS-based rectum auto-contouring on 20 prostate cancer patients. The accuracy in the rectum sub-volume close to the planning tumor volume (PTV), which was found to be a dosimetric sensitive region of the rectum, was greatly improved. The mean absolute distance between the obtained contour and the physician-drawn contour in the rectum sub-volume 2 mm away from PTV was reduced from 3.96 mm to 3.36 mm on average for the 20 patients, with the maximum decrease found to be from 9.22 mm to 3.75 mm. We also compared the dosimetric endpoints predicted for the obtained contours with those predicted for the physician-drawn contours. Our method led to smaller dosimetric endpoint errors than the SIMPLE method in 15 patients, comparable errors in 2 patients, and slightly larger errors in 3 patients. These results indicated the efficacy of our method in terms of considering both geometric accuracy and dosimetric impact during label fusion. Our algorithm can be applied to different tumor sites

  18. A novel geometry-dosimetry label fusion method in multi-atlas segmentation for radiotherapy: a proof-of-concept study.

    PubMed

    Chang, Jina; Tian, Zhen; Lu, Weiguo; Gu, Xuejun; Chen, Mingli; Jiang, Steve B

    2017-05-07

    Multi-atlas segmentation (MAS) has been widely used to automate the delineation of organs at risk (OARs) for radiotherapy. Label fusion is a crucial step in MAS to cope with the segmentation variabilities among multiple atlases. However, most existing label fusion methods do not consider the potential dosimetric impact of the segmentation result. In this proof-of-concept study, we propose a novel geometry-dosimetry label fusion method for MAS-based OAR auto-contouring, which evaluates the segmentation performance in terms of both geometric accuracy and the dosimetric impact of the segmentation accuracy on the resulting treatment plan. Differently from the original selective and iterative method for performance level estimation (SIMPLE), we evaluated and rejected the atlases based on both Dice similarity coefficient and the predicted error of the dosimetric endpoints. The dosimetric error was predicted using our previously developed geometry-dosimetry model. We tested our method in MAS-based rectum auto-contouring on 20 prostate cancer patients. The accuracy in the rectum sub-volume close to the planning tumor volume (PTV), which was found to be a dosimetric sensitive region of the rectum, was greatly improved. The mean absolute distance between the obtained contour and the physician-drawn contour in the rectum sub-volume 2 mm away from PTV was reduced from 3.96 mm to 3.36 mm on average for the 20 patients, with the maximum decrease found to be from 9.22 mm to 3.75 mm. We also compared the dosimetric endpoints predicted for the obtained contours with those predicted for the physician-drawn contours. Our method led to smaller dosimetric endpoint errors than the SIMPLE method in 15 patients, comparable errors in 2 patients, and slightly larger errors in 3 patients. These results indicated the efficacy of our method in terms of considering both geometric accuracy and dosimetric impact during label fusion. Our algorithm can be applied to different tumor sites

  19. SU-E-T-675: Remote Dosimetry with a Novel PRESAGE Formulation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mein, S; Juang, T; Malcolm, J

    2015-06-15

    Purpose: 3D-gel dosimetry provides high-resolution treatment validation; however, scanners aren’t widely available. In remote dosimetry, dosimeters are shipped out from a central base institution to a remote site for irradiation, then shipped back for scanning and analysis, affording a convenient service for treatment validation to institutions lacking the necessary equipment and resources. Previous works demonstrated the high-resolution performance and temporal stability of PRESAGE. Here the newest formulation is investigated for remote dosimetry use. Methods: A new formulation of PRESAGE was created with the aim of improved color stability post irradiation. Dose sensitivity was determined by irradiating cuvettes on a Varianmore » Linac (6MV) from 0–15Gy and measuring change in optical density at 633nm. Sensitivity readings were tracked over time in a temperature control study to determine long-term stability. A large volume study was performed to evaluate the accuracy for remote dosimetry. A 1kg dosimeter was pre-scanned, irradiated on-site with an 8Gy 4field box treatment, post-scanned and shipped to Princess Margaret Hospital for remote reading on an identical scanner. Results: Dose sensitivities ranged from 0.0194–0.0295 ΔOD/(Gy*cm)—similar to previous formulations. Post-irradiated cuvettes stored at 10°C retained 100% initial sensitivity over 5 days and 98.6% over 10 weeks while cuvettes stored at room temperature fell to 95.8% after 5 days and 37.4% after 10 weeks. The immediate and 5-day scans of the 4field box dosimeter data was reconstructed, registered to the corresponding eclipse dose-distribution, and compared with analytical tools in CERR. Immediate and 5-day scans looked visually similar. Line profiles revealed close agreement aside from a slight elevation in dose at the edge in the 5-day readout. Conclusion: The remote dosimetry formulation exhibits excellent temporal stability in small volumes. While immediate and 5-day readout scans of

  20. Monte Carlo simulations to replace film dosimetry in IMRT verification.

    PubMed

    Goetzfried, Thomas; Rickhey, Mark; Treutwein, Marius; Koelbl, Oliver; Bogner, Ludwig

    2011-01-01

    Patient-specific verification of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) plans can be done by dosimetric measurements or by independent dose or monitor unit calculations. The aim of this study was the clinical evaluation of IMRT verification based on a fast Monte Carlo (MC) program with regard to possible benefits compared to commonly used film dosimetry. 25 head-and-neck IMRT plans were recalculated by a pencil beam based treatment planning system (TPS) using an appropriate quality assurance (QA) phantom. All plans were verified both by film and diode dosimetry and compared to MC simulations. The irradiated films, the results of diode measurements and the computed dose distributions were evaluated, and the data were compared on the basis of gamma maps and dose-difference histograms. Average deviations in the high-dose region between diode measurements and point dose calculations performed with the TPS and MC program were 0.7 ± 2.7% and 1.2 ± 3.1%, respectively. For film measurements, the mean gamma values with 3% dose difference and 3mm distance-to-agreement were 0.74 ± 0.28 (TPS as reference) with dose deviations up to 10%. Corresponding values were significantly reduced to 0.34 ± 0.09 for MC dose calculation. The total time needed for both verification procedures is comparable, however, by far less labor intensive in the case of MC simulations. The presented study showed that independent dose calculation verification of IMRT plans with a fast MC program has the potential to eclipse film dosimetry more and more in the near future. Thus, the linac-specific QA part will necessarily become more important. In combination with MC simulations and due to the simple set-up, point-dose measurements for dosimetric plausibility checks are recommended at least in the IMRT introduction phase. Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

  1. Magnetic Fluid Hyperthermia for Bladder Cancer: A Preclinical Dosimetry Study

    PubMed Central

    Oliveira, Tiago R.; Stauffer, Paul R.; Lee, Chen-Ting; Landon, Chelsea D.; Etienne, Wiguins; Ashcraft, Kathleen A.; McNerny, Katie L.; Mashal, Alireza; Nouls, John; Maccarini, Paolo F.; Beyer, Wayne F.; Inman, Brant; Dewhirst, Mark W.

    2014-01-01

    Purpose This paper describes a preclinical investigation of the feasibility of thermotherapy treatment of bladder cancer with Magnetic Fluid Hyperthermia (MFH), performed by analyzing the thermal dosimetry of nanoparticle heating in a rat bladder model. Materials and Methods The bladders of twenty-five female rats were instilled with magnetite-based nanoparticles, and hyperthermia was induced using a novel small animal magnetic field applicator (Actium Biosystems, Boulder, CO). We aimed to increase the bladder lumen temperature to 42°C in <10 min and maintain that temperature for 60 min. Temperatures were measured within the bladder lumen and throughout the rat with seven fiberoptic probes (OpSens Technologies, Quebec, Canada). An MRI analysis was used to confirm the effectiveness of the catheterization method to deliver and maintain various nanoparticle volumes within the bladder. Thermal dosimetry measurements recorded the temperature rise of rat tissues for a variety of nanoparticle exposure conditions. Results Thermal dosimetry data demonstrated our ability to raise and control the temperature of rat bladder lumen ≥1°C/min to a steady-state of 42°C with minimal heating of surrounding normal tissues. MRI scans confirmed the homogenous nanoparticle distribution throughout the bladder. Conclusion These data demonstrate that our MFH system with magnetite-based nanoparticles provide well-localized heating of rat bladder lumen with effective control of temperature in the bladder and minimal heating of surrounding tissues. PMID:24050253

  2. Technical considerations for implementation of x-ray CT polymer gel dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Hilts, M; Jirasek, A; Duzenli, C

    2005-04-21

    Gel dosimetry is the most promising 3D dosimetry technique in current radiation therapy practice. X-ray CT has been shown to be a feasible method of reading out polymer gel dosimeters and, with the high accessibility of CT scanners to cancer hospitals, presents an exciting possibility for clinical implementation of gel dosimetry. In this study we report on technical considerations for implementation of x-ray CT polymer gel dosimetry. Specifically phantom design, CT imaging methods, imaging time requirements and gel dose response are investigated. Where possible, recommendations are made for optimizing parameters to enhance system performance. The dose resolution achievable with an optimized system is calculated given voxel size and imaging time constraints. Results are compared with MRI and optical CT polymer gel dosimetry results available in the literature.

  3. ISDD: A computational model of particle sedimentation, diffusion and target cell dosimetry for in vitro toxicity studies

    PubMed Central

    2010-01-01

    doses on a particle surface area or number basis can be as high as three to six orders of magnitude. As a consequence, in vitro hazard assessments utilizing mass-based exposure metrics have inherently high errors where particle number or surface areas target cells doses are believed to drive response. The gold standard for particle dosimetry for in vitro nanotoxicology studies should be direct experimental measurement of the cellular content of the studied particle. However, where such measurements are impractical, unfeasible, and before such measurements become common, particle dosimetry models such as ISDD provide a valuable, immediately useful alternative, and eventually, an adjunct to such measurements. PMID:21118529

  4. Analysis of dosimetry from the H.B. Robinson unit 2 pressure vessel benchmark using RAPTOR-M3G and ALPAN

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Fischer, G.A.

    2011-07-01

    Document available in abstract form only, full text of document follows: The dosimetry from the H. B. Robinson Unit 2 Pressure Vessel Benchmark is analyzed with a suite of Westinghouse-developed codes and data libraries. The radiation transport from the reactor core to the surveillance capsule and ex-vessel locations is performed by RAPTOR-M3G, a parallel deterministic radiation transport code that calculates high-resolution neutron flux information in three dimensions. The cross-section library used in this analysis is the ALPAN library, an Evaluated Nuclear Data File (ENDF)/B-VII.0-based library designed for reactor dosimetry and fluence analysis applications. Dosimetry is evaluated with the industry-standard SNLRMLmore » reactor dosimetry cross-section data library. (authors)« less

  5. TH-CD-BRA-11: Implementation and Evaluation of a New 3D Dosimetry Protocol for Validating MRI Guided Radiation Therapy Treatments

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mein, S; Rankine, L; Department of Radiation Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine

    Purpose: To develop, evaluate and apply a novel high-resolution 3D remote dosimetry protocol for validation of MRI guided radiation therapy treatments (MRIdian by ViewRay™). We demonstrate the first application of the protocol (including two small but required new correction terms) utilizing radiochromic 3D plastic PRESAGE™ with optical-CT readout. Methods: A detailed study of PRESAGE™ dosimeters (2kg) was conducted to investigate the temporal and spatial stability of radiation induced optical density change (ΔOD) over 8 days. Temporal stability was investigated on 3 dosimeters irradiated with four equally-spaced square 6MV fields delivering doses between 10cGy and 300cGy. Doses were imaged (read-out) bymore » optical-CT at multiple intervals. Spatial stability of ΔOD response was investigated on 3 other dosimeters irradiated uniformly with 15MV extended-SSD fields with doses of 15cGy, 30cGy and 60cGy. Temporal and spatial (radial) changes were investigated using CERR and MATLAB’s Curve Fitting Tool-box. A protocol was developed to extrapolate measured ΔOD readings at t=48hr (the typical shipment time in remote dosimetry) to time t=1hr. Results: All dosimeters were observed to gradually darken with time (<5% per day). Consistent intra-batch sensitivity (0.0930±0.002 ΔOD/cm/Gy) and linearity (R2=0.9996) was observed at t=1hr. A small radial effect (<3%) was observed, attributed to curing thermodynamics during manufacture. The refined remote dosimetry protocol (including polynomial correction terms for temporal and spatial effects, CT and CR) was then applied to independent dosimeters irradiated with MR-IGRT treatments. Excellent line profile agreement and 3D-gamma results for 3%/3mm, 10% threshold were observed, with an average passing rate 96.5%± 3.43%. Conclusion: A novel 3D remote dosimetry protocol is presented capable of validation of advanced radiation treatments (including MR-IGRT). The protocol uses 2kg radiochromic plastic dosimeters read

  6. Edema and Seed Displacements Affect Intraoperative Permanent Prostate Brachytherapy Dosimetry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Westendorp, Hendrik, E-mail: r.westendorp@radiotherapiegroep.nl; Nuver, Tonnis T.; Department of Radiation Oncology, Radiotherapiegroep Behandellocatie Deventer, Deventer

    Purpose: We sought to identify the intraoperative displacement patterns of seeds and to evaluate the correlation of intraoperative dosimetry with day 30 for permanent prostate brachytherapy. Methods and Materials: We analyzed the data from 699 patients. Intraoperative dosimetry was acquired using transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS) and C-arm cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). Intraoperative dosimetry (minimal dose to 40%-95% of the volume [D{sub 40}-D{sub 95}]) was compared with the day 30 dosimetry for both modalities. An additional edema-compensating comparison was performed for D{sub 90}. Stranded seeds were linked between TRUS and CBCT using an automatic and fast linking procedure. Displacement patterns weremore » analyzed for each seed implantation location. Results: On average, an intraoperative (TRUS to CBCT) D{sub 90} decline of 10.6% ± 7.4% was observed. Intraoperative CBCT D{sub 90} showed a greater correlation (R{sup 2} = 0.33) with respect to Day 30 than did TRUS (R{sup 2} = 0.17). Compensating for edema, the correlation increased to 0.41 for CBCT and 0.38 for TRUS. The mean absolute intraoperative seed displacement was 3.9 ± 2.0 mm. The largest seed displacements were observed near the rectal wall. The central and posterior seeds showed less caudal displacement than lateral and anterior seeds. Seeds that were implanted closer to the base showed more divergence than seeds close to the apex. Conclusions: Intraoperative CBCT D{sub 90} showed a greater correlation with the day 30 dosimetry than intraoperative TRUS. Edema seemed to cause most of the systematic difference between the intraoperative and day 30 dosimetry. Seeds near the rectal wall showed the most displacement, comparing TRUS and CBCT, probably because of TRUS probe–induced prostate deformation.« less

  7. Chemical dosimetry system for criticality accidents.

    PubMed

    Miljanić, Saveta; Ilijas, Boris

    2004-01-01

    Ruder Bosković Institute (RBI) criticality dosimetry system consists of a chemical dosimetry system for measuring the total (neutron + gamma) dose, and a thermoluminescent (TL) dosimetry system for a separate determination of the gamma ray component. The use of the chemical dosemeter solution chlorobenzene-ethanol-trimethylpentane (CET) is based on the radiolytic formation of hydrochloric acid, which protonates a pH indicator, thymolsulphonphthalein. The high molar absorptivity of its red form at 552 nm is responsible for a high sensitivity of the system: doses in the range 0.2-15 Gy can be measured. The dosemeter has been designed as a glass ampoule filled with the CET solution and inserted into a pen-shaped plastic holder. For dose determinations, a newly constructed optoelectronic reader has been used. The RBI team took part in the International Intercomparison of Criticality Accident Dosimetry Systems at the SILENE Reactor, Valduc, June 2002, with the CET dosimetry system. For gamma ray dose determination TLD-700 TL detectors were used. The results obtained with CET dosemeter show very good agreement with the reference values.

  8. Importance of dosimetry protocol for cell irradiation on a low X-rays facility and consequences for the biological response.

    PubMed

    Dos Santos, Morgane; Paget, Vincent; Ben Kacem, Mariam; Trompier, François; Benadjaoud, Mohamed Amine; François, Agnès; Guipaud, Olivier; Benderitter, Marc; Milliat, Fabien

    2018-06-01

    The main objective of radiobiology is to establish links between doses and radiation-induced biological effects. In this context, well-defined dosimetry protocols are crucial to the determination of experimental protocols. This work proposes a new dosimetry protocol for cell irradiation in a SARRP and shows the importance of the modification of some parameters defined in dosimetry protocol for physical dose and biological outcomes. Once all parameters of the configuration were defined, dosimetry measurements with ionization chambers and EBT3 films were performed to evaluate the dose rate and the attenuation due to the cell culture medium. To evaluate the influence of changes in cell culture volume and/or additional filtration, 6-well plates containing EBT3 films with water were used to determine the impact on the physical dose at 80 kV. Then, experiments with the same irradiation conditions were performed by replacing EBT3 films by HUVECs. The biological response was assessed using clonogenic assay. Using a 0.15 mm copper filter lead to a variation of +1% using medium thickness of 0.104 cm to -8% using a medium thickness of 0.936 cm on the physical dose compare to the reference condition (0.313 cm). For the 1 mm aluminum filter, a variation of +8 to -40% for the same medium thickness conditions has been observed. Cells irradiated in the same conditions showed significant differences in survival fraction, corroborating the effects of dosimetric changes on physical dose. This work shows the importance of dosimetry in radiobiology studies and the need of an accurate description of the dosimetry protocol used for irradiation.

  9. The work programme of EURADOS on internal and external dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Rühm, W; Bottollier-Depois, J F; Gilvin, P; Harrison, R; Knežević, Ž; Lopez, M A; Tanner, R; Vargas, A; Woda, C

    2018-01-01

    Since the early 1980s, the European Radiation Dosimetry Group (EURADOS) has been maintaining a network of institutions interested in the dosimetry of ionising radiation. As of 2017, this network includes more than 70 institutions (research centres, dosimetry services, university institutes, etc.), and the EURADOS database lists more than 500 scientists who contribute to the EURADOS mission, which is to promote research and technical development in dosimetry and its implementation into practice, and to contribute to harmonisation of dosimetry in Europe and its conformance with international practices. The EURADOS working programme is organised into eight working groups dealing with environmental, computational, internal, and retrospective dosimetry; dosimetry in medical imaging; dosimetry in radiotherapy; dosimetry in high-energy radiation fields; and harmonisation of individual monitoring. Results are published as freely available EURADOS reports and in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. Moreover, EURADOS organises winter schools and training courses on various aspects relevant for radiation dosimetry, and formulates the strategic research needs in dosimetry important for Europe. This paper gives an overview on the most important EURADOS activities. More details can be found at www.eurados.org .

  10. Czech results at criticality dosimetry intercomparison 2002.

    PubMed

    Frantisek, Spurný; Jaroslav, Trousil

    2004-01-01

    Two criticality dosimetry systems were tested by Czech participants during the intercomparison held in Valduc, France, June 2002. The first consisted of the thermoluminescent detectors (TLDs) (Al-P glasses) and Si-diodes as passive neutron dosemeters. Second, it was studied to what extent the individual dosemeters used in the Czech routine personal dosimetry service can give a reliable estimation of criticality accident exposure. It was found that the first system furnishes quite reliable estimation of accidental doses. For routine individual dosimetry system, no important problems were encountered in the case of photon dosemeters (TLDs, film badge). For etched track detectors in contact with the 232Th or 235U-Al alloy, the track density saturation for the spark counting method limits the upper dose at approximately 1 Gy for neutrons with the energy >1 MeV.

  11. Prediction and evaluation of route dependent dosimetry of BPA in rats at different life stages using a physiologically based pharmacokinetic model

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Yang, Xiaoxia, E-mail: Xiaoxia.Yang@fda.hhs.gov; Doerge, Daniel R.; Fisher, Jeffrey W.

    Bisphenol A (BPA) has received considerable attention throughout the last decade due to its widespread use in consumer products. For the first time a physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model was developed in neonatal and adult rats to quantitatively evaluate age-dependent pharmacokinetics of BPA and its phase II metabolites. The PBPK model was calibrated in adult rats using studies on BPA metabolism and excretion in the liver and gastrointestinal tract, and pharmacokinetic data with BPA in adult rats. For immature rats the hepatic and gastrointestinal metabolism of BPA was inferred from studies on the maturation of phase II enzymes coupled withmore » serum time course data in pups. The calibrated model predicted the measured serum concentrations of BPA and BPA conjugates after administration of 100 μg/kg of d6-BPA in adult rats (oral gavage and intravenous administration) and postnatal days 3, 10, and 21 pups (oral gavage). The observed age-dependent BPA serum concentrations were partially attributed to the immature metabolic capacity of pups. A comparison of the dosimetry of BPA across immature rats and monkeys suggests that dose adjustments would be necessary to extrapolate toxicity studies from neonatal rats to infant humans. - Highlights: • A PBPK model predicts the kinetics of bisphenol A (BPA) in young and adult rats. • BPA metabolism within enterocytes is required for fitting of oral BPA kinetic data. • BPA dosimetry in young rats is different than adult rats and young monkeys.« less

  12. Self‐expanding stent effects on radiation dosimetry in esophageal cancer

    PubMed Central

    Francis, Samual R.; Wang, Brian; Williams, Greg V.; Cox, Kristen; Adler, Douglas G.; Shrieve, Dennis C.; Salter, Bill J.

    2013-01-01

    It is the purpose of this study to evaluate how self‐expanding stents (SESs) affect esophageal cancer radiation planning target volumes (PTVs) and dose delivered to surrounding organs at risk (OARs). Ten patients were evaluated, for whom a SES was placed before radiation. A computed tomography (CT) scan obtained before stent placement was fused to the post‐stent CT simulation scan. Three methods were used to represent pre‐stent PTVs: 1) image fusion (IF), 2) volume approximation (VA), and 3) diameter approximation (DA). PTVs and OARs were contoured per RTOG 1010 protocol using Eclipse Treatment Planning software. Post‐stent dosimetry for each patient was compared to approximated pre‐stent dosimetry. For each of the three pre‐stent approximations (IF, VA, and DA), the mean lung and liver doses and the estimated percentages of lung volumes receiving 5 Gy, 10 Gy, 20 Gy, and 30 Gy, and heart volumes receiving 40 Gy were significantly lower (p‐values <0.02) than those estimated in the post‐stent treatment plans. The lung V5, lung V10, and heart V40 constraints were achieved more often using our pre‐stent approximations. Esophageal SES placement increases the dose delivered to the lungs, heart, and liver. This may have clinical importance, especially when the dose‐volume constraints are near the recommended thresholds, as was the case for lung V5, lung V10, and heart V40. While stents have established benefits for treating patients with significant dysphagia, physicians considering stent placement and radiation therapy must realize the effects stents can have on the dosimetry. PACS number: 87.55.dk PMID:23835387

  13. A combined experimental and numerical study on upper airway dosimetry of inhaled nanoparticles from an electrical discharge machine shop.

    PubMed

    Tian, Lin; Shang, Yidan; Chen, Rui; Bai, Ru; Chen, Chunying; Inthavong, Kiao; Tu, Jiyuan

    2017-07-12

    Exposure to nanoparticles in the workplace is a health concern to occupational workers with increased risk of developing respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological disorders. Based on animal inhalation study and human lung tumor risk extrapolation, current authoritative recommendations on exposure limits are either on total mass or number concentrations. Effects of particle size distribution and the implication to regional airway dosages are not elaborated. Real time production of particle concentration and size distribution in the range from 5.52 to 98.2 nm were recorded in a wire-cut electrical discharge machine shop (WEDM) during a typical working day. Under the realistic exposure condition, human inhalation simulations were performed in a physiologically realistic nasal and upper airway replica. The combined experimental and numerical study is the first to establish a realistic exposure condition, and under which, detailed dose metric studies can be performed. In addition to mass concentration guided exposure limit, inhalation risks to nano-pollutant were reexamined accounting for the actual particle size distribution and deposition statistics. Detailed dosimetries of the inhaled nano-pollutants in human nasal and upper airways with respect to particle number, mass and surface area were discussed, and empirical equations were developed. An astonishing enhancement of human airway dosages were detected by current combined experimental and numerical study in the WEDM machine shop. Up to 33 folds in mass, 27 folds in surface area and 8 folds in number dosages were detected during working hours in comparison to the background dosimetry measured at midnight. The real time particle concentration measurement showed substantial emission of nano-pollutants by WEDM machining activity, and the combined experimental and numerical study provided extraordinary details on human inhalation dosimetry. It was found out that human inhalation dosimetry was extremely sensitive

  14. PREFACE: Third International Conference on Radiotherapy Gel Dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    DeDeene, Yves; Baldock, Clive

    2004-01-01

    Gel dosimetry is not merely another dosimetry technique. Gel dosimeters are integrating dosimeters that enable dose verification in three dimensions. The application of a 3D dosimetry technique in the clinic would give a real push to the implementation of advanced high-precision radiotherapy technologies in many institutes. It can be expected that with the recent developments in the field towards more user-friendly gel systems and imaging modalities, gel dosimetry will become a vital link in the chain of high-precision radiation cancer therapy in the near future. Many researchers all over the world have contributed to the emerging technology of gel dosimetry. The research field of gel dosimetry is recognized to be very broad from polymer and analytical chemistry and material research to imaging technologies. The DOSGEL conferences in the past have proven to be an important forum at which material scientists, chemists, medical physicists, magnetic resonance imaging and radiation specialists brought together a critical mass of thoughts, findings and considerations. DOSGEL 2004 has been endorsed by many international, supra-national and national medical physics organizations and publishers. These proceedings contain 51 papers that cover various aspects of gel dosimetry.

  15. Use of aspartame-based sweetener tablets in emergency dosimetry using EPR.

    PubMed

    Maghraby, A; Salama, E

    2010-06-01

    Accident dosimetry aims to evaluate the unplanned radiation doses delivered to individuals through one of the objects exist in the area of the accident. The gamma dose response of free radicals generated in irradiated aspartame tablets and its usability for emergency dosimetry was studied. EPR spectra of unirradiated and irradiated aspartame-based sweetener were recorded. Two signals arise after irradiating, S(1) at g (S(1)) = 2.00229 +/- 0.00097 and S(2) at g (S(2)) = 2.00262 +/- 0.00088. Some EPR parameters were studied for radiation-induced radicals in aspartame sweeteners tablets, such as the microwave saturation behaviour, the effect of magnetic field modulation amplitude on the peak-to-peak height and peak-to-peak line width for both of S(1) and S(2). Responses of S(1) and S(2) to different radiation doses were studied and resulted in linear relationships, radicals persistence curves were plotted over a 49-d storage period. It was found that Aspartame sweeteners tablets are useful in the range from 0.96 to 39.96 Gy. Radiation-induced radicals possess reasonable stability.

  16. Monte Carlo simulations in radiotherapy dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Andreo, Pedro

    2018-06-27

    The use of the Monte Carlo (MC) method in radiotherapy dosimetry has increased almost exponentially in the last decades. Its widespread use in the field has converted this computer simulation technique in a common tool for reference and treatment planning dosimetry calculations. This work reviews the different MC calculations made on dosimetric quantities, like stopping-power ratios and perturbation correction factors required for reference ionization chamber dosimetry, as well as the fully realistic MC simulations currently available on clinical accelerators, detectors and patient treatment planning. Issues are raised that include the necessity for consistency in the data throughout the entire dosimetry chain in reference dosimetry, and how Bragg-Gray theory breaks down for small photon fields. Both aspects are less critical for MC treatment planning applications, but there are important constraints like tissue characterization and its patient-to-patient variability, which together with the conversion between dose-to-water and dose-to-tissue, are analysed in detail. Although these constraints are common to all methods and algorithms used in different types of treatment planning systems, they make uncertainties involved in MC treatment planning to still remain "uncertain".

  17. Effect of processor temperature on film dosimetry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Srivastava, Shiv P.; Das, Indra J., E-mail: idas@iupui.edu

    2012-07-01

    Optical density (OD) of a radiographic film plays an important role in radiation dosimetry, which depends on various parameters, including beam energy, depth, field size, film batch, dose, dose rate, air film interface, postexposure processing time, and temperature of the processor. Most of these parameters have been studied for Kodak XV and extended dose range (EDR) films used in radiation oncology. There is very limited information on processor temperature, which is investigated in this study. Multiple XV and EDR films were exposed in the reference condition (d{sub max.}, 10 Multiplication-Sign 10 cm{sup 2}, 100 cm) to a given dose. Anmore » automatic film processor (X-Omat 5000) was used for processing films. The temperature of the processor was adjusted manually with increasing temperature. At each temperature, a set of films was processed to evaluate OD at a given dose. For both films, OD is a linear function of processor temperature in the range of 29.4-40.6 Degree-Sign C (85-105 Degree-Sign F) for various dose ranges. The changes in processor temperature are directly related to the dose by a quadratic function. A simple linear equation is provided for the changes in OD vs. processor temperature, which could be used for correcting dose in radiation dosimetry when film is used.« less

  18. Evaluation of a commercial flatbed document scanner and radiographic film scanner for radiochromic EBT film dosimetry

    PubMed Central

    Parker, Brent C.; Neck, Daniel W.; Henkelmann, Greg; Rosen, Isaac I.

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to quantify the performance and assess the utility of two different types of scanners for radiochromic EBT film dosimetry: a commercial flatbed document scanner and a widely used radiographic film scanner. We evaluated the Epson Perfection V700 Photo flatbed scanner and the Vidar VXR Dosimetry Pro Advantage scanner as measurement devices for radiochromic EBT film. Measurements were made of scan orientation effects, response uniformity, and scanner noise. Scanners were tested using films irradiated with eight separate 3×3 cm2 fields to doses ranging from 0.115–5.119 Gy. ImageJ and RIT software was used for analyzing the Epson and Vidar scans, respectively. For repeated scans of a single film, the measurements in each dose region were reproducible to within ±0.3% standard deviation (SD) with both scanners. Film‐to‐film variations for corresponding doses were measured to be within ±0.4% SD for both Epson scanner and Vidar scanners. Overall, the Epson scanner showed a 10% smaller range of pixel value compared to the Vidar scanner. Scanner noise was small: ±0.3% SD for the Epson and ±0.2% for the Vidar. Overall measurement uniformity for blank film in both systems was better than ±0.2%, provided that the leading and trailing 2 cm film edges were neglected in the Vidar system. In this region artifacts are attributed to the film rollers. Neither system demonstrated a clear measurement advantage. The Epson scanner is a relatively inexpensive method for analyzing radiochromic film, but there is a lack of commercially available software. For a clinic already using a Vidar scanner, applying it to radiochromic film is attractive because commercial software is available. However, care must be taken to avoid using the leading and trailing film edges. PACS number: 87.55.Qr

  19. SU-F-T-272: Patient Specific Quality Assurance of Prostate VMAT Plans with Portal Dosimetry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Darko, J; Osei, E; University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON

    Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of using the Portal Dosimetry (PD) method for patient specific quality assurance of prostate VMAT plans. Methods: As per institutional protocol all VMAT plans were measured using the Varian Portal Dosimetry (PD) method. A gamma evaluation criterion of 3%-3mm with a minimum area gamma pass rate (gamma <1) of 95% is used clinically for all plans. We retrospectively evaluated the portal dosimetry results for 170 prostate patients treated with VMAT technique. Three sets of criterions were adopted for re-evaluating the measurements; 3%-3mm, 2%-2mm and 1%-1mm. For all criterions two areas, Field+1cm and MLC-CIAO were analysed.Tomore » ascertain the effectiveness of the portal dosimetry technique in determining the delivery accuracy of prostate VMAT plans, 10 patients previously measured with portal dosimetry, were randomly selected and their measurements repeated using the ArcCHECK method. The same criterion used in the analysis of PD was used for the ArcCHECK measurements. Results: All patient plans reviewed met the institutional criteria for Area Gamma pass rate. Overall, the gamma pass rate (gamma <1) decreases for 3%-3mm, 2%-2mm and 1%-1mm criterion. For each criterion the pass rate was significantly reduced when the MLC-CIAO was used instead of FIELD+1cm. There was noticeable change in sensitivity for MLC-CIAO with 2%-2mm criteria and much more significant reduction at 1%-1mm. Comparable results were obtained for the ArcCHECK measurements. Although differences were observed between the clockwise verses the counter clockwise plans in both the PD and ArcCHECK measurements, this was not deemed to be statistically significant. Conclusion: This work demonstrates that Portal Dosimetry technique can be effectively used for quality assurance of VMAT plans. Results obtained show similar sensitivity compared to ArcCheck. To reveal certain delivery inaccuracies, the use of a combination of criterions may provide an effective way in

  20. A reusable OSL-film for 2D radiotherapy dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wouter, Crijns; Dirk, Vandenbroucke; Paul, Leblans; Tom, Depuydt

    2017-11-01

    Optical stimulated luminescence (OSL) combines reusability, sub-mm resolution, and a linear dose response in a single radiation detection technology. Such a combination is currently lacking in radiotherapy dosimetry. But OSL-films have a strong energy dependent response to keV photons due to a relative high effective atomic number (Z eff). The current work studied the applicability of a 2D OSL-film with a reduced Z eff as (IMRT/VMAT) dosimeter. Based on their commercial OSL-film experience, Agfa Healthcare N.V. produced a new experimental OSL-film for RT dosimetry. This film had a lower effective atomic number compared to the films used in radiology. Typical 2D dosimeter requirements such as uniformity, dose response, signal stability with time, and angular dependence were evaluated. Additionally, the impact of a possible residual energy dependence was assessed for the infield as well as the out-of-field region of both static beams and standard intensity modulated patterns (chair and pyramid). The OSL-film’s reusable nature allowed for a film specific absolute and linear calibration including a flood-field uniformity correction. The OSL-film was scanned with a CR-15X engine based reader using a strict timing (i.e. 4 min after ‘beam on’ or as soon as possible) to account for spontaneous recombination. The OSL-film had good basic response properties: non-uniformities  ⩽2.6%, a linear dose response (0-32 Gy), a linear signal decay (0.5% min-1) over the 20 min measured, and limited angular dependence  ⩽2.6%. Due to variations of the energy spectrum, larger dose differences were noted outside the central region of the homogenous phantom and outside both static and IMRT fields. However, the OSL-film’s measured dose differences of the IMRT patterns were lower than those of Gafchromic EBT measurements ([-1.6%, 2.1%] versus [-2.9%, 3.6%]). The current OSL-film could be used as a reusable high resolution dosimeter with read-out immediately after

  1. A reusable OSL-film for 2D radiotherapy dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Wouter, Crijns; Dirk, Vandenbroucke; Paul, Leblans; Tom, Depuydt

    2017-10-19

    Optical stimulated luminescence (OSL) combines reusability, sub-mm resolution, and a linear dose response in a single radiation detection technology. Such a combination is currently lacking in radiotherapy dosimetry. But OSL-films have a strong energy dependent response to keV photons due to a relative high effective atomic number (Z eff ). The current work studied the applicability of a 2D OSL-film with a reduced Z eff as (IMRT/VMAT) dosimeter. Based on their commercial OSL-film experience, Agfa Healthcare N.V. produced a new experimental OSL-film for RT dosimetry. This film had a lower effective atomic number compared to the films used in radiology. Typical 2D dosimeter requirements such as uniformity, dose response, signal stability with time, and angular dependence were evaluated. Additionally, the impact of a possible residual energy dependence was assessed for the infield as well as the out-of-field region of both static beams and standard intensity modulated patterns (chair and pyramid). The OSL-film's reusable nature allowed for a film specific absolute and linear calibration including a flood-field uniformity correction. The OSL-film was scanned with a CR-15X engine based reader using a strict timing (i.e. 4 min after 'beam on' or as soon as possible) to account for spontaneous recombination. The OSL-film had good basic response properties: non-uniformities  ⩽2.6%, a linear dose response (0-32 Gy), a linear signal decay (0.5% min -1 ) over the 20 min measured, and limited angular dependence  ⩽2.6%. Due to variations of the energy spectrum, larger dose differences were noted outside the central region of the homogenous phantom and outside both static and IMRT fields. However, the OSL-film's measured dose differences of the IMRT patterns were lower than those of Gafchromic EBT measurements ([-1.6%, 2.1%] versus [-2.9%, 3.6%]). The current OSL-film could be used as a reusable high resolution dosimeter with read-out immediately after irradiation

  2. Implicit dosimetry of microorganism photodynamic inactivation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tamošiūnas, Mindaugas; Kuliešienė, Neringa; Daugelavičius, Rimantas

    2017-12-01

    Photosensitization based antibacterial treatment is efficient against a broad range of pathogens but it utilizes suboptimal dosimetry with an explicit (and very broad range) determination of sensitizer concentration, light dose and fluence rates. In this study we verified the implicit dosimetry approach for pathogen photodynamic treatment, employing protoporphyrin IX (ppIX) photobleaching to assess the killing efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans cells. The results show that there was an increased kill of S. aureus and C. albicans at higher degree of ppIX fluorescence decay. Therefore ppIX photobleaching can be incorporated into the PDI dose metric offering to predict the pathogen killing efficacy during photodynamic treatment.

  3. TU-E-201-02: Eye Lens Dosimetry From CT Perfusion Studies

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Zhang, D.

    Madan M. Rehani, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston Methods for Eye Lens Dosimetry and Studies On Lens Opacities with Interventionalists Radiation induced cataract is a major threat among staff working in interventional suites. Nearly 16 million interventional procedures are performed annually in USA. Recent studies by the principal investigator’s group, primarily among interventional cardiologists, on behalf of the International Atomic Energy Agency, show posterior subcapsular (PSC) changes in the eye lens in 38–53% of main operators and 21–45% of support staff. These changes have potential to lead to cataract in future years, as per information from A-Bombmore » survivors. The International Commission on Radiological Protection has reduced dose limit for staff by a factor of 7.5 (from 150 mSv/y to 20 mSv/y). With increasing emphasis on radiation induced cataracts and reduction in threshold dose for eye lens, there is a need to implement strategies for estimating eye lens dose. Unfortunately eye lens dosimetry is at infancy when it comes to routine application. Various approaches are being tried namely direct measurement using active or passive dosimeters kept close to eyes, retrospective estimations and lastly correlating patient dose in interventional procedures with staff eye dose. The talk will review all approaches available and ongoing active research in this area, as well as data from surveys done in Europe on status of eye dose monitoring in interventional radiology and nuclear medicine. The talk will provide update on how good is Hp(10) against Hp(3), estimations from CTDI values, Monte Carlo based simulations and current status of eye lens dosimetry in USA and Europe. The cataract risk among patients is in CT examinations of the head. Since radiation induced cataract predominantly occurs in posterior sub-capsular (PSC) region and is thus distinguishable from age or drug related cataracts and is also preventable

  4. 1983 international intercomparison of nuclear accident dosimetry systems at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Swaja, R.E.; Greene, R.T.; Sims, C.S.

    1985-04-01

    An international intercomparison of nuclear accident dosimetry systems was conducted during September 12-16, 1983, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) using the Health Physics Research Reactor operated in the pulse mode to simulate criticality accidents. This study marked the twentieth in a series of annual accident dosimetry intercomparisons conducted at ORNL. Participants from ten organizations attended this intercomparison and measured neutron and gamma doses at area monitoring stations and on phantoms for three different shield conditions. Results of this study indicate that foil activation techniques are the most popular and accurate method of determining accident-level neutron doses at area monitoringmore » stations. For personnel monitoring, foil activation, blood sodium activation, and thermoluminescent (TL) methods are all capable of providing accurate dose estimates in a variety of radiation fields. All participants in this study used TLD's to determine gamma doses with very good results on the average. Chemical dosemeters were also shown to be capable of yielding accurate estimates of total neutron plus gamma doses in a variety of radiation fields. While 83% of all neutron measurements satisfied regulatory standards relative to reference values, only 39% of all gamma results satisfied corresponding guidelines for gamma measurements. These results indicate that continued improvement in accident dosimetry evaluation and measurement techniques is needed.« less

  5. Survey of patient dosimetry for head and neck cancer patients undergoing external radiotherapy treatment: a study from northeastern hospitals of India.

    PubMed

    Sharma, Arunkumar B; Singh, Tomcha Th; Singh, Khelendra N; Gartia, R K

    2009-01-01

    To study dosimetry of patients during the external radiotherapy of head and neck cancers from different hospitals of the northeastern region (NER) of India. 35 confirmed cases of head and neck cancers reporting to three different hospitals in the NER of India who underwent radiation treatment were the materials for the study. Dosimetry was carried out at 8(eight) anatomical points to these patients, namely, target (entrance and exit points), forehead, chest, abdomen, gonad, arm, and leg respectively by thermoluminescence (TL) as well as optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dosimeters. Unlike conventional appliances, we used common iodized salt as TL/OSL phosphor. Patient dosimetry was found to vary with an average of 1.17 +/- 0.39 Sv at forehead, 1.24 +/- 0.39 Sv at chest, 0.52 +/- 0.13 Sv at gonad to a minimum of 0.26 +/- 0.07 Sv at leg areas when exposed to a cumulative dose of 65 Sv at the target. Maximum dose received from a stray radiation is about 1.5 Sv at forehead/chest and dosimetry of patient among the three centers is not significantly different at the 5% level of probability.

  6. Evaluation of [18F]Mefway biodistribution and dosimetry based on whole-body PET imaging of mice.

    PubMed

    Constantinescu, Cristian C; Sevrioukov, Evgueni; Garcia, Adriana; Pan, Min-Liang; Mukherjee, Jogeshwar

    2013-04-01

    [(18)F]Mefway is a novel radiotracer specific to the serotonin 5-HT1A receptor class. In preparation for using this tracer in humans, we have performed whole-body PET studies in mice to evaluate the biodistribution and dosimetry of [(18)F]Mefway. Six mice (three females and three males) received IV injections of [(18)F]Mefway and were scanned for 2 h in an Inveon-dedicated PET scanner. Each animal also received a high-resolution CT scan using an Inveon CT. The CT images were used to draw volume of interest on the following organs: the brain, large intestine, stomach, heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas, bone, spleen, testes, thymus, gallbladder, uterus, and urinary bladder. All organ time-activity curves without decay correction were normalized to the injected activity. The area under the normalized curves was then used to compute the residence times in each organ. Data were analyzed using PMOD and Matlab software. The absorbed doses in mouse organs were computed using the RAdiation Dose Assessment Resource animal models for dose assessment. The residence times in mouse organs were converted to human values using scale factors based on differences between organ and body weights. OLINDA/EXM 1.1 software was used to compute the absorbed human doses in multiple organs for both female and male phantoms. The highest mouse residence times were found in the liver, urinary bladder, and kidneys. The largest doses in mice were found in the urinary bladder (critical organ), kidney, and liver for both females and males, indicating primary elimination via urinary system. The projected human effective doses were 1.21E - 02 mSv/MBq for the adult female model and 1.13E - 02 mSv/MBq for the adult male model. The estimated human biodistribution of [(18)F]Mefway was similar to that of [(11)C]WAY 100,635, a 5-HT1A tracer for which dosimetry has been evaluated in humans. The elimination of radiotracer was primarily via the kidney and urinary bladder with the urinary

  7. EPR/PTFE dosimetry for test reactor environments

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Vehar, D.W.; Griffin, P.J.; Quirk, T.J.

    2011-07-01

    dosimetry in photon-only environments. This is necessary to establish requirements for sample preparation, operating parameters and limitations for use in well-defined and predictable environments prior to deployment in the less well-defined mixed environments of test reactors. 3) Characterization of the EPR responses obtained with PTFE in mixed neutron/photon fields. This includes evaluation of the neutron and photon contributions to response, determination of applicable of neutron fluence and photon dose ranges. This paper presents a summary of the research, a description of the EPR/PTFE dosimetry system, and recommendations for preparation and fielding of the dosimetry in photon and mixed neutron/photon environments. (authors)« less

  8. SU-F-T-421: Dosimetry Change During Radiotherapy and Dosimetry Difference for Rigid and Deformed Registration in the Mid-Thoracic Esophageal Carcinoma

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Tao, C; Liu, T; Chen, J

    Purpose: This study aimed to analyze dosimetry changes during radiotherapy for the mid-thoracic esophageal carcinoma, and investigate dosimetry difference between rigid and deformed registration. Methods: Twelve patients with primary middle thoracic esophageal carcinoma were selected randomly. Based on first CT scanning of each patient, plans-o were generated by experience physicists. After 20 fractions treatment, the corresponding plans-re were created with second CT scanning. And then, these two CT images were rigid and deformed registration respectively, and the dose was accumulated plan-o with plan-re. The dosimetry variation of these plans (plan-o: with 30 fractions, plan-rig: the accumulated dose with rigid registrationmore » and plan-def: the accumulated dose with deformed registration) were evaluated by paired T-test. Results: The V20 value of total lung were 32.68%, 30.3% and 29.71% for plan-o, plan-rig and plan-def respectively. The mean dose of total lung was 17.19 Gy, 16.67 Gy and 16.51 Gy for plan-o plan-rig and plan-def respectively. There were significant differences between plan-o and plan-rig or plan-def for both V20 and mean dose of total lung (with p= 0.003, p= 0.000 for V20 and p=0.008, p= 0.000 for mean dose respectively). There was no significant difference between plan-rig and plan-def (with p=0.118 for V20 and p=0.384 for mean dose). The max dose of spinal-cord was 41.95 Gy, 41.48 Gy and 41.4 Gy for plan-o, plan-rig and plan-def respectively. There were no significant differences for the max dose of spinal-cord between these plans. Conclusion: The target volume changes and anatomic position displacement of mid-thoracic esophageal carcinoma should not be neglected in clinics. These changes would cause overdose in normal tissue. Therefore, it is necessary to have another CT scanning and re-plan during the mid-thoracic esophageal carcinoma radiotherapy. And the dosimetry difference between rigid and deformed fusions was not found in this

  9. TU-F-201-01: General Aspects of Radiochromic Film Dosimetry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Niroomand-Rad, A.

    Since the introduction of radiochromic films (RCF) for radiation dosimetry, the scope of RCF dosimetry has expanded steadily to include many medical applications, such as radiation therapy and diagnostic radiology. The AAPM Task Group (TG) 55 published a report on the recommendations for RCF dosimetry in 1998. As the technology is advancing rapidly, and its routine clinical use is expanding, TG 235 has been formed to provide an update to TG-55 on radiochromic film dosimetry. RCF dosimetry applications in clinical radiotherapy have become even more widespread, expanding from primarily brachytherapy and radiosurgery applications, and gravitating towards (but not limited to)more » external beam therapy (photon, electron and protons), such as quality assurance for IMRT, VMAT, Tomotherapy, SRS/SRT, and SBRT. In addition, RCF applications now extend to measurements of radiation dose in particle beams and patients undergoing medical exams, especially fluoroscopically guided interventional procedures and CT. The densitometers/scanners used for RCF dosimetry have also evolved from the He-Ne laser scanner to CCD-based scanners, including roller-based scanner, light box-based digital camera, and flatbed color scanner. More recently, multichannel RCF dosimetry introduced a new paradigm for external beam dose QA for its high accuracy and efficiency. This course covers in detail the recent advancements in RCF dosimetry. Learning Objectives: Introduce the paradigm shift on multichannel film dosimetry Outline the procedures to achieve accurate dosimetry with a RCF dosimetry system Provide comprehensive guidelines on RCF dosimetry for various clinical applications One of the speakers has a research agreement from Ashland Inc., the manufacturer of Gafchromic film.« less

  10. SU-E-T-87: A TG-100 Approach for Quality Improvement of Associated Dosimetry Equipment

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Manger, R; Pawlicki, T; Kim, G

    2015-06-15

    Purpose: Dosimetry protocols devote so much time to the discussion of ionization chamber choice, use and performance that is easy to forget about the importance of the associated dosimetry equipment (ADE) in radiation dosimetry - barometer, thermometer, electrometer, phantoms, triaxial cables, etc. Improper use and inaccuracy of these devices may significantly affect the accuracy of radiation dosimetry. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the risk factors in the monthly output dosimetry procedure and recommend corrective actions using a TG-100 approach. Methods: A failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) of the monthly linac output check procedure was performed tomore » determine which steps and failure modes carried the greatest risk. In addition, a fault tree analysis (FTA) was performed to expand the initial list of failure modes making sure that none were overlooked. After determining the failure modes with the highest risk priority numbers (RPNs), 11 physicists were asked to score corrective actions based on their ease of implementation and potential impact. The results were aggregated into an impact map to determine the implementable corrective actions. Results: Three of the top five failure modes were related to the thermometer and barometer. The two highest RPN-ranked failure modes were related to barometric pressure inaccuracy due to their high lack-of-detectability scores. Six corrective actions were proposed to address barometric pressure inaccuracy, and the survey results found the following two corrective actions to be implementable: 1) send the barometer for recalibration at a calibration laboratory and 2) check the barometer accuracy against the local airport and correct for elevation. Conclusion: An FMEA on monthly output measurements displayed the importance of ADE for accurate radiation dosimetry. When brainstorming for corrective actions, an impact map is helpful for visualizing the overall impact versus the ease of implementation.« less

  11. Dosimetry of 64Cu-DOTA-AE105, a PET tracer for uPAR imaging.

    PubMed

    Persson, Morten; El Ali, Henrik H; Binderup, Tina; Pfeifer, Andreas; Madsen, Jacob; Rasmussen, Palle; Kjaer, Andreas

    2014-03-01

    (64)Cu-DOTA-AE105 is a novel positron emission tomography (PET) tracer specific to the human urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR). In preparation of using this tracer in humans, as a new promising method to distinguish between indolent and aggressive cancers, we have performed PET studies in mice to evaluate the in vivo biodistribution and estimate human dosimetry of (64)Cu-DOTA-AE105. Five mice received iv tail injection of (64)Cu-DOTA-AE105 and were PET/CT scanned 1, 4.5 and 22 h post injection. Volume-of-interest (VOI) were manually drawn on the following organs: heart, lung, liver, kidney, spleen, intestine, muscle, bone and bladder. The activity concentrations in the mentioned organs [%ID/g] were used for the dosimetry calculation. The %ID/g of each organ at 1, 4.5 and 22 h was scaled to human value based on a difference between organ and body weights. The scaled values were then exported to OLINDA software for computation of the human absorbed doses. The residence times as well as effective dose equivalent for male and female could be obtained for each organ. To validate this approach, of human projection using mouse data, five mice received iv tail injection of another (64)Cu-DOTA peptide-based tracer, (64)Cu-DOTA-TATE, and underwent same procedure as just described. The human dosimetry estimates were then compared with observed human dosimetry estimate recently found in a first-in-man study using (64)Cu-DOTA-TATE. Human estimates of (64)Cu-DOTA-AE105 revealed the heart wall to receive the highest dose (0.0918 mSv/MBq) followed by the liver (0.0815 mSv/MBq), All other organs/tissue were estimated to receive doses in the range of 0.02-0.04 mSv/MBq. The mean effective whole-body dose of (64)Cu-DOTA-AE105 was estimated to be 0.0317 mSv/MBq. Relatively good correlation between human predicted and observed dosimetry estimates for (64)Cu-DOTA-TATE was found. Importantly, the effective whole body dose was predicted with very high precision

  12. Trigeminal neuralgia treatment dosimetry of the Cyberknife

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ho, Anthony; Lo, Anthony T., E-mail: tonyho22003@yahoo.com; Dieterich, Sonja

    2012-04-01

    There are 2 Cyberknife units at Stanford University. The robot of 1 Cyberknife is positioned on the patient's right, whereas the second is on the patient's left. The present study examines whether there is any difference in dosimetry when we are treating patients with trigeminal neuralgia when the target is on the right side or the left side of the patient. In addition, we also study whether Monte Carlo dose calculation has any effect on the dosimetry. We concluded that the clinical and dosimetric outcomes of CyberKnife treatment for trigeminal neuralgia are independent of the robot position. Monte Carlo calculationmore » algorithm may be useful in deriving the dose necessary for trigeminal neuralgia treatments.« less

  13. Sixth international radiopharmaceutical dosimetry symposium: Proceedings. Volume 2

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    S.-Stelson, A.T.; Stabin, M.G.; Sparks, R.B.

    1999-01-01

    This conference was held May 7--10 in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The purpose of this conference was to provide a multidisciplinary forum for exchange of state-of-the-art information on radiopharmaceutical dosimetry. Attention is focused on the following: quantitative analysis and treatment planning; cellular and small-scale dosimetry; dosimetric models; radiopharmaceutical kinetics and dosimetry; and animal models, extrapolation, and uncertainty.

  14. Applying an analytical method to study neutron behavior for dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shirazi, S. A. Mousavi

    2016-12-01

    In this investigation, a new dosimetry process is studied by applying an analytical method. This novel process is associated with a human liver tissue. The human liver tissue has compositions including water, glycogen and etc. In this study, organic compound materials of liver are decomposed into their constituent elements based upon mass percentage and density of every element. The absorbed doses are computed by analytical method in all constituent elements of liver tissue. This analytical method is introduced applying mathematical equations based on neutron behavior and neutron collision rules. The results show that the absorbed doses are converged for neutron energy below 15MeV. This method can be applied to study the interaction of neutrons in other tissues and estimating the absorbed dose for a wide range of neutron energy.

  15. Breast dosimetry in clinical mammography

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Benevides, Luis Alberto Do Rego

    The objective of this study was show that a clinical dosimetry protocol that utilizes a dosimetric breast phantom series based on population anthropometric measurements can reliably predict the average glandular dose (AGD) imparted to the patient during a routine screening mammogram. In the study, AGD was calculated using entrance skin exposure and dose conversion factors based on fibroglandular content, compressed breast thickness, mammography unit parameters and modifying parameters for homogeneous phantom (phantom factor), compressed breast lateral dimensions (volume factor) and anatomical features (anatomical factor). The protocol proposes the use of a fiber-optic coupled (FOCD) or Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) dosimeter to measure the entrance skin exposure at the time of the mammogram without interfering with diagnostic information of the mammogram. The study showed that FOCD had sensitivity with less than 7% energy dependence, linear in all tube current-time product stations, and was reproducible within 2%. FOCD was superior to MOSFET dosimeter in sensitivity, reusability, and reproducibility. The patient fibroglandular content was evaluated using a calibrated modified breast tissue equivalent homogeneous phantom series (BRTES-MOD) designed from anthropomorphic measurements of a screening mammography population and whose elemental composition was referenced to International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements Report 44 tissues. The patient fibroglandular content, compressed breast thickness along with unit parameters and spectrum half-value layer were used to derive the currently used dose conversion factor (DgN). The study showed that the use of a homogeneous phantom, patient compressed breast lateral dimensions and patient anatomical features can affect AGD by as much as 12%, 3% and 1%, respectively. The protocol was found to be superior to existing methodologies. In addition, the study population anthropometric

  16. Dosimetry around metallic ports in tissue expanders in patients receiving postmastectomy radiation therapy: an ex vivo evaluation.

    PubMed

    Moni, Janaki; Graves-Ditman, Maria; Cederna, Paul; Griffith, Kent; Krueger, Editha A; Fraass, Benedick A; Pierce, Lori J

    2004-01-01

    Postmastectomy breast reconstruction can be accomplished utilizing tissue expanders and implants. However, in patients who require postoperative radiotherapy, the complication rate with tissue expander/implant reconstruction can exceed 50%. One potential cause of this high complication rate may be the metallic port in the tissue expander producing altered dosimetry in the region of the metallic device. The purpose of this study was to quantify the radiation dose distribution in the vicinity of the metallic port and determine its potential contribution to this extremely high complication rate. The absolute dosimetric effect of the tissue expander's metallic port was quantified using film and thermoluminescent dosimetry (TLD) studies with a single beam incident on a metallic port extracted from an expander. TLD measurements were performed at 11 reproducible positions on an intact expander irradiated with tangential fields. A computed tomography (CT)-based treatment plan without inhomogeneity corrections was used to derive expected doses for all TLD positions. Multiple irradiation experiments were performed for all TLD data. Confidence intervals for the dose at TLD sites with the metallic port in place were compared to the expected dose at the site without the metallic port. Film studies did not reveal a significant component of scatter around the metallic port. TLD studies of the extracted metallic port revealed highest doses within the casing of the metallic port and no consistent increased dose at the surface of the expander. No excess dose due to the metallic port in the expander was noted with the phantom TLD data. Based upon these results, it does not appear that the metallic port in tissue expanders significantly contributes to the high complication rate experienced in patients undergoing tissue expander breast reconstruction and receiving radiation therapy. Strategies designed to reduce the breast reconstruction complication rate in this clinical setting will

  17. Infants and young children modeling method for numerical dosimetry studies: application to plane wave exposure

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dahdouh, S.; Varsier, N.; Nunez Ochoa, M. A.; Wiart, J.; Peyman, A.; Bloch, I.

    2016-02-01

    Numerical dosimetry studies require the development of accurate numerical 3D models of the human body. This paper proposes a novel method for building 3D heterogeneous young children models combining results obtained from a semi-automatic multi-organ segmentation algorithm and an anatomy deformation method. The data consist of 3D magnetic resonance images, which are first segmented to obtain a set of initial tissues. A deformation procedure guided by the segmentation results is then developed in order to obtain five young children models ranging from the age of 5 to 37 months. By constraining the deformation of an older child model toward a younger one using segmentation results, we assure the anatomical realism of the models. Using the proposed framework, five models, containing thirteen tissues, are built. Three of these models are used in a prospective dosimetry study to analyze young child exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields. The results lean to show the existence of a relationship between age and whole body exposure. The results also highlight the necessity to specifically study and develop measurements of child tissues dielectric properties.

  18. SU-E-T-482: In Vivo Dosimetry of An Anthropomorphic Phantom by Using the RADPOS System for Proton Beam Therapy

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kohno, R; Motegi, K; Hotta, K

    Purpose: Delivered doses in an anthropomorphic phantom were evaluated by using the RADPOS system for proton beam therapy. Methods: The RADPOS in vivo dosimetry system combines an electromagnetic positioning sensor with MOSFET dosimetry, allowing simultaneous online measurements of dose and spatial position. Through the RADPOS system, dose evaluation points can be determined. In vivo proton dosimetry was evaluated by using the RADPOS system and anthropomorphic head and neck phantom. MOSFET doses measured at 3D positions obtained with the RADPOS were compared to the treatment plan values that were calculated by a simplified Monte Carlo (SMC) method. Although the MOSFET responsemore » depends strongly on the linear energy transfer (LET) of proton beam, the MOSFET responses to proton beams were corrected with the SMC. Here, the SMC calculated only dose deposition determined by the experimental depth–dose distribution and lateral displacement of protons due to both multiple scattering effect in materials and incident angle. As a Result, the SMC could quickly calculate accurate doses in even heterogeneities. Results: In vivo dosimetry by using the RADPOS, as well as the MOSFET doses agreed in comparison with calculations by the SMC in the range of −3.0% to 8.3%. Most measurement errors occurred because of the uncertainties of dose calculations due to the position error of 1 mm. Conclusion: We evaluated the delivered doses in the anthropomorphic phantom by using the RADPOS system for proton beam therapy. The MOSFET doses agreed in comparison with calculations by the SMC within the measurement error. Therefore, we could successfully control the uncertainties of the measurement positions by using the RADPOS system within 1 mm in in vivo proton dosimetry. We aim for the clinical application of in vivo proton dosimetry with this RADPOS system.« less

  19. In Vitro Exposure Systems and Dosimetry Assessment Tools ...

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    In 2009, the passing of The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act facilitated the establishment of the FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) and gave it regulatory authority over the marketing, manufacture and distribution of tobacco products, including those termed “modified risk”. On 4-6 April 2016, the Institute for In Vitro Sciences, Inc. (IIVS) convened a workshop conference titled “In Vitro Exposure Systems and Dosimetry Assessment Tools for Inhaled Tobacco Products” to bring together stakeholders representing regulatory agencies, academia, and industry to address the research priorities articulated by the FDA CTP. Specific topics were covered to assess the status of current in vitro smoke and aerosol/vapor exposure systems, as well as the various approaches and challenges to quantifying the complex exposures, in in vitro pulmonary models developed for evaluating adverse pulmonary events resulting from tobacco product exposures. The four core topics covered were, 1) Tobacco Smoke And E-Cigarette Aerosols, 2) Air-Liquid Interface-In Vitro Exposure Systems, 3) Dosimetry Approaches For Particles And Vapors; In Vitro Dosimetry Determinations and 4) Exposure Microenvironment/Physiology Of Cells. The two and a half day workshop included presentations from 20 expert speakers, poster sessions, networking discussions, and breakout sessions which identified key findings and provided recommendations to advance these technologies. Here, we will re

  20. Advanced dosimetry systems for the space transport and space station

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wailly, L. F.; Schneider, M. F.; Clark, B. C.

    1972-01-01

    Advanced dosimetry system concepts are described that will provide automated and instantaneous measurement of dose and particle spectra. Systems are proposed for measuring dose rate from cosmic radiation background to greater than 3600 rads/hr. Charged particle spectrometers, both internal and external to the spacecraft, are described for determining mixed field energy spectra and particle fluxes for both real time onboard and ground-based computer evaluation of the radiation hazard. Automated passive dosimetry systems consisting of thermoluminescent dosimeters and activation techniques are proposed for recording the dose levels for twelve or more crew members. This system will allow automatic onboard readout and data storage of the accumulated dose and can be transmitted to ground after readout or data records recovered with each crew rotation.

  1. The Importance of Dosimetry Standardization in Radiobiology

    PubMed Central

    Desrosiers, Marc; DeWerd, Larry; Deye, James; Lindsay, Patricia; Murphy, Mark K; Mitch, Michael; Macchiarini, Francesca; Stojadinovic, Strahinja; Stone, Helen

    2013-01-01

    Radiation dose is central to much of radiobiological research. Precision and accuracy of dose measurements and reporting of the measurement details should be sufficient to allow the work to be interpreted and repeated and to allow valid comparisons to be made, both in the same laboratory and by other laboratories. Despite this, a careful reading of published manuscripts suggests that measurement and reporting of radiation dosimetry and setup for radiobiology research is frequently inadequate, thus undermining the reliability and reproducibility of the findings. To address these problems and propose a course of action, the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) brought together representatives of the radiobiology and radiation physics communities in a workshop in September, 2011. The workshop participants arrived at a number of specific recommendations as enumerated in this paper and they expressed the desirability of creating dosimetry standard operating procedures (SOPs) for cell culture and for small and large animal experiments. It was also felt that these SOPs would be most useful if they are made widely available through mechanism(s) such as the web, where they can provide guidance to both radiobiologists and radiation physicists, be cited in publications, and be updated as the field and needs evolve. Other broad areas covered were the need for continuing education through tutorials at national conferences, and for journals to establish standards for reporting dosimetry. This workshop did not address issues of dosimetry for studies involving radiation focused at the sub-cellular level, internally-administered radionuclides, biodosimetry based on biological markers of radiation exposure, or dose reconstruction for epidemiological studies. PMID:26401441

  2. Progress with the NCT international dosimetry exchange.

    PubMed

    Binns, P J; Riley, K J; Harling, O K; Auterinen, I; Marek, M; Kiger, W S

    2004-11-01

    The international collaboration that was organized to undertake a dosimetry exchange for purposes of combining clinical data from different facilities conducting neutron capture therapy has continued since its founding at the 9th ISNCT symposium in October 2000. The thrust towards accumulating physical dosimetry data for comparison between different participants has broadened to include facilities in Japan and the determination of spectral descriptions of different beams. Retrospective analysis of patient data from the Brookhaven Medical Research Reactor is also being considered for incorporation into this study to increase the pool of available data. Meanwhile the next essential phase of comparing measurements of visiting dosimetry groups with treatment plan calculations from the host institutes has commenced. Host centers from Petten, Finland and the Czech Republic in Europe and MIT in the USA have applied the regular calculations and clinical calibrations from their current clinical studies, to generate treatment plans in the large standard phantom used for measurements by visiting participants. These data have been exchanged between the participants and scaling factors to relate the separate dose components between the different institutes are being determined. Preliminary normalization of measured and calculated dosimetry for patients is nearing completion to enable the physical radiation doses that comprise a treatment prescription at a host institute to be directly related to the corresponding measured doses of a visiting group. This should serve as an impetus for the direct comparison of patient data although the clinical requirements for achieving this need to be clearly defined. This may necessitate more extensive comparisons of treatment planning calculations through the solution of test problems and clarification regarding the question of dose specification from treatment calculations in general.

  3. Modelling and Dosimetry for Alpha-Particle Therapy

    PubMed Central

    Sgouros, George; Hobbs, Robert F.; Song, Hong

    2015-01-01

    As a consequence of the high potency and short range of alpha-particles, radiopharmaceutical therapy with alpha-particle emitting radionuclides is a promising treatment approach that is under active pre-clinical and clinical investigation. To understand and predict the biological effects of alpha-particle radiopharmaceuticals, dosimetry is required at the micro or multi-cellular scale level. At such a scale, highly non-uniform irradiation of the target volume may be expected and the utility of a single absorbed dose value to predict biological effects comes into question. It is not currently possible to measure the pharmacokinetic input required for micro scale dosimetry in humans. Accordingly, pre-clinical studies are required to provide the pharmacokinetic data for dosimetry calculations. The translation of animal data to the human requires a pharmacokinetic model that links macro- and micro-scale pharmacokinetics thereby enabling the extrapolation of micro-scale kinetics from macroscopic measurements. These considerations along with a discussion of the appropriate physical quantity and related units for alpha-particle radiopharmaceutical therapy are examined in this review. PMID:22201712

  4. Using exposure prediction tools to link exposure and dosimetry for risk-based decisions: A case study with phthalates.

    PubMed

    Moreau, Marjory; Leonard, Jeremy; Phillips, Katherine A; Campbell, Jerry; Pendse, Salil N; Nicolas, Chantel; Phillips, Martin; Yoon, Miyoung; Tan, Yu-Mei; Smith, Sherrie; Pudukodu, Harish; Isaacs, Kristin; Clewell, Harvey

    2017-10-01

    A few different exposure prediction tools were evaluated for use in the new in vitro-based safety assessment paradigm using di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) and dibutyl phthalate (DnBP) as case compounds. Daily intake of each phthalate was estimated using both high-throughput (HT) prediction models such as the HT Stochastic Human Exposure and Dose Simulation model (SHEDS-HT) and the ExpoCast heuristic model and non-HT approaches based on chemical specific exposure estimations in the environment in conjunction with human exposure factors. Reverse dosimetry was performed using a published physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model for phthalates and their metabolites to provide a comparison point. Daily intakes of DEHP and DnBP were estimated based on the urinary concentrations of their respective monoesters, mono-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP) and monobutyl phthalate (MnBP), reported in NHANES (2011-2012). The PBPK-reverse dosimetry estimated daily intakes at the 50th and 95th percentiles were 0.68 and 9.58 μg/kg/d and 0.089 and 0.68 μg/kg/d for DEHP and DnBP, respectively. For DEHP, the estimated median from PBPK-reverse dosimetry was about 3.6-fold higher than the ExpoCast estimate (0.68 and 0.18 μg/kg/d, respectively). For DnBP, the estimated median was similar to that predicted by ExpoCast (0.089 and 0.094 μg/kg/d, respectively). The SHEDS-HT prediction of DnBP intake from consumer product pathways alone was higher at 0.67 μg/kg/d. The PBPK-reverse dosimetry-estimated median intake of DEHP and DnBP was comparable to values previously reported for US populations. These comparisons provide insights into establishing criteria for selecting appropriate exposure prediction tools for use in an integrated modeling platform to link exposure to health effects. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  5. Real-time dosimetry in radiotherapy using tailored optical fibers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rahman, A. K. M. Mizanur; Zubair, H. T.; Begum, Mahfuza; Abdul-Rashid, H. A.; Yusoff, Z.; Omar, Nasr Y. M.; Ung, N. M.; Mat-Sharif, K. A.; Bradley, D. A.

    2016-05-01

    Real-time dosimetry plays an important role for accurate patient-dose measurement during radiotherapy. A tiny piece of laboratory fabricated Ge-doped optical fiber has been investigated as a radioluminescence (RL) sensor for real-time dosimetry over the dose range from 1 Gy to 8 Gy under 6 MV photon beam by LINAC. Fiber-coupled software-based RL prototype system was used to assess essential dosimetric characteristics including dose response linearity, dose rate dependency, sensitivity, repeatability and output dependence on field sizes. The consistency level of RL photon counts versus dose rate was also compared with that of standard Al2O3:C chips. Sensitivity of Ge-doped fiber were found to be sufficiently sensitive for practical use and also provided linear dose responses for various dose rates from 100 cGy/min to 600 cGy/min using both 6 MV photon and 6 MeV electron beams. SEM-EDX analysis was performed to identify Ge-dopant concentration level within the optical fiber RL material. Accumulated doses were also estimated using simple integral technique and the error was found to be around less than 1% under dissimilar dose rates or repeat measurements. The evaluation of the Ge-doped optical fiber based RL dosimeter system indicates its potential in medical dosimetry.

  6. Shared dosimetry error in epidemiological dose-response analyses

    DOE PAGES

    Stram, Daniel O.; Preston, Dale L.; Sokolnikov, Mikhail; ...

    2015-03-23

    Radiation dose reconstruction systems for large-scale epidemiological studies are sophisticated both in providing estimates of dose and in representing dosimetry uncertainty. For example, a computer program was used by the Hanford Thyroid Disease Study to provide 100 realizations of possible dose to study participants. The variation in realizations reflected the range of possible dose for each cohort member consistent with the data on dose determinates in the cohort. Another example is the Mayak Worker Dosimetry System 2013 which estimates both external and internal exposures and provides multiple realizations of "possible" dose history to workers given dose determinants. This paper takesmore » up the problem of dealing with complex dosimetry systems that provide multiple realizations of dose in an epidemiologic analysis. In this paper we derive expected scores and the information matrix for a model used widely in radiation epidemiology, namely the linear excess relative risk (ERR) model that allows for a linear dose response (risk in relation to radiation) and distinguishes between modifiers of background rates and of the excess risk due to exposure. We show that treating the mean dose for each individual (calculated by averaging over the realizations) as if it was true dose (ignoring both shared and unshared dosimetry errors) gives asymptotically unbiased estimates (i.e. the score has expectation zero) and valid tests of the null hypothesis that the ERR slope β is zero. Although the score is unbiased the information matrix (and hence the standard errors of the estimate of β) is biased for β≠0 when ignoring errors in dose estimates, and we show how to adjust the information matrix to remove this bias, using the multiple realizations of dose. The use of these methods in the context of several studies including, the Mayak Worker Cohort, and the U.S. Atomic Veterans Study, is discussed.« less

  7. Shared Dosimetry Error in Epidemiological Dose-Response Analyses

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Stram, Daniel O.; Preston, Dale L.; Sokolnikov, Mikhail

    2015-03-23

    Radiation dose reconstruction systems for large-scale epidemiological studies are sophisticated both in providing estimates of dose and in representing dosimetry uncertainty. For example, a computer program was used by the Hanford Thyroid Disease Study to provide 100 realizations of possible dose to study participants. The variation in realizations reflected the range of possible dose for each cohort member consistent with the data on dose determinates in the cohort. Another example is the Mayak Worker Dosimetry System 2013 which estimates both external and internal exposures and provides multiple realizations of "possible" dose history to workers given dose determinants. This paper takesmore » up the problem of dealing with complex dosimetry systems that provide multiple realizations of dose in an epidemiologic analysis. In this paper we derive expected scores and the information matrix for a model used widely in radiation epidemiology, namely the linear excess relative risk (ERR) model that allows for a linear dose response (risk in relation to radiation) and distinguishes between modifiers of background rates and of the excess risk due to exposure. We show that treating the mean dose for each individual (calculated by averaging over the realizations) as if it was true dose (ignoring both shared and unshared dosimetry errors) gives asymptotically unbiased estimates (i.e. the score has expectation zero) and valid tests of the null hypothesis that the ERR slope β is zero. Although the score is unbiased the information matrix (and hence the standard errors of the estimate of β) is biased for β≠0 when ignoring errors in dose estimates, and we show how to adjust the information matrix to remove this bias, using the multiple realizations of dose. Use of these methods for several studies, including the Mayak Worker Cohort and the U.S. Atomic Veterans Study, is discussed.« less

  8. Experimental active and passive dosimetry systems for the NASA Skylab program

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Schneider, M. F.; Janni, J. F.; Ainsworth, G. C.

    1972-01-01

    Active and passive dosimetry instrumentation to measure absorbed dose, charged particle spectra, and linear energy transfer spectra inside the command module and orbital workshop on the Skylab program were developed and tested. The active dosimetry system consists of one integral unit employing both a tissue equivalent ionization chamber and silicon solid state detectors. The instrument measures dose rates from 0.2 millirad/hour to 25 rads/hour, linear energy transfer spectra from 2.8 to 42.4 Kev/micron, and the proton and alpha particle energy spectra from 0.5 to 75 Mev. The active dosimeter is equipped with a portable radiation sensor for use in astronaut on-body and spacecraft shielding surveys during passage of the Skylab through significant space radiations. Data are transmitted in real time or are recorded by onboard spacecraft tape recorder for rapid evaluation of the radiation levels. The passive dosimetry systems consist of twelve (12) hard-mounted assemblies, each containing a variety of passive radiation sensors which are recoverable at the end of the mission for analysis.

  9. Nonuniform Irradiation of the Canine Intestine. 2. Dosimetry

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1990-01-01

    irradiation is accurate assessment In vivo dosimetry was done using Harshaw (Solon, Ohio) TLD - 100 lith- of the injury after either accidental or... vivo TLD dosimetry system allowed measure- 5 and 6. The dose was determined from the median TLD ment of the °Co dose deposited in the canine small...provide replicate measurements. Two separate dosimetry tubes were deveoped (Fig. 1). The first contained 30 TLD cap- doses (1). Nevertheless, current

  10. Dosimetry of ionising radiation in modern radiation oncology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kron, Tomas; Lehmann, Joerg; Greer, Peter B.

    2016-07-01

    Dosimetry of ionising radiation is a well-established and mature branch of physical sciences with many applications in medicine and biology. In particular radiotherapy relies on dosimetry for optimisation of cancer treatment and avoidance of severe toxicity for patients. Several novel developments in radiotherapy have introduced new challenges for dosimetry with small and dynamically changing radiation fields being central to many of these applications such as stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy and intensity modulated radiation therapy. There is also an increasing awareness of low doses given to structures not in the target region and the associated risk of secondary cancer induction. Here accurate dosimetry is important not only for treatment optimisation but also for the generation of data that can inform radiation protection approaches in the future. The article introduces some of the challenges and highlights the interdependence of dosimetric calculations and measurements. Dosimetric concepts are explored in the context of six application fields: reference dosimetry, small fields, low dose out of field, in vivo dosimetry, brachytherapy and auditing of radiotherapy practice. Recent developments of dosimeters that can be used for these purposes are discussed using spatial resolution and number of dimensions for measurement as sorting criteria. While dosimetry is ever evolving to address the needs of advancing applications of radiation in medicine two fundamental issues remain: the accuracy of the measurement from a scientific perspective and the importance to link the measurement to a clinically relevant question. This review aims to provide an update on both of these.

  11. Evaluation of the uncertainty in an EBT3 film dosimetry system utilizing net optical density.

    PubMed

    Marroquin, Elsa Y León; Herrera González, José A; Camacho López, Miguel A; Barajas, José E Villarreal; García-Garduño, Olivia A

    2016-09-08

    Radiochromic film has become an important tool to verify dose distributions for intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and quality assurance (QA) procedures. A new radiochromic film model, EBT3, has recently become available, whose composition and thickness of the sensitive layer are the same as those of previous EBT2 films. However, a matte polyester layer was added to EBT3 to prevent the formation of Newton's rings. Furthermore, the symmetrical design of EBT3 allows the user to eliminate side-orientation dependence. This film and the flatbed scanner, Epson Perfection V750, form a dosimetry system whose intrinsic characteristics were studied in this work. In addition, uncertainties associated with these intrinsic characteristics and the total uncertainty of the dosimetry system were determined. The analysis of the response of the radiochromic film (net optical density) and the fitting of the experimental data to a potential function yielded an uncertainty of 2.6%, 4.3%, and 4.1% for the red, green, and blue channels, respectively. In this work, the dosimetry system presents an uncertainty in resolving the dose of 1.8% for doses greater than 0.8 Gy and less than 6 Gy for red channel. The films irradiated between 0 and 120 Gy show differences in the response when scanned in portrait or landscape mode; less uncertainty was found when using the portrait mode. The response of the film depended on the position on the bed of the scanner, contributing an uncertainty of 2% for the red, 3% for the green, and 4.5% for the blue when placing the film around the center of the bed of scanner. Furthermore, the uniformity and reproducibility radiochromic film and reproducibility of the response of the scanner contribute less than 1% to the overall uncertainty in dose. Finally, the total dose uncertainty was 3.2%, 4.9%, and 5.2% for red, green, and blue channels, respectively. The above uncertainty values were obtained by mini-mizing the contribution to the total dose uncertainty

  12. The Mayak Worker Dosimetry System (Mwds-2013): An Introduction to The Documentation

    DOE PAGES

    Napier, B. A.

    2017-03-17

    The reconstruction of radiation doses to Mayak Production Association workers in central Russia supports radiation epidemiological studies for the U.S.-Russian Joint Coordinating Committee on Radiation Effects Research. The most recent version of the dosimetry was performed with the Mayak Worker Dosimetry System-2013. Here, this introduction outlines the logic and general content of the series of articles presented in this issue of Radiation Protection Dosimetry. The articles summarize the models, describe the basis for most of the key decisions made in developing the models and present an overview of the results.

  13. The Mayak Worker Dosimetry System (Mwds-2013): An Introduction to The Documentation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Napier, B. A.

    The reconstruction of radiation doses to Mayak Production Association workers in central Russia supports radiation epidemiological studies for the U.S.-Russian Joint Coordinating Committee on Radiation Effects Research. The most recent version of the dosimetry was performed with the Mayak Worker Dosimetry System-2013. Here, this introduction outlines the logic and general content of the series of articles presented in this issue of Radiation Protection Dosimetry. The articles summarize the models, describe the basis for most of the key decisions made in developing the models and present an overview of the results.

  14. Dosimetry of gamma chamber blood irradiator using PAGAT gel dosimeter and Monte Carlo simulations

    PubMed Central

    Mohammadyari, Parvin; Zehtabian, Mehdi; Sina, Sedigheh; Tavasoli, Ali Reza

    2014-01-01

    Currently, the use of blood irradiation for inactivating pathogenic microbes in infected blood products and preventing graft‐versus‐host disease (GVHD) in immune suppressed patients is greater than ever before. In these systems, dose distribution and uniformity are two important concepts that should be checked. In this study, dosimetry of the gamma chamber blood irradiator model Gammacell 3000 Elan was performed by several dosimeter methods including thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLD), PAGAT gel dosimetry, and Monte Carlo simulations using MCNP4C code. The gel dosimeter was put inside a glass phantom and the TL dosimeters were placed on its surface, and the phantom was then irradiated for 5 min and 27 sec. The dose values at each point inside the vials were obtained from the magnetic resonance imaging of the phantom. For Monte Carlo simulations, all components of the irradiator were simulated and the dose values in a fine cubical lattice were calculated using tally F6. This study shows that PAGAT gel dosimetry results are in close agreement with the results of TL dosimetry, Monte Carlo simulations, and the results given by the vendor, and the percentage difference between the different methods is less than 4% at different points inside the phantom. According to the results obtained in this study, PAGAT gel dosimetry is a reliable method for dosimetry of the blood irradiator. The major advantage of this kind of dosimetry is that it is capable of 3D dose calculation. PACS number: 87.53.Bn PMID:24423829

  15. Dosimetry and microdosimetry using COTS ICs: A comparative study

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Scheick, L.; Swift, G.; Guertin, S.; Roth, D.; McNulty, P.; Nguyen, D.

    2002-01-01

    A new method using an array of MOS transistors formeasuring dose absorbed from ionizing radiation is compared to previous dosimetric methods., The accuracy and precision of dosimetry based on COTS SRAMs, DRAMs, and WPROMs are compared and contrasted. Applications of these devices in various space missions will be discussed. TID results are presented for this summary and microdosimetricresults will be added to the full paper. Finally, an analysis of the optimal condition for a digital dosimeter will be presented.

  16. The physics of small megavoltage photon beam dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Andreo, Pedro

    2018-02-01

    The increased interest during recent years in the use of small megavoltage photon beams in advanced radiotherapy techniques has led to the development of dosimetry recommendations by different national and international organizations. Their requirement of data suitable for the different clinical options available, regarding treatment units and dosimetry equipment, has generated a considerable amount of research by the scientific community during the last decade. The multiple publications in the field have led not only to the availability of new invaluable data, but have also contributed substantially to an improved understanding of the physics of their dosimetry. This work provides an overview of the most important aspects that govern the physics of small megavoltage photon beam dosimetry. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Partition Model-Based 99mTc-MAA SPECT/CT Predictive Dosimetry Compared with 90Y TOF PET/CT Posttreatment Dosimetry in Radioembolization of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Quantitative Agreement Comparison.

    PubMed

    Gnesin, Silvano; Canetti, Laurent; Adib, Salim; Cherbuin, Nicolas; Silva Monteiro, Marina; Bize, Pierre; Denys, Alban; Prior, John O; Baechler, Sebastien; Boubaker, Ariane

    2016-11-01

    90 Y-microsphere selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT) is a valuable treatment in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Partition-model predictive dosimetry relies on differential tumor-to-nontumor perfusion evaluated on pretreatment 99m Tc-macroaggregated albumin (MAA) SPECT/CT. The aim of this study was to evaluate agreement between the predictive dosimetry of 99m Tc-MAA SPECT/CT and posttreatment dosimetry based on 90 Y time-of-flight (TOF) PET/CT. We compared the 99m Tc-MAA SPECT/CT results for 27 treatment sessions (25 HCC patients, 41 tumors) with 90 Y SIRT (7 glass spheres, 20 resin spheres) and the posttreatment 90 Y TOF PET/CT results. Three-dimensional voxelized dose maps were computed from the 99m Tc-MAA SPECT/CT and 90 Y TOF PET/CT data. Mean absorbed dose ([Formula: see text]) was evaluated to compute the predicted-to-actual dose ratio ([Formula: see text]) in tumor volumes (TVs) and nontumor volumes (NTVs) for glass and resin spheres. The Lin concordance ([Formula: see text]) was used to measure accuracy ([Formula: see text]) and precision (ρ). Administered activity ranged from 0.8 to 1.9 GBq for glass spheres and from 0.6 to 3.4 GBq for resin spheres, and the respective TVs ranged from 2 to 125 mL and from 6 to 1,828 mL. The mean dose [Formula: see text] was 240 Gy for glass and 122 Gy for resin in TVs and 72 Gy for glass and 47 Gy for resin in NTVs. [Formula: see text] was 1.46 ± 0.58 (0.65-2.53) for glass and 1.16 ± 0.41 (0.54-2.54) for resin, and the respective values for [Formula: see text] were 0.88 ± 0.15 (0.56-1.00) and 0.86 ± 0.2 (0.58-1.35). DR variability was substantially lower in NTVs than in TVs. The Lin concordance between [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] (resin) was significantly better for tumors larger than 150 mL than for tumors 150 mL or smaller ([Formula: see text] = 0.93 and [Formula: see text] = 0.95 vs. [Formula: see text] = 0.57 and [Formula: see text] = 0.93; P < 0.05). In 90 Y radioembolization

  18. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) dosimetry using lithium formate in radiotherapy: comparison with thermoluminescence (TL) dosimetry using lithium fluoride rods.

    PubMed

    Vestad, Tor Arne; Malinen, Eirik; Olsen, Dag Rune; Hole, Eli Olaug; Sagstuen, Einar

    2004-10-21

    Solid-state radiation dosimetry by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and thermoluminescence (TL) was utilized for the determination of absorbed doses in the range of 0.5-2.5 Gy. The dosimeter materials used were lithium formate and lithium fluoride (TLD-100 rods) for EPR dosimetry and TL dosimetry, respectively. 60Co gamma-rays and 4, 6, 10 and 15 MV x-rays were employed. The main objectives were to compare the variation in dosimeter reading of the respective dosimetry systems and to determine the photon energy dependence of the two dosimeter materials. The EPR dosimeter sensitivity was constant over the dose range in question, while the TL sensitivity increased by more than 5% from 0.5 to 2.5 Gy, thus displaying a supralinear dose response. The average relative standard deviation in the dosimeter reading per dose was 3.0% and 1.2% for the EPR and TL procedures, respectively. For EPR dosimeters, the relative standard deviation declined significantly from 4.3% to 1.1% over the dose range in question. The dose-to-water energy response for the megavoltage x-ray beams relative to 60Co gamma-rays was in the range of 0.990-0.979 and 0.984-0.962 for lithium formate and lithium fluoride, respectively. The results show that EPR dosimetry with lithium formate provides dose estimates with a precision comparable to that of TL dosimetry (using lithium fluoride) for doses above 2 Gy, and that lithium formate is slightly less dependent on megavoltage photon beam energy than lithium fluoride.

  19. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) dosimetry using lithium formate in radiotherapy: comparison with thermoluminescence (TL) dosimetry using lithium fluoride rods

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vestad, Tor Arne; Malinen, Eirik; Rune Olsen, Dag; Olaug Hole, Eli; Sagstuen, Einar

    2004-10-01

    Solid-state radiation dosimetry by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and thermoluminescence (TL) was utilized for the determination of absorbed doses in the range of 0.5-2.5 Gy. The dosimeter materials used were lithium formate and lithium fluoride (TLD-100 rods) for EPR dosimetry and TL dosimetry, respectively. 60Co ggr-rays and 4, 6, 10 and 15 MV x-rays were employed. The main objectives were to compare the variation in dosimeter reading of the respective dosimetry systems and to determine the photon energy dependence of the two dosimeter materials. The EPR dosimeter sensitivity was constant over the dose range in question, while the TL sensitivity increased by more than 5% from 0.5 to 2.5 Gy, thus displaying a supralinear dose response. The average relative standard deviation in the dosimeter reading per dose was 3.0% and 1.2% for the EPR and TL procedures, respectively. For EPR dosimeters, the relative standard deviation declined significantly from 4.3% to 1.1% over the dose range in question. The dose-to-water energy response for the megavoltage x-ray beams relative to 60Co ggr-rays was in the range of 0.990-0.979 and 0.984-0.962 for lithium formate and lithium fluoride, respectively. The results show that EPR dosimetry with lithium formate provides dose estimates with a precision comparable to that of TL dosimetry (using lithium fluoride) for doses above 2 Gy, and that lithium formate is slightly less dependent on megavoltage photon beam energy than lithium fluoride.

  20. Gamma response characterizations of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) affects personal dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Monthonwattana, S.; Esor, J.; Rungseesumran, T.; Intang, A.

    2017-06-01

    Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) is the current technique of personal dosimetry changed by Nuclear Technology Service Center instead of Thermoluminescence dosimetry (TLD) because OSL has more advantages, such as repeat reading and elimination of heating process. In this study, OSL was used to test the gamma response characterizations. Detailed OSL investigation on personal dosimetry was carried out in the dose range of 0.2 - 3.0 mSv. The batch homogeneity was 7.66%. R2 value of the linear regression was 0.9997. The difference ratio of angular dependence at ± 60° was 8.7%. Fading of the reading was about 3%.

  1. Water equivalency evaluation of PRESAGE® dosimeters for dosimetry of Cs-137 and Ir-192 brachytherapy sources

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gorjiara, Tina; Hill, Robin; Kuncic, Zdenka; Baldock, Clive

    2010-11-01

    A major challenge in brachytherapy dosimetry is the measurement of steep dose gradients. This can be achieved with a high spatial resolution three dimensional (3D) dosimeter. PRESAGE® is a polyurethane based dosimeter which is suitable for 3D dosimetry. Since an ideal dosimeter is radiologically water equivalent, we have investigated the relative dose response of three different PRESAGE® formulations, two with a lower chloride and bromide content than original one, for Cs-137 and Ir-192 brachytherapy sources. Doses were calculated using the EGSnrc Monte Carlo package. Our results indicate that PRESAGE® dosimeters are suitable for relative dose measurement of Cs-137 and Ir-192 brachytherapy sources and the lower halogen content PRESAGE® dosimeters are more water equivalent than the original formulation.

  2. Biological dosimetry of ionizing radiation: Evaluation of the dose with cytogenetic methodologies by the construction of calibration curves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zafiropoulos, Demetre; Facco, E.; Sarchiapone, Lucia

    2016-09-01

    In case of a radiation accident, it is well known that in the absence of physical dosimetry biological dosimetry based on cytogenetic methods is a unique tool to estimate individual absorbed dose. Moreover, even when physical dosimetry indicates an overexposure, scoring chromosome aberrations (dicentrics and rings) in human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) at metaphase is presently the most widely used method to confirm dose assessment. The analysis of dicentrics and rings in PBLs after Giemsa staining of metaphase cells is considered the most valid assay for radiation injury. This work shows that applying the fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique, using telomeric/centromeric peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probes in metaphase chromosomes for radiation dosimetry, could become a fast scoring, reliable and precise method for biological dosimetry after accidental radiation exposures. In both in vitro methods described above, lymphocyte stimulation is needed, and this limits the application in radiation emergency medicine where speed is considered to be a high priority. Using premature chromosome condensation (PCC), irradiated human PBLs (non-stimulated) were fused with mitotic CHO cells, and the yield of excess PCC fragments in Giemsa stained cells was scored. To score dicentrics and rings under PCC conditions, the necessary centromere and telomere detection of the chromosomes was obtained using FISH and specific PNA probes. Of course, a prerequisite for dose assessment in all cases is a dose-effect calibration curve. This work illustrates the various methods used; dose response calibration curves, with 95% confidence limits used to estimate dose uncertainties, have been constructed for conventional metaphase analysis and FISH. We also compare the dose-response curve constructed after scoring of dicentrics and rings using PCC combined with FISH and PNA probes. Also reported are dose response curves showing scored dicentrics and rings per cell, combining

  3. SU-D-213-06: Dosimetry of Modulated Electron Radiation Therapy Using Fricke Gel Dosimeter

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gawad, M Abdel; Elgohary, M; Hassaan, M

    Purpose: Modulated electron radiation therapy (MERT) has been proposed as an effective modality for treatment of superficial targets. MERT utilizes multiple beams of different energies which are intensity modulated to deliver optimized dose distribution. Energy independent dosimeters are thus needed for quantitative evaluations of MERT dose distributions and measurements of absolute doses delivered to patients. Thus in the current work we study the feasibility of Fricke gel dosimeters in MERT dosimetry. Methods: Batches of radiation sensitive Fricke gel is fabricated and poured into polymethyl methacrylate cuvettes. The samples were irradiated in solid water phantom and a thick layer of bolusmore » was used as a buildup. A spectrophotometer system was used for measuring the color changes (the absorbance) before and after irradiation and then we calculate net absorbance. We constructed calibration curves to relate the measured absorbance in terms of absorbed dose for all available electron energies. Dosimetric measurements were performed for mixed electron beam delivery and we also performed measurement for segmented field delivery with the dosimeter placed at the junction of two adjacent electron beams of different energies. Dose measured by our gel dosimetry is compared to that calculation from our precise treatment planning system. We also initiated a Monte Carlo study to evaluate the water equivalence of our dosimeters. MCBEAM and MCSIM codes were used for treatment head simulation and phantom dose calculation. PDDs and profiles were calculated for electron beams incident on a phantom designed with 1cm slab of Fricke gel. Results: The calibration curves showed no observed energy dependence with all studied electron beam energies. Good agreement was obtained between dose calculated and that obtained by gel dosimetry. Monte Carlo results illustrated the tissue equivalency of our Gel dosimeters. Conclusion: Fricke Gel dosimeters represent a good option for the

  4. Dosimetry with diamond detectors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gervino, G.; Marino, C.; Silvestri, F.; Lavagno, A.; Truc, F.

    2010-05-01

    In this paper we present the dosimetry analysis in terms of stability and repeatability of the signal and dose rate dependence of a synthetic single crystal diamond grown by Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) technique. The measurements carried out by 5 MeV X-ray photons beam show very promising results, even if the dose rate detector response points out that the charge trapping centers distribution is not uniform inside the crystal volume. This handicap that affects the detectors performances, must be ascribed to the growing process. Synthetic single crystal diamonds could be a valuable alternative to air ionization chambers for quality beam control and for intensity modulated radiation therapy beams dosimetry.

  5. Computer Aided Dosimetry and Verification of Exposure to Radiation

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2002-06-01

    Event matrix 2. Hematopoietic * Absolute blood counts * Relative blood counts 3. Dosimetry * TLD * EPDQuantitative * Radiation survey * Whole body...EI1 Defence Research and Recherche et developpement Development Canada pour la d6fense Canada DEFENCE •mI•DEFENSE Computer Aided Dosimetry and...Aided Dosimetry and Verification of Exposure to Radiation Edward Waller SAIC Canada Robert Z Stodilka Radiation Effects Group, Space Systems and

  6. EANM Dosimetry Committee series on standard operational procedures for pre-therapeutic dosimetry II. Dosimetry prior to radioiodine therapy of benign thyroid diseases.

    PubMed

    Hänscheid, Heribert; Canzi, Cristina; Eschner, Wolfgang; Flux, Glenn; Luster, Markus; Strigari, Lidia; Lassmann, Michael

    2013-07-01

    The EANM Dosimetry Committee Series "Standard Operational Procedures for Pre-Therapeutic Dosimetry" (SOP) provides advice to scientists and clinicians on how to perform patient-specific absorbed dose assessments. This particular SOP describes how to tailor the therapeutic activity to be administered for radioiodine therapy of benign thyroid diseases such as Graves' disease or hyperthyroidism. Pretherapeutic dosimetry is based on the assessment of the individual (131)I kinetics in the target tissue after the administration of a tracer activity. The present SOP makes proposals on the equipment to be used and guides the user through the measurements. Time schedules for the measurement of the fractional (131)I uptake in the diseased tissue are recommended and it is shown how to calculate from these datasets the therapeutic activity necessary to administer a predefined target dose in the subsequent therapy. Potential sources of error are pointed out and the inherent uncertainties of the procedures depending on the number of measurements are discussed. The theoretical background and the derivation of the listed equations from compartment models of the iodine kinetics are explained in a supplementary file published online only.

  7. Study of constraints in using household NaCl salt for retrospective dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Elashmawy, M.

    2018-05-01

    Thermoluminescence (TL) characteristics of 5 different household NaCl salts and one analytical salt were determined to investigate the possible factors that affect the reliability of using household salt for retrospective dosimetry. Salts' TL sensitivities were found to be particle-size dependent and approached saturation at the largest size, whereas for salts that have the same particle size, the TL sensitivity depended on their origin. TL dependence on the particle size interprets significant variations in TL response reported in the literature for the same salt patch. The first TL readout indicated that all salts have similar glow curves with one distinctive peak. Typical second TL readout at two different doses showed a dramatic decrease in TL sensitivity associated with a significant change in the glow curve structure possessing two prominent peaks. Glow curve deconvolution (GCD) of the first TL readout for all salts yielded 6 individual glow peaks of first-order kinetics, whereas in GCD of second TL readouts, 5 individual glow peaks of second-order kinetics were obtained. Similarities in the glow curve structures of the first and second TL readouts suggest that additives such as KIO3 and MgCO3 have no effect on the TL process. Fading effect was evaluated for the salt of highest TL sensitivity, and it was found that the integral TL intensity decreased gradually and lost 40% of its initial value over 2 weeks, after which it remained constant. Results conclude that a household salt cannot be used for retrospective dosimetry without considering certain constraints such as the salt's origin and particle size. Furthermore, preparedness for radiological accidents and accurate dose reconstructions require that most of the commonly distributed household salt brands should be calibrated in advance and stored in a repository to be recalled in case of accidents.

  8. Rational evaluation of the therapeutic effect and dosimetry of auger electrons for radionuclide therapy in a cell culture model.

    PubMed

    Shinohara, Ayaka; Hanaoka, Hirofumi; Sakashita, Tetsuya; Sato, Tatsuhiko; Yamaguchi, Aiko; Ishioka, Noriko S; Tsushima, Yoshito

    2018-02-01

    Radionuclide therapy with low-energy auger electron emitters may provide high antitumor efficacy while keeping the toxicity to normal organs low. Here we evaluated the usefulness of an auger electron emitter and compared it with that of a beta emitter for tumor treatment in in vitro models and conducted a dosimetry simulation using radioiodine-labeled metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) as a model compound. We evaluated the cellular uptake of 125 I-MIBG and the therapeutic effects of 125 I- and 131 I-MIBG in 2D and 3D PC-12 cell culture models. We used a Monte Carlo simulation code (PHITS) to calculate the absorbed radiation dose of 125 I or 131 I in computer simulation models for 2D and 3D cell cultures. In the dosimetry calculation for the 3D model, several distribution patterns of radionuclide were applied. A higher cumulative dose was observed in the 3D model due to the prolonged retention of MIBG compared to the 2D model. However, 125 I-MIBG showed a greater therapeutic effect in the 2D model compared to the 3D model (respective EC 50 values in the 2D and 3D models: 86.9 and 303.9 MBq/cell), whereas 131 I-MIBG showed the opposite result (respective EC 50 values in the 2D and 3D models: 49.4 and 30.2 MBq/cell). The therapeutic effect of 125 I-MIBG was lower than that of 131 I-MIBG in both models, but the radionuclide-derived difference was smaller in the 2D model. The dosimetry simulation with PHITS revealed the influence of the radiation quality, the crossfire effect, radionuclide distribution, and tumor shape on the absorbed dose. Application of the heterogeneous distribution series dramatically changed the radiation dose distribution of 125 I-MIBG, and mitigated the difference between the estimated and measured therapeutic effects of 125 I-MIBG. The therapeutic effect of 125 I-MIBG was comparable to that of 131 I-MIBG in the 2D model, but the efficacy was inferior to that of 131 I-MIBG in the 3D model, since the crossfire effect is negligible and the

  9. Eye lens dosimetry in anesthesiology: a prospective study.

    PubMed

    Vaes, Bart; Van Keer, Karel; Struelens, Lara; Schoonjans, Werner; Nijs, Ivo; Vandevenne, Jan; Van Poucke, Sven

    2017-04-01

    The eye lens is one of the most sensitive organs for radiation injury and exposure might lead to radiation induced cataract. Eye lens dosimetry in anesthesiology has been published in few clinical trials and an active debate about the causality of radiation induced cataract is still ongoing. Recently, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommended a reduction in the annual dose limit for occupational exposure for the lens of the eye from 150 to 20 mSv, averaged over a period of 5 years, with the dose in a single year not exceeding 50 mSv. This prospective study investigated eye lens dosimetry in anesthesiology practice during a routine year of professional activity. The radiation exposure measured represented the exposure in a normal working schedule of a random anesthesiologist during 1 month and this cumulative eye lens dose was extrapolated to 1 year. Next, eye lens doses were measured in anesthesiology during neuro-embolisation procedures, radiofrequency ablations or vertebroplasty/kyphoplasty procedures. The eye lens doses are measured in terms of the dose equivalent H p (3) with the Eye-D dosimeter (Radcard, Poland) close to the right eye (on the temple). In 16 anesthesiologists, the estimated annual eye lens doses range from a minimum of 0.4 mSv to a maximum of 3.5 mSv with an average dose of 1.33 mSv. Next, eye lens doses were measured for nine neuro-embolisation procedures, ten radiofrequency ablations and six vertebroplasty/kyphoplasty procedures. Average eye lens doses of 77 ± 76 µSv for neuro-embolisations, 38 ± 34 µSv for cardiac ablations and 40 ± 44 µSv for vertebro-/kyphoplasty procedures were recorded. The maximum doses were respectively 264, 97 and 122 µSv. This study demonstrated that the estimated annual eye lens dose is well below the revised ICRP's limit of 20 mSv/year. However, we demonstrated high maximum and average doses during neuro-embolisation, cardiac ablation and vertebro

  10. Evaluation of the UF/NCI hybrid computational phantoms for use in organ dosimetry of pediatric patients undergoing fluoroscopically guided cardiac procedures

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Marshall, Emily L.; Borrego, David; Tran, Trung; Fudge, James C.; Bolch, Wesley E.

    2018-03-01

    Epidemiologic data demonstrate that pediatric patients face a higher relative risk of radiation induced cancers than their adult counterparts at equivalent exposures. Infants and children with congenital heart defects are a critical patient population exposed to ionizing radiation during life-saving procedures. These patients will likely incur numerous procedures throughout their lifespan, each time increasing their cumulative radiation absorbed dose. As continued improvements in long-term prognosis of congenital heart defect patients is achieved, a better understanding of organ radiation dose following treatment becomes increasingly vital. Dosimetry of these patients can be accomplished using Monte Carlo radiation transport simulations, coupled with modern anatomical patient models. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of the University of Florida/National Cancer Institute (UF/NCI) pediatric hybrid computational phantom library for organ dose assessment of patients that have undergone fluoroscopically guided cardiac catheterizations. In this study, two types of simulations were modeled. A dose assessment was performed on 29 patient-specific voxel phantoms (taken as representing the patient’s true anatomy), height/weight-matched hybrid library phantoms, and age-matched reference phantoms. Two exposure studies were conducted for each phantom type. First, a parametric study was constructed by the attending pediatric interventional cardiologist at the University of Florida to model the range of parameters seen clinically. Second, four clinical cardiac procedures were simulated based upon internal logfiles captured by a Toshiba Infinix-i Cardiac Bi-Plane fluoroscopic unit. Performance of the phantom library was quantified by computing both the percent difference in individual organ doses, as well as the organ dose root mean square values for overall phantom assessment between the matched phantoms (UF/NCI library or reference) and the patient

  11. Initial Characterization of a Gel Patch Dosimeter for In Vivo Dosimetry

    PubMed Central

    Matrosic, C; Culberson, W; Rosen, B; Madsen, E; Frank, G; Bednarz, B

    2016-01-01

    In vivo dosimetry is a greatly underutilized tool for patient safety in clinical external beam radiotherapy treatments, despite being recommended by several national and international organizations (AAPM, ICRU, IAEA, NACP). The reasons for this underutilization mostly relate to the feasibility and cost of in vivo dosimetry methods. Due to the increase in the number of beam angles and dose per fraction in modern treatments, there is a compelling need for a novel dosimeter that is robust and affordable while able to operate properly in these complex conditions. This work presents a gel patch dosimeter as a novel method of in vivo dosimetry. DEFGEL, a 6%T normoxic polyacrylamide gel, was injected into 1-cm thick acrylic molds to create 1-cm thick small cylindrical patch dosimeters. To evaluate the change in optical density due to radiation induced polymerization, dosimeters were scanned before and after irradiation using an in-house developed laser densitometer. The dose-responses of three separate batches of gel were evaluated and compared to check for linearity and repeatability. The response development time was evaluated to ensure that the patch dosimeter could be high throughput. Additionally, the potential of this system to be used as an in vivo dosimeter was tested with a clinically relevant end-to-end in vivo phantom test. All irradiations were performed with a Varian Clinac 21EX at the University of Wisconsin Medical Radiation Research Center (UWMRRC). The dose response of all three batches of gel was found to be linear within the range of 2–20 Gy. At doses below 0.5 Gy the statistical uncertainties were prohibitively large to make quantitative assessments of the results. The three batches demonstrated good repeatability in the range of 2 Gy to up to 10 Gy, with only slight variations in response at higher doses. For low doses the dosimeter fully developed within an hour while at higher doses they fully developed within four hours. During the in vivo

  12. Initial characterization of a gel patch dosimeter for in vivo dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Matrosic, C.; Culberson, W.; Rosen, B.; Madsen, E.; Frank, G.; Bednarz, B.

    2016-05-01

    In vivo dosimetry is a greatly underutilized tool for patient safety in clinical external beam radiotherapy treatments, despite being recommended by several national and international organizations (AAPM, ICRU, IAEA, NACP). The reasons for this underutilization mostly relate to the feasibility and cost of in vivo dosimetry methods. Due to the increase in the number of beam angles and dose per fraction in modern treatments, there is a compelling need for a novel dosimeter that is robust and affordable while able to operate properly in these complex conditions. This work presents a gel patch dosimeter as a novel method of in vivo dosimetry. DEFGEL, a 6% T normoxic polyacrylamide gel, was injected into 1 cm thick acrylic molds to create 1 cm thick small cylindrical patch dosimeters. To evaluate the change in optical density due to radiation induced polymerization, dosimeters were scanned before and after irradiation using an in-house developed laser densitometer. The dose-responses of three separate batches of gel were evaluated and compared to check for linearity and repeatability. The response development time was evaluated to ensure that the patch dosimeter could be high throughput. Additionally, the potential of this system to be used as an in vivo dosimeter was tested with a clinically relevant end-to-end in vivo phantom test. All irradiations were performed with a Varian Clinac 21EX at the University of Wisconsin Medical Radiation Research Center (UWMRRC). The dose-response of all three batches of gel was found to be linear within the range of 2-20 Gy. At doses below 0.5 Gy the statistical uncertainties were prohibitively large to make quantitative assessments of the results. The three batches demonstrated good repeatability in the range of 2 Gy to up to 10 Gy, with only slight variations in response at higher doses. For low doses the dosimeter fully developed within an hour while at higher doses they fully developed within four hours. During the in vivo

  13. Nuclear Decay Data for the International Reactor Dosimetry Library for Fission and Fusion (IRDFF): Updated Evaluations of the Half-Lives and Gamma Ray Intensities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chechev, Valery P.; Kuzmenko, Nikolay K.

    2016-02-01

    Updated evaluations of the half-lives and prominent gamma ray intensities have been presented for 20 radionuclides - dosimetry reaction residuals. The new values of these decay characteristics recommended for the IRDFF library were obtained using the approaches and methodology adopted by the working group of the Decay Data Evaluation Project (DDEP) cooperation. The experimental data published up to 2014 were taken into account in updated evaluations. The list of radionuclides includes 3H, 18F, 22Na, 24Na, 46Sc, 51Cr, 54Mn, 59Fe, 57Co, 60Co, 57Ni, 64Cu, 88Y, 132Te, 131I, 140Ba, 140La, 141Ce, 182Ta, 198Au.

  14. Field monitoring versus individual miner dosimetry of radon daughter products in mines.

    PubMed

    Domański, T; Kluszczyński, D; Olszewski, J; Chruscielewski, W

    1989-01-01

    The paper presents the results realised simultaneously by two different and independent systems of measurement of an assessment of miners' exposure to radon daughter products which naturally occur in the air of mines. The first one, called the Air Sampling System (ASS), was based on the field monitoring of radon progeny in air, the second one, called the Individual Dosimetry System (IDS), was based on the individual dosimeters worn by miners. Experimental comparison of these two systems has been conducted for six years in eleven Polish underground metal-ore mines. This study reveals that no correlation exists between the concentration and annual miners' exposures evaluated by the ASS and IDS. The ratio ASS/IDS for mine population varies from 11.0 to 0.14 in respect of annual concentration means, and in respect to annual exposures, this ratio varies from 4.5 to 0.14. The conclusion to be drawn from six years' observation and comparison of both systems is that correct and true evaluation of miners' exposure to radon progeny can be made only by the use of the Individual Dosimetry System, since the Air Sampling System is too sensitive and too dependent on the Strategy of sampling and its radiation.

  15. Transit dosimetry in IMRT with an a-Si EPID in direct detection configuration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sabet, Mahsheed; Rowshanfarzad, Pejman; Vial, Philip; Menk, Frederick W.; Greer, Peter B.

    2012-08-01

    In this study an amorphous silicon electronic portal imaging device (a-Si EPID) converted to direct detection configuration was investigated as a transit dosimeter for intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). After calibration to dose and correction for a background offset signal, the EPID-measured absolute IMRT transit doses for 29 fields were compared to a MatriXX two-dimensional array of ionization chambers (as reference) using Gamma evaluation (3%, 3 mm). The MatriXX was first evaluated as reference for transit dosimetry. The accuracy of EPID measurements was also investigated by comparison of point dose measurements by an ionization chamber on the central axis with slab and anthropomorphic phantoms in a range of simple to complex fields. The uncertainty in ionization chamber measurements in IMRT fields was also investigated by its displacement from the central axis and comparison with the central axis measurements. Comparison of the absolute doses measured by the EPID and MatriXX with slab phantoms in IMRT fields showed that on average 96.4% and 97.5% of points had a Gamma index<1 in head and neck and prostate fields, respectively. For absolute dose comparisons with anthropomorphic phantoms, the values changed to an average of 93.6%, 93.7% and 94.4% of points with Gamma index<1 in head and neck, brain and prostate fields, respectively. Point doses measured by the EPID and ionization chamber were within 3% difference for all conditions. The deviations introduced in the response of the ionization chamber in IMRT fields were<1%. The direct EPID performance for transit dosimetry showed that it has the potential to perform accurate, efficient and comprehensive in vivo dosimetry for IMRT.

  16. New Radiation Dosimetry Estimates for [18F]FLT based on Voxelized Phantoms.

    PubMed

    Mendes, B M; Ferreira, A V; Nascimento, L T C; Ferreira, S M Z M D; Silveira, M B; Silva, J B

    2018-04-25

    3'-Deoxy-3-[ 18 F]fluorothymidine, or [ 18 F]FLT, is a positron emission tomography (PET) tracer used in clinical studies for noninvasive assessment of proliferation activity in several types of cancer. Although the use of this PET tracer is expanding, to date, few studies concerning its dosimetry have been published. In this work, new [ 18 F]FLT dosimetry estimates are determined for human and mice using Monte Carlo simulations. Modern voxelized male and female phantoms and [ 18 F]FLT biokinetic data, both published by the ICRP, were used for simulations of human cases. For most human organs/tissues the absorbed doses were higher than those reported in ICRP Publication 128. An effective dose of 1.70E-02 mSv/MBq to the whole body was determined, which is 13.5% higher than the ICRP reference value. These new human dosimetry estimates obtained using more realistic human phantoms represent an advance in the knowledge of [ 18 F]FLT dosimetry. In addition, mice biokinetic data were obtained experimentally. These data and a previously developed voxelized mouse phantom were used for simulations of animal cases. Concerning animal dosimetry, absorbed doses for organs/tissues ranged from 4.47 ± 0.75 to 155.74 ± 59.36 mGy/MBq. The obtained set of organ/tissue radiation doses for healthy Swiss mice is a useful tool for application in animal experiment design.

  17. Dosimetry procedures for an industrial irradiation plant

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Grahn, Ch.

    Accurate and reliable dosimetry procedures constitute a very important part of process control and quality assurance at a radiation processing plant. γ-Dose measurements were made on the GBS 84 irradiator for food and other products on pallets or in containers. Chemical dosimeters wre exposed in the facility under conditions of the typical plant operation. The choice of the dosimeter systems employed was based on the experience in chemical dosimetry gained over several years. Dose uniformity information was obtained in air, spices, bulbs, feeds, cosmetics, plastics and surgical goods. Most products currently irradiated require dose uniformity which can be efficiently provided by pallet or box irradiators like GBS 84. The radiation performance characteristics and some dosimetry procedures are discussed.

  18. Thermoluminescence Dosimetry (TLD) and its Application in Medical Physics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Azorín Nieto, Juan

    2004-09-01

    Radiation dosimetry is fundamental in Medical Physics, involving patients and phantom dosimetry. In both cases thermoluminescence dosimetry (TLD) is the most appropriate technique for measuring the absorbed dose. In this paper thermoluminescence phenomenon as well as the use of TLD in radiodiagnosis and radiotherapy for in vivo or in phantom measurements is discussed. Some results of measurements made in radiotherapy and radiodiagnosis using home made LiF:Mg,Cu,P+PTFE TLD are presented.

  19. Advances in EPA’s Rapid Exposure and Dosimetry Project (Interagency Alternatives Assessment Webinar)

    EPA Science Inventory

    Estimates of human and ecological exposures are required as critical input to risk-based prioritization and screening of chemicals. The CSS Rapid Exposure and Dosimetry project seeks to develop the data, tools, and evaluation approaches required to generate rapid and scientifical...

  20. Clinical impact of (99m)Tc-MAA SPECT/CT-based dosimetry in the radioembolization of liver malignancies with (90)Y-loaded microspheres.

    PubMed

    Garin, Etienne; Rolland, Yan; Laffont, Sophie; Edeline, Julien

    2016-03-01

    Radioembolization with (90)Y-loaded microspheres is increasingly used in the treatment of primary and secondary liver cancer. Technetium-99 m macroaggregated albumin (MAA) scintigraphy is used as a surrogate of microsphere distribution to assess lung or digestive shunting prior to therapy, based on tumoral targeting and dosimetry. To date, this has been the sole pre-therapeutic tool available for such evaluation. Several dosimetric approaches have been described using both glass and resin microspheres in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver metastasis. Given that each product offers different specific activities and numbers of spheres injected, their radiobiological properties are believed to lightly differ. This paper summarizes and discusses the available studies focused on MAA-based dosimetry, particularly concentrating on potential confounding factors like clinical context, tumor size, cirrhosis, previous or concomitant therapy, and product used. In terms of the impact of tumoral dose in HCC, the results were concordant and a response relationship and tumoral threshold dose was clearly identified, especially in studies using glass microspheres. Tumoral dose has also been found to influence survival. The concept of treatment intensification has recently been introduced, yet despite several studies publishing interesting findings on the tumor dose-metastasis relationship, no consensus has been reached, and further clarification is thus required. Nor has the maximal tolerated dose to the liver been well documented, requiring more accurate evaluation. Lung dose was well described, despite recently identified factors influencing its evaluation, requiring further assessment. Conclusion: MAA SPECT/CT dosimetry is accurate in HCC and can now be used in order to achieve a fully customized approach, including treatment intensification. Yet further studies are warranted for the metastasis setting and evaluating the maximal tolerated liver dose.

  1. Poster – 13: Evaluation of an in-house CCD camera film dosimetry imaging system for small field deliveries

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lalonde, Michel; Alexander, Kevin; Olding, Tim

    Purpose: Radiochromic film dosimetry is a standard technique used in clinics to verify modern conformal radiation therapy delivery, and sometimes in research to validate other dosimeters. We are using film as a standard for comparison as we improve high-resolution three-dimensional gel systems for small field dosimetry; however, precise film dosimetry can be technically challenging. We report here measurements for fractionated stereotactic radiation therapy (FSRT) delivered using volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) to investigate the accuracy and reproducibility of film measurements with a novel in-house readout system. We show that radiochromic film can accurately and reproducibly validate FSRT deliveries and alsomore » benchmark our gel dosimetry work. Methods: VMAT FSRT plans for metastases alone (PTV{sub MET}) and whole brain plus metastases (WB+PTV{sub MET}) were delivered onto a multi-configurational phantom with a sheet of EBT3 Gafchromic film inserted mid-plane. A dose of 400 cGy was prescribed to 4 small PTV{sub MET} structures in the phantom, while a WB structure was prescribed a dose of 200 cGy in the WB+PTV{sub MET} iterations. Doses generated from film readout with our in-house system were compared to treatment planned doses. Each delivery was repeated multiple times to assess reproducibility. Results and Conclusions: The reproducibility of film optical density readout was excellent throughout all experiments. Doses measured from the film agreed well with plans for the WB+PTV{sub MET} delivery. But, film doses for PTV{sub MET} only deliveries were significantly below planned doses. This discrepancy is due to stray/scattered light perturbations in our system during readout. Corrections schemes will be presented.« less

  2. SU-E-T-120: Dosimetric Characteristics Study of NanoDotâ,,¢ for In-Vivo Dosimetry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hussain, A; Wasaye, A; Gohar, R

    Purpose: The purpose of the study was to analyze the dosimetric characteristics (energy dependence, reproducibility and dose linearity) of nanoDot™ optically stimulated luminescence dosimeters (OSLDs) and validate their potential use during in-vivo dosimetry, specifically TBI. The manufacturer stated accuracy is ±10% for standard nanoDot™. Methods: At AKUH, the InLight microStar OSL dosimetry system for patient in-vivo dosimetry is in use since 2012. Twenty-five standard nanoDot™ were used in the analysis. Sensitivity and reproducibility was tested in the first part with 6MV and 18 MV Varian x-ray beams. Each OSLD was irradiated to 100cGy dose at nominal SSD (100 cm). Allmore » the OSLDs were read 3 times for average reading. Dose linearity and calibration were also performed with same beams in common clinical dose range of 0 - 500 cGy. In addition, verification of TBI absolute dose at extended SSD (500cm) was also performed. Results: The reproducibility observed with the OSLD was better than the manufacturer stated limits. Measured doses vary less than ±2% in 19(76%) OSLDs, whereas less than ±3% in 6(24%) OSLDs. Their sensitivity was approximately 525 counts per cGy. Better agreement was observed between measurements, with a standard deviation of 1.8%. A linear dose response was observed with OSLDs for both 6 and 18MV beams in 0 - 500 cGy dose range. TBI measured doses at 500 cm SSD were also confirmed to be within ±0.5% and ±1.3% of the ion chamber measured doses for 6 and 18MV beams respectively. Conclusion: The dosimetric results demonstrate that nanoDot™ can be potentially used for in-vivo dosimetry verification in various clinical situations, with a high degree of accuracy and precision. In addition OSLDs exhibit better dose reproducibility with standard deviation of 1.8%. There was no significant difference in their response to 6 and 18MV beams. The dose response was also linear.« less

  3. Evaluation of the uncertainty in an EBT3 film dosimetry system utilizing net optical density

    PubMed Central

    Marroquin, Elsa Y. León; Herrera González, José A.; Camacho López, Miguel A.; Barajas, José E. Villarreal

    2016-01-01

    Radiochromic film has become an important tool to verify dose distributions for intensity‐modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and quality assurance (QA) procedures. A new radiochromic film model, EBT3, has recently become available, whose composition and thickness of the sensitive layer are the same as those of previous EBT2 films. However, a matte polyester layer was added to EBT3 to prevent the formation of Newton's rings. Furthermore, the symmetrical design of EBT3 allows the user to eliminate side‐orientation dependence. This film and the flatbed scanner, Epson Perfection V750, form a dosimetry system whose intrinsic characteristics were studied in this work. In addition, uncertainties associated with these intrinsic characteristics and the total uncertainty of the dosimetry system were determined. The analysis of the response of the radiochromic film (net optical density) and the fitting of the experimental data to a potential function yielded an uncertainty of 2.6%, 4.3%, and 4.1% for the red, green, and blue channels, respectively. In this work, the dosimetry system presents an uncertainty in resolving the dose of 1.8% for doses greater than 0.8 Gy and less than 6 Gy for red channel. The films irradiated between 0 and 120 Gy show differences in the response when scanned in portrait or landscape mode; less uncertainty was found when using the portrait mode. The response of the film depended on the position on the bed of the scanner, contributing an uncertainty of 2% for the red, 3% for the green, and 4.5% for the blue when placing the film around the center of the bed of scanner. Furthermore, the uniformity and reproducibility radiochromic film and reproducibility of the response of the scanner contribute less than 1% to the overall uncertainty in dose. Finally, the total dose uncertainty was 3.2%, 4.9%, and 5.2% for red, green, and blue channels, respectively. The above uncertainty values were obtained by minimizing the contribution to the total dose

  4. A Quality Assurance Method that Utilizes 3D Dosimetry and Facilitates Clinical Interpretation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Oldham, Mark, E-mail: mark.oldham@duke.edu; Thomas, Andrew; O'Daniel, Jennifer

    2012-10-01

    Purpose: To demonstrate a new three-dimensional (3D) quality assurance (QA) method that provides comprehensive dosimetry verification and facilitates evaluation of the clinical significance of QA data acquired in a phantom. Also to apply the method to investigate the dosimetric efficacy of base-of-skull (BOS) intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) treatment. Methods and Materials: Two types of IMRT QA verification plans were created for 6 patients who received BOS IMRT. The first plan enabled conventional 2D planar IMRT QA using the Varian portal dosimetry system. The second plan enabled 3D verification using an anthropomorphic head phantom. In the latter, the 3D dose distribution wasmore » measured using the DLOS/Presage dosimetry system (DLOS = Duke Large-field-of-view Optical-CT System, Presage Heuris Pharma, Skillman, NJ), which yielded isotropic 2-mm data throughout the treated volume. In a novel step, measured 3D dose distributions were transformed back to the patient's CT to enable calculation of dose-volume histograms (DVH) and dose overlays. Measured and planned patient DVHs were compared to investigate clinical significance. Results: Close agreement between measured and calculated dose distributions was observed for all 6 cases. For gamma criteria of 3%, 2 mm, the mean passing rate for portal dosimetry was 96.8% (range, 92.0%-98.9%), compared to 94.9% (range, 90.1%-98.9%) for 3D. There was no clear correlation between 2D and 3D passing rates. Planned and measured dose distributions were evaluated on the patient's anatomy, using DVH and dose overlays. Minor deviations were detected, and the clinical significance of these are presented and discussed. Conclusions: Two advantages accrue to the methods presented here. First, treatment accuracy is evaluated throughout the whole treated volume, yielding comprehensive verification. Second, the clinical significance of any deviations can be assessed through the generation of DVH curves and dose overlays on the

  5. Comparing Hp(3) evaluated from the conversion coefficients from air kerma to personal dose equivalent for eye lens dosimetry calibrated on a new cylindrical PMMA phantom

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Esor, J.; Sudchai, W.; Monthonwattana, S.; Pungkun, V.; Intang, A.

    2017-06-01

    Based on a new occupational dose limit recommended by ICRP (2011), the annual dose limit for the lens of the eye for workers should be reduced from 150 mSv/y to 20 mSv/y averaged over 5 consecutive years in which no single year exceeding 50 mSv. This new dose limit directly affects radiologists and cardiologists whose work involves high radiation exposure over 20 mSv/y. Eye lens dosimetry (Hp(3)) has become increasingly important and should be evaluated directly based on dosimeters that are worn closely to the eye. Normally, Hp(3) dose algorithm was carried out by the combination of Hp(0.07) and Hp(10) values while dosimeters were calibrated on slab PMMA phantom. Recently, there were three reports from European Union that have shown the conversion coefficients from air kerma to Hp(3). These conversion coefficients carried out by ORAMED, PTB and CEA Saclay projects were performed by using a new cylindrical head phantom. In this study, various delivered doses were calculated using those three conversion coefficients while nanoDot, small OSL dosimeters, were used for Hp(3) measurement. These calibrations were performed with a standard X-ray generator at Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratory (SSDL). Delivered doses (Hp(3)) using those three conversion coefficients were compared with Hp(3) from nanoDot measurements. The results showed that percentage differences between delivered doses evaluated from the conversion coefficient of each project and Hp(3) doses evaluated from the nanoDots were found to be not exceeding -11.48 %, -8.85 % and -8.85 % for ORAMED, PTB and CEA Saclay project, respectively.

  6. A linear diode array (JFD-5) for match line in vivo dosimetry in photon and electron beams; evaluation for a chest wall irradiation technique.

    PubMed

    Essers, M; van Battum, L; Heijmen, B J

    2001-11-01

    In vivo dosimetry using thermoluminiscence detectors (TLD) is routinely performed in our institution to determine dose inhomogeneities in the match line region during chest wall irradiation. However, TLDs have some drawbacks: online in vivo dosimetry cannot be performed; generally, doses delivered by the contributing fields are not measured separately; measurement analysis is time consuming. To overcome these problems, the Joined Field Detector (JFD-5), a detector for match line in vivo dosimetry based on diodes, has been developed. This detector and its characteristics are presented. The JFD-5 is a linear array of 5 p-type diodes. The middle three diodes, used to measure the dose in the match line region, are positioned at 5-mm intervals. The outer two diodes, positioned at 3-cm distance from the central diode, are used to measure the dose in the two contributing fields. For three JFD-5 detectors, calibration factors for different energies, and sensitivity correction factors for non-standard field sizes, patient skin temperature, and oblique incidence have been determined. The accuracy of penumbra and match line dose measurements has been determined in phantom studies and in vivo. Calibration factors differ significantly between diodes and between photon and electron beams. However, conversion factors between energies can be applied. The correction factor for temperature is 0.35%/ degrees C, and for oblique incidence 2% at maximum. The penumbra measured with the JFD-5 agrees well with film and linear diode array measurements. JFD-5 in vivo match line dosimetry reproducibility was 2.0% (1 SD) while the agreement with TLD was 0.999+/-0.023 (1 SD). The JFD-5 can be used for accurate, reproducible, and fast on-line match line in vivo dosimetry.

  7. Testing the methodology for dosimetry audit of heterogeneity corrections and small MLC-shaped fields: Results of IAEA multi-center studies.

    PubMed

    Izewska, Joanna; Wesolowska, Paulina; Azangwe, Godfrey; Followill, David S; Thwaites, David I; Arib, Mehenna; Stefanic, Amalia; Viegas, Claudio; Suming, Luo; Ekendahl, Daniela; Bulski, Wojciech; Georg, Dietmar

    2016-07-01

    The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has a long tradition of supporting development of methodologies for national networks providing quality audits in radiotherapy. A series of co-ordinated research projects (CRPs) has been conducted by the IAEA since 1995 assisting national external audit groups developing national audit programs. The CRP 'Development of Quality Audits for Radiotherapy Dosimetry for Complex Treatment Techniques' was conducted in 2009-2012 as an extension of previously developed audit programs. The CRP work described in this paper focused on developing and testing two steps of dosimetry audit: verification of heterogeneity corrections, and treatment planning system (TPS) modeling of small MLC fields, which are important for the initial stages of complex radiation treatments, such as IMRT. The project involved development of a new solid slab phantom with heterogeneities containing special measurement inserts for thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD) and radiochromic films. The phantom and the audit methodology has been developed at the IAEA and tested in multi-center studies involving the CRP participants. The results of multi-center testing of methodology for two steps of dosimetry audit show that the design of audit procedures is adequate and the methodology is feasible for meeting the audit objectives. A total of 97% TLD results in heterogeneity situations obtained in the study were within 3% and all results within 5% agreement with the TPS predicted doses. In contrast, only 64% small beam profiles were within 3 mm agreement between the TPS calculated and film measured doses. Film dosimetry results have highlighted some limitations in TPS modeling of small beam profiles in the direction of MLC leave movements. Through multi-center testing, any challenges or difficulties in the proposed audit methodology were identified, and the methodology improved. Using the experience of these studies, the participants could incorporate the auditing

  8. THERMOLUMINESCENT DOSIMETRY IN THE EVALUATION OF NATURAL RADIOACTIVITY INDOOR OF HOMES NEAR THE URANIUM DEPOSIT OF PARAÍBA, BRAZIL.

    PubMed

    Bezerra, Jairo Dias; Dos Santos Júnior, José Araújo; Dos Santos Amaral, Romilton; Menezes, Rômulo Simões Cezar; Fernández, Zahily Herrero; do Nascimento Santos, Josineide Marques; da Silva, Arykerne Nascimento Casado; Rojas, Lino Angel Valcárcel

    2018-06-01

    High levels of primordial radionuclides have been reported in soils and rocks of São José de Espinharas, in the state of Paraiba, Brazil. These radionuclides are derived from high concentrations of natural uranium and thorium from a mine in the region. Thus, there is a need for a dosimetric evaluation in the area near the mine and the surrounding cities. In this study, the annual effective dose was analyzed in 178 points of five cities. The measurements were performed using thermoluminescent dosimetry with LiF:Mg, Ti (TLD-100). The annual effective dose from environmental exposure varied from 0.71 to 2.07 mSv, with an arithmetic mean of 0.99 mSv. This average is more than twice the estimated value for indoor environments adopted by the UNSCEAR, which is 0.41 mSv. These results will allow establishing reference values for background radiation of the region and criteria to infer a stochastic risk for the local population.

  9. Internal photon and electron dosimetry of the newborn patient—a hybrid computational phantom study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wayson, Michael; Lee, Choonsik; Sgouros, George; Treves, S. Ted; Frey, Eric; Bolch, Wesley E.

    2012-03-01

    Estimates of radiation absorbed dose to organs of the nuclear medicine patient are a requirement for administered activity optimization and for stochastic risk assessment. Pediatric patients, and in particular the newborn child, represent that portion of the patient population where such optimization studies are most crucial owing to the enhanced tissue radiosensitivities and longer life expectancies of this patient subpopulation. In cases where whole-body CT imaging is not available, phantom-based calculations of radionuclide S values—absorbed dose to a target tissue per nuclear transformation in a source tissue—are required for dose and risk evaluation. In this study, a comprehensive model of electron and photon dosimetry of the reference newborn child is presented based on a high-resolution hybrid-voxel phantom from the University of Florida (UF) patient model series. Values of photon specific absorbed fraction (SAF) were assembled for both the reference male and female newborn using the radiation transport code MCNPX v2.6. Values of electron SAF were assembled in a unique and time-efficient manner whereby the collisional and radiative components of organ dose--for both self- and cross-dose terms—were computed separately. Dose to the newborn skeletal tissues were assessed via fluence-to-dose response functions reported for the first time in this study. Values of photon and electron SAFs were used to assemble a complete set of S values for some 16 radionuclides commonly associated with molecular imaging of the newborn. These values were then compared to those available in the OLINDA/EXM software. S value ratios for organ self-dose ranged from 0.46 to 1.42, while similar ratios for organ cross-dose varied from a low of 0.04 to a high of 3.49. These large discrepancies are due in large part to the simplistic organ modeling in the stylized newborn model used in the OLINDA/EXM software. A comprehensive model of internal dosimetry is presented in this study for

  10. A Comparison of Singlet Oxygen Explicit Dosimetry (SOED) and Singlet Oxygen Luminescence Dosimetry (SOLD) for Photofrin-Mediated Photodynamic Therapy

    PubMed Central

    Kim, Michele M.; Penjweini, Rozhin; Gemmell, Nathan R.; Veilleux, Israel; McCarthy, Aongus; Buller, Gerald S.; Hadfield, Robert H.; Wilson, Brian C.; Zhu, Timothy C.

    2016-01-01

    Accurate photodynamic therapy (PDT) dosimetry is critical for the use of PDT in the treatment of malignant and nonmalignant localized diseases. A singlet oxygen explicit dosimetry (SOED) model has been developed for in vivo purposes. It involves the measurement of the key components in PDT—light fluence (rate), photosensitizer concentration, and ground-state oxygen concentration ([3O2])—to calculate the amount of reacted singlet oxygen ([1O2]rx), the main cytotoxic component in type II PDT. Experiments were performed in phantoms with the photosensitizer Photofrin and in solution using phosphorescence-based singlet oxygen luminescence dosimetry (SOLD) to validate the SOED model. Oxygen concentration and photosensitizer photobleaching versus time were measured during PDT, along with direct SOLD measurements of singlet oxygen and triplet state lifetime (τΔ and τt), for various photosensitizer concentrations to determine necessary photophysical parameters. SOLD-determined cumulative [1O2]rx was compared to SOED-calculated [1O2]rx for various photosensitizer concentrations to show a clear correlation between the two methods. This illustrates that explicit dosimetry can be used when phosphorescence-based dosimetry is not feasible. Using SOED modeling, we have also shown evidence that SOLD-measured [1O2]rx using a 523 nm pulsed laser can be used to correlate to singlet oxygen generated by a 630 nm laser during a clinical malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) PDT protocol by using a conversion formula. PMID:27929427

  11. A Comparison of Singlet Oxygen Explicit Dosimetry (SOED) and Singlet Oxygen Luminescence Dosimetry (SOLD) for Photofrin-Mediated Photodynamic Therapy.

    PubMed

    Kim, Michele M; Penjweini, Rozhin; Gemmell, Nathan R; Veilleux, Israel; McCarthy, Aongus; Buller, Gerald S; Hadfield, Robert H; Wilson, Brian C; Zhu, Timothy C

    2016-12-06

    Accurate photodynamic therapy (PDT) dosimetry is critical for the use of PDT in the treatment of malignant and nonmalignant localized diseases. A singlet oxygen explicit dosimetry (SOED) model has been developed for in vivo purposes. It involves the measurement of the key components in PDT-light fluence (rate), photosensitizer concentration, and ground-state oxygen concentration ([³ O ₂])-to calculate the amount of reacted singlet oxygen ([¹ O ₂] rx ), the main cytotoxic component in type II PDT. Experiments were performed in phantoms with the photosensitizer Photofrin and in solution using phosphorescence-based singlet oxygen luminescence dosimetry (SOLD) to validate the SOED model. Oxygen concentration and photosensitizer photobleaching versus time were measured during PDT, along with direct SOLD measurements of singlet oxygen and triplet state lifetime ( τ Δ and τ t ), for various photosensitizer concentrations to determine necessary photophysical parameters. SOLD-determined cumulative [¹ O ₂] rx was compared to SOED-calculated [¹ O ₂] rx for various photosensitizer concentrations to show a clear correlation between the two methods. This illustrates that explicit dosimetry can be used when phosphorescence-based dosimetry is not feasible. Using SOED modeling, we have also shown evidence that SOLD-measured [¹ O ₂] rx using a 523 nm pulsed laser can be used to correlate to singlet oxygen generated by a 630 nm laser during a clinical malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) PDT protocol by using a conversion formula.

  12. Using exposure prediction tools to link exposure and dosimetry for risk based decisions: a case study with phthalates

    EPA Science Inventory

    The Population Life-course Exposure to Health Effects Modeling (PLETHEM) platform being developed provides a tool that links results from emerging toxicity testing tools to exposure estimates for humans as defined by the USEPA. A reverse dosimetry case study using phthalates was ...

  13. Incorporating Population Variability and Susceptible Subpopulations into Dosimetry for High-Throughput Toxicity Testing

    EPA Science Inventory

    Momentum is growing worldwide to use in vitro high-throughput screening (HTS) to evaluate human health effects of chemicals. However, the integration of dosimetry into HTS assays and incorporation of population variability will be essential before its application in a risk assess...

  14. Reducing the number of CTs performed to monitor personalized dosimetry during peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT).

    PubMed

    Chicheportiche, Alexandre; Artoul, Faozi; Schwartz, Arnon; Grozinsky-Glasberg, Simona; Meirovitz, Amichay; Gross, David J; Godefroy, Jeremy

    2018-06-19

    Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) with [ 177 Lu]-DOTA-TATE is an effective treatment of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). After each cycle of treatment, patient dosimetry evaluates the radiation dose to the risk organs, kidneys, and bone marrow, the most radiosensitive tissues. Absorbed doses are calculated from the radioactivity in the blood and from single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) images corrected by computed tomography (CT) acquired after each course of treatment. The aim of this work is to assess whether the dosimetry along all treatment cycles can be calculated using a single CT. We hypothesize that the absorbed doses to the risk organs calculated with a single CT will be accurate enough to correctly manage the patients, i.e., whether or not to continue PRRT. Twenty-four patients diagnosed with metastatic NETs undergoing PRRT with [ 177 Lu]-DOTA-TATE were retrospectively included in this study. We compared radiation doses to the kidneys and bone marrow using two protocols. In the "classical" one, dosimetry is calculated based on a SPECT and a CT after each treatment cycle. In the new protocol, dosimetry is calculated based on a SPECT study after each cycle but with the first acquired CT for all cycles. The decision whether or not to stop PRRT because of unsafe absorbed dose to the risk organs would have been the same had the classical or the new protocol been used. The agreement between the cumulative doses to the kidneys and bone marrow obtained from the two protocols was excellent with Pearson's correlation coefficients r = 0.95 and r = 0.99 (P < 0.0001) and mean relative differences of 5.30 ± 6.20% and 0.48 ± 4.88%, respectively. Dosimetry calculations for a given patient can be done using a single CT registered to serial SPECTs. This new protocol reduces the need for a hybrid camera in the follow-up of patients receiving [ 177 Lu]-DOTA-TATE.

  15. High resolution MR based polymer dosimetry versus film densitometry: a systematic study based on the modulation transfer function approach.

    PubMed

    Berg, A; Pernkopf, M; Waldhäusl, C; Schmidt, W; Moser, E

    2004-09-07

    Precise methods of modem radiation therapy such as intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), brachytherapy (BT) and high LET irradiation allow for high dose localization in volumes of a few mm3. However, most dosimetry methods-ionization chambers, TLD arrangements or silicon detectors, for example-are not capable of detecting sub-mm dose variations or do not allow for simple dose imaging. Magnetic resonance based polymer dosimetry (MRPD) appears to be well suited to three-dimensional high resolution relative dosimetry but the spatial resolution based on a systematic modulation transfer function (MTF) approach has not yet been investigated. We offer a theoretical construct for addressing the spatial resolution in different dose imaging systems, i.e. the dose modulation transfer function (DMTF) approach, an experimental realization of this concept with a phantom and quantitative comparisons between two dosimetric systems: polymer gel and film dosimetry. Polymer gel samples were irradiated by Co-60 photons through an absorber grid which is characterized by periodic structures of different spatial period (a), the smallest one at width of a/2 = 280 microm. The modulation in dose under the grid is visualized via calibrated, high resolution, parameter-selective (T2) and dose images based on multi-echo MR imaging. The DMTF is obtained from the modulation depth of the spin-spin relaxation time (T2) after calibration. Voxel sizes below 0.04 mm3 could be achieved, which are significantly smaller than those reported in MR based dose imaging on polymer gels elsewhere, using a powerful gradient system and a highly sensitive small birdcage resonator on a whole-body 3T MR scanner. Dose modulations at 22% of maximum dose amplitude could be observed at about 2 line pairs per mm. The polymer DMTF results are compared to those of a typical clinical film-scanner system. This study demonstrates that MR based gel dosimetry at 200 microm pixel resolution might even be superior, with

  16. On the feasibility of comprehensive high-resolution 3D remote dosimetry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Juang, Titania; Grant, Ryan; Adamovics, John

    2014-07-15

    Purpose: This study investigates the feasibility of remote high-resolution 3D dosimetry with the PRESAGE®/Optical-CT system. In remote dosimetry, dosimeters are shipped out from a central base institution to a remote institution for irradiation, then shipped back to the base institution for subsequent readout and analysis. Methods: Two nominally identical optical-CT scanners for 3D dosimetry were constructed and placed at the base (Duke University) and remote (Radiological Physics Center) institutions. Two formulations of PRESAGE® (SS1, SS2) radiochromic dosimeters were investigated. Higher sensitivity was expected in SS1, which had higher initiator content (0.25% bromotrichloromethane), while greater temporal stability was expected in SS2.more » Four unirradiated PRESAGE® dosimeters (two per formulation, cylindrical dimensions 11 cm diameter, 8.5–9.5 cm length) were imaged at the base institution, then shipped to the remote institution for planning and irradiation. Each dosimeter was irradiated with the same simple treatment plan: an isocentric 3-field “cross” arrangement of 4 × 4 cm open 6 MV beams configured as parallel opposed laterals with an anterior beam. This simple plan was amenable to accurate and repeatable setup, as well as accurate dose modeling by a commissioned treatment planning system (Pinnacle). After irradiation and subsequent (within 1 h) optical-CT readout at the remote institution, the dosimeters were shipped back to the base institution for remote dosimetry readout 3 days postirradiation. Measured on-site and remote relative 3D dose distributions were registered to the Pinnacle dose calculation, which served as the reference distribution for 3D gamma calculations with passing criteria of 5%/2 mm, 3%/3 mm, and 3%/2 mm with a 10% dose threshold. Gamma passing rates, dose profiles, and color-maps were all used to assess and compare the performance of both PRESAGE® formulations for remote dosimetry. Results: The best agreements

  17. In vivo light dosimetry for pleural PDT

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dimofte, Andreea; Zhu, Timothy C.; Finlay, Jarod C.; Culligan, Melissa; Edmonds, Christine E.; Friedberg, Joseph S.; Cengel, Keith; Hahn, Stephen M.

    2009-02-01

    In-vivo light Dosimetry for patients undergoing photodynamic therapy (PDT) is one of the important dosimetry quantities critical for predicting PDT outcome. This study examines the light fluence (rate) delivered to patients undergoing pleural PDT as a function of treatment time, treatment volume and surface area, and its accuracy as a function of the calibration accuracies of each isotropic detector and the calibration integrating sphere. The patients studied here were enrolled in Phase II clinical trial of Photofrin-mediated PDT for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer with pleural effusion. The ages of the patients studied varied from 34 to 69 year old. All patients were administered 2mg per kg body weight Photoprin 24 hours before the surgery. Patients undergoing photodynamic therapy (PDT) are treated with laser light with a light fluence of 60 J/cm^2 at 630nm. Fluence rate (mW/cm^2) and cumulative fluence (J/cm^2) was monitored at 7 different sites during the entire light treatment delivery. Isotropic detectors were used for in-vivo light dosimetry. The anisotropy of each isotropic detector was found to be within 30%. The mean fluence rate delivery varied from 37.84 to 94.05 mW/cm^2 and treatment time varied from 1762 to 5232s. We have established a correlation between the treatment time and the treatment volume. The results are discussed using an integrating sphere theory and the measured tissue optical properties. The result can be used as a clinical guideline for future pleural PDT treatment.

  18. Dosimetry applications in GATE Monte Carlo toolkit.

    PubMed

    Papadimitroulas, Panagiotis

    2017-09-01

    Monte Carlo (MC) simulations are a well-established method for studying physical processes in medical physics. The purpose of this review is to present GATE dosimetry applications on diagnostic and therapeutic simulated protocols. There is a significant need for accurate quantification of the absorbed dose in several specific applications such as preclinical and pediatric studies. GATE is an open-source MC toolkit for simulating imaging, radiotherapy (RT) and dosimetry applications in a user-friendly environment, which is well validated and widely accepted by the scientific community. In RT applications, during treatment planning, it is essential to accurately assess the deposited energy and the absorbed dose per tissue/organ of interest, as well as the local statistical uncertainty. Several types of realistic dosimetric applications are described including: molecular imaging, radio-immunotherapy, radiotherapy and brachytherapy. GATE has been efficiently used in several applications, such as Dose Point Kernels, S-values, Brachytherapy parameters, and has been compared against various MC codes which are considered as standard tools for decades. Furthermore, the presented studies show reliable modeling of particle beams when comparing experimental with simulated data. Examples of different dosimetric protocols are reported for individualized dosimetry and simulations combining imaging and therapy dose monitoring, with the use of modern computational phantoms. Personalization of medical protocols can be achieved by combining GATE MC simulations with anthropomorphic computational models and clinical anatomical data. This is a review study, covering several dosimetric applications of GATE, and the different tools used for modeling realistic clinical acquisitions with accurate dose assessment. Copyright © 2017 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Dosimetry of Al2O3 optically stimulated luminescent dosimeter at high energy photons and electrons

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yusof, M. F. Mohd; Joohari, N. A.; Abdullah, R.; Shukor, N. S. Abd; Kadir, A. B. Abd; Isa, N. Mohd

    2018-01-01

    The linearity of Al2O3 OSL dosimeters (OSLD) were evaluated for dosimetry works in clinical photons and electrons. The measurements were made at a reference depth of Zref according to IAEA TRS 398:2000 codes of practice at 6 and 10 MV photons and 6 and 9 MeV electrons. The measured dose was compared to the thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLD) and ionization chamber commonly used for dosimetry works for higher energy photons and electrons. The results showed that the measured dose in OSL dosimeters were in good agreement with the reported by the ionization chamber in both high energy photons and electrons. A reproducibility test also reported excellent consistency of readings with the OSL at similar energy levels. The overall results confirmed the suitability of OSL dosimeters for dosimetry works involving high energy photons and electrons in radiotherapy.

  20. [Statistical process control applied to intensity modulated radiotherapy pretreatment controls with portal dosimetry].

    PubMed

    Villani, N; Gérard, K; Marchesi, V; Huger, S; François, P; Noël, A

    2010-06-01

    The first purpose of this study was to illustrate the contribution of statistical process control for a better security in intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) treatments. This improvement is possible by controlling the dose delivery process, characterized by pretreatment quality control results. So, it is necessary to put under control portal dosimetry measurements (currently, the ionisation chamber measurements were already monitored by statistical process control thanks to statistical process control tools). The second objective was to state whether it is possible to substitute ionisation chamber with portal dosimetry in order to optimize time devoted to pretreatment quality control. At Alexis-Vautrin center, pretreatment quality controls in IMRT for prostate and head and neck treatments were performed for each beam of each patient. These controls were made with an ionisation chamber, which is the reference detector for the absolute dose measurement, and with portal dosimetry for the verification of dose distribution. Statistical process control is a statistical analysis method, coming from industry, used to control and improve the studied process quality. It uses graphic tools as control maps to follow-up process, warning the operator in case of failure, and quantitative tools to evaluate the process toward its ability to respect guidelines: this is the capability study. The study was performed on 450 head and neck beams and on 100 prostate beams. Control charts, showing drifts, both slow and weak, and also both strong and fast, of mean and standard deviation have been established and have shown special cause introduced (manual shift of the leaf gap of the multileaf collimator). Correlation between dose measured at one point, given with the EPID and the ionisation chamber has been evaluated at more than 97% and disagreement cases between the two measurements were identified. The study allowed to demonstrate the feasibility to reduce the time devoted to

  1. Development, validation, and implementation of a patient-specific Monte Carlo 3D internal dosimetry platform

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Besemer, Abigail E.

    -clinical and clinical patients and large dosimetric differences resulted when using conventional organ-level methods and the patient-specific voxelized methods described in this work. The dosimetric impact of various steps in the 3D voxelized dosimetry process were evaluated including quantitative imaging acquisition, image coregistration, voxel resampling, ROI contouring, CT-based material segmentation, and pharmacokinetic fitting. Finally, a multi-objective treatment planning optimization framework was developed for multi-radiopharmaceutical combination therapies.

  2. RCT: Module 2.04, Dosimetry, Course 8769

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hillmer, Kurt T.

    This course will introduce the types of instruments used to measure external and internal radiation to people. Dosimetry is the quantitative assessment of radiation received by the human body. Several types of dosimeters are used worldwide. This information is valuable to all radiological control personnel because dosimeters are the only direct method to measure and document personnel radiation exposure and ensure regulatory compliance with applicable limits. This course will cover dosimetry terms, Department of Energy (DOE) limits, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) administrative guidelines, thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs), LANL dosimetry, and bioassay assessment methods. This course will prepare the student withmore » the skills necessary for radiological control technician (RCT) qualification by passing quizzes, tests, and the RCT Comprehensive Phase 1, Unit 2 Examination (TEST 27566) and providing in-thefield skills.« less

  3. EURADOS strategic research agenda: vision for dosimetry of ionising radiation

    PubMed Central

    Rühm, W.; Fantuzzi, E.; Harrison, R.; Schuhmacher, H.; Vanhavere, F.; Alves, J.; Bottollier Depois, J. F.; Fattibene, P.; Knežević, Ž.; Lopez, M. A.; Mayer, S.; Miljanić, S.; Neumaier, S.; Olko, P.; Stadtmann, H.; Tanner, R.; Woda, C.

    2016-01-01

    Since autumn 2012, the European Radiation Dosimetry Group (EURADOS) has been developing its Strategic Research Agenda (SRA), which is intended to contribute to the identification of future research needs in radiation dosimetry in Europe. The present article summarises—based on input from EURADOS Working Groups (WGs) and Voting Members—five visions in dosimetry and defines key issues in dosimetry research that are considered important for the next decades. The five visions include scientific developments required towards (a) updated fundamental dose concepts and quantities, (b) improved radiation risk estimates deduced from epidemiological cohorts, (c) efficient dose assessment for radiological emergencies, (d) integrated personalised dosimetry in medical applications and (e) improved radiation protection of workers and the public. The SRA of EURADOS will be used as a guideline for future activities of the EURADOS WGs. A detailed version of the SRA can be downloaded as a EURADOS report from the EURADOS website (www.eurados.org). PMID:25752758

  4. Ion-kill dosimetry

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Katz, R.; Cucinotta, F. A.; Fromm, M.; Chambaudet, A.

    2001-01-01

    Unanticipated late effects in neutron and heavy ion therapy, not attributable to overdose, imply a qualitative difference between low and high LET therapy. We identify that difference as 'ion kill', associated with the spectrum of z/beta in the radiation field, whose measurement we label 'ion-kill dosimetry'.

  5. A comprehensive tool for image-based generation of fetus and pregnant women mesh models for numerical dosimetry studies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dahdouh, S.; Varsier, N.; Serrurier, A.; De la Plata, J.-P.; Anquez, J.; Angelini, E. D.; Wiart, J.; Bloch, I.

    2014-08-01

    Fetal dosimetry studies require the development of accurate numerical 3D models of the pregnant woman and the fetus. This paper proposes a 3D articulated fetal growth model covering the main phases of pregnancy and a pregnant woman model combining the utero-fetal structures and a deformable non-pregnant woman body envelope. The structures of interest were automatically or semi-automatically (depending on the stage of pregnancy) segmented from a database of images and surface meshes were generated. By interpolating linearly between fetal structures, each one can be generated at any age and in any position. A method is also described to insert the utero-fetal structures in the maternal body. A validation of the fetal models is proposed, comparing a set of biometric measurements to medical reference charts. The usability of the pregnant woman model in dosimetry studies is also investigated, with respect to the influence of the abdominal fat layer.

  6. Calibration of a mosfet detection system for 6-MV in vivo dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Scalchi, P; Francescon, P

    1998-03-01

    Metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) detectors were calibrated to perform in vivo dosimetry during 6-MV treatments, both in normal setup and total body irradiation (TBI) conditions. MOSFET water-equivalent depth, dependence of the calibration factors (CFs) on the field sizes, MOSFET orientation, bias supply, accumulated dose, incidence angle, temperature, and spoiler-skin distance in TBI setup were investigated. MOSFET reproducibility was verified. The correlation between the water-equivalent midplane depth and the ratio of the exit MOSFET readout divided by the entrance MOSFET readout was studied. MOSFET midplane dosimetry in TBI setup was compared with thermoluminescent dosimetry in an anthropomorphic phantom. By using ionization chamber measurements, the TBI midplane dosimetry was also verified in the presence of cork as a lung substitute. The water-equivalent depth of the MOSFET is about 0.8 mm or 1.8 mm, depending on which sensor side faces the beam. The field size also affects this quantity; Monte Carlo simulations allow driving this behavior by changes in the contaminating electron mean energy. The CFs vary linearly as a function of the square field side, for fields ranging from 5 x 5 to 30 x 30 cm2. In TBI setup, varying the spoiler-skin distance between 5 mm and 10 cm affects the CFs within 5%. The MOSFET reproducibility is about 3% (2 SD) for the doses normally delivered to the patients. The effect of the accumulated dose on the sensor response is negligible. For beam incidence ranging from 0 degrees to 90 degrees, the MOSFET response varies within 7%. No monotonic correlation between the sensor response and the temperature is apparent. Good correlation between the water-equivalent midplane depth and the ratio of the exit MOSFET readout divided by the entrance MOSFET readout was found (the correlation coefficient is about 1). The MOSFET midplane dosimetry relevant to the anthropomorphic phantom irradiation is in agreement with TLD

  7. Biodistribution and Radiation Dosimetry for the Novel SV2A Radiotracer [(18)F]UCB-H: First-in-Human Study.

    PubMed

    Bretin, F; Bahri, M A; Bernard, C; Warnock, G; Aerts, J; Mestdagh, N; Buchanan, T; Otoul, C; Koestler, F; Mievis, F; Giacomelli, F; Degueldre, C; Hustinx, R; Luxen, A; Seret, A; Plenevaux, A; Salmon, E

    2015-08-01

    [(18)F]UCB-H is a novel radiotracer with a high affinity for synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2A (SV2A), a protein expressed in synaptic vesicles. SV2A is the binding site of levetiracetam, a "first-in-class" antiepileptic drug with a distinct but still poorly understood mechanism of action. The objective of this study was to determine the biodistribution and radiation dosimetry of [(18)F]UCB-H in a human clinical trial and to establish injection limits according to biomedical research guidelines. Additionally, the clinical radiation dosimetry results were compared to estimations in previously published preclinical data. Dynamic whole body positron emission tomography/X-ray computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging was performed over approximately 110 min on five healthy male volunteers after injection of 144.5 ± 7.1 MBq (range, 139.1-156.5 MBq) of [(18)F]UCB-H. Major organs were delineated on CT images, and time-activity curves were obtained from co-registered dynamic PET emission scans. The bladder could only be delineated on PET images. Time-integrated activity coefficients were calculated as area under the curve using trapezoidal numerical integration. Urinary excretion data based on PET activities including voiding was also simulated using the dynamic bladder module of OLINDA/EXM. The radiation dosimetry was calculated using OLINDA/EXM. The effective dose to the OLINDA/EXM 70-kg standard male was 1.54 × 10(-2) ± 6.84 × 10(-4) millisieverts (mSv)/MBq, with urinary bladder wall, gallbladder wall, and the liver receiving the highest absorbed dose. The brain, the tracer's main organ of interest, received an absorbed dose of 1.89 × 10(-2) ± 2.32 × 10(-3) mGy/MBq. This first human dosimetry study of [(18)F]UCB-H indicated that the tracer shows similar radiation burdens to widely used common clinical tracers. Single injections of at maximum 672 MBq for US practice and 649 MBq for European practice keep radiation exposure below

  8. MAGIC-f Gel in Nuclear Medicine Dosimetry: study in an external beam of Iodine-131

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schwarcke, M.; Marques, T.; Garrido, C.; Nicolucci, P.; Baffa, O.

    2010-11-01

    MAGIC-f gel applicability in Nuclear Medicine dosimetry was investigated by exposure to a 131I source. Calibration was made to provide known absorbed doses in different positions around the source. The absorbed dose in gel was compared with a Monte Carlo Simulation using PENELOPE code and a thermoluminescent dosimetry (TLD). Using MRI analysis for the gel a R2-dose sensitivity of 0.23 s-1Gy-1was obtained. The agreement between dose-distance curves obtained with Monte Carlo simulation and TLD was better than 97% and for MAGIC-f and TLD was better than 98%. The results show the potential of polymer gel for application in nuclear medicine where three dimensional dose distribution is demanded.

  9. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dosimetry in medicine.

    PubMed

    Yukihara, E G; McKeever, S W S

    2008-10-21

    This paper reviews fundamental and practical aspects of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dosimetry pertaining to applications in medicine, having particularly in mind new researchers and medical physicists interested in gaining familiarity with the field. A basic phenomenological model for OSL is presented and the key processes affecting the outcome of an OSL measurement are discussed. Practical aspects discussed include stimulation modalities (continuous-wave OSL, pulsed OSL and linear modulation OSL), basic experimental setup, available OSL readers, optical fiber systems and basic properties of available OSL dosimeters. Finally, results from the recent literature on applications of OSL in radiotherapy, radiodiagnostics and heavy charged particle dosimetry are discussed in light of the theoretical and practical framework presented in this review. Open questions and future challenges in OSL dosimetry are highlighted as a guide to the research needed to further advance the field.

  10. Development of a 3D remote dosimetry protocol compatible with MRgIMRT.

    PubMed

    Mein, Stewart; Rankine, Leith; Adamovics, John; Li, Harold; Oldham, Mark

    2017-11-01

    To develop a novel remote 3D dosimetry protocol to verify Magnetic Resonance-guided Radiation Therapy (MRgRT) treatments. The protocol was applied to investigate the accuracy of TG-119 IMRT irradiations delivered by the MRIdian ® system (ViewRay ® , Oakwood Village, OH, USA) allowing for a 48-hour delay between irradiation at a field institution and subsequent readout at a base institution. The 3D dosimetry protocol utilizes a novel formulation of PRESAGE ® radiochromic dosimeters developed for high postirradiation stability and compatibility with optical-CT readout. Optical-CT readout was performed with an in-house system utilizing telecentric lenses affording high-resolution scanning. The protocol was developed from preparatory experiments to characterize PRESAGE ® response in relevant conditions. First, linearity and sensitivity of PRESAGE ® dose-response in the presence of a magnetic field was evaluated in a small volume study (4 ml cuvettes) conducted under MRgRT conditions and irradiated with doses 0-15 Gy. Temporal and spatial stability of the dose-response were investigated in large volume studies utilizing large field-of-view (FOV) 2 kg cylindrical PRESAGE ® dosimeters. Dosimeters were imaged at t = 1 hr and t = 48 hrs enabling the development of correction terms to model any observed spatial and temporal changes postirradiation. Polynomial correction factors for temporal and spatial changes in PRESAGE ® dosimeters (C T and C R respectively) were obtained by numerical fitting to time-point data acquired in six irradiated dosimeters. A remote dosimetry protocol was developed where PRESAGE ® change in optical-density (ΔOD) readings at time t = X (the irradiation to return shipment time interval) were corrected back to a convenient standard time t = 1 hr using the C T and C R corrections. This refined protocol was then applied to TG-119 (American Association of Physicists in Medicine, Task Group 119) plan deliveries on the MRIdian

  11. Probabilistic accident consequence uncertainty analysis -- Uncertainty assessment for internal dosimetry. Volume 2: Appendices

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Goossens, L.H.J.; Kraan, B.C.P.; Cooke, R.M.

    1998-04-01

    The development of two new probabilistic accident consequence codes, MACCS and COSYMA, was completed in 1990. These codes estimate the consequence from the accidental releases of radiological material from hypothesized accidents at nuclear installations. In 1991, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Commission of the European Communities began cosponsoring a joint uncertainty analysis of the two codes. The ultimate objective of this joint effort was to systematically develop credible and traceable uncertainty distributions for the respective code input variables. A formal expert judgment elicitation and evaluation process was identified as the best technology available for developing a library ofmore » uncertainty distributions for these consequence parameters. This report focuses on the results of the study to develop distribution for variables related to the MACCS and COSYMA internal dosimetry models. This volume contains appendices that include (1) a summary of the MACCS and COSYMA consequence codes, (2) the elicitation questionnaires and case structures, (3) the rationales and results for the panel on internal dosimetry, (4) short biographies of the experts, and (5) the aggregated results of their responses.« less

  12. Dosimetry for Small and Nonstandard Fields

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Junell, Stephanie L.

    The proposed small and non-standard field dosimetry protocol from the joint International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and American Association of Physicist in Medicine working group introduces new reference field conditions for ionization chamber based reference dosimetry. Absorbed dose beam quality conversion factors (kQ factors) corresponding to this formalism were determined for three different models of ionization chambers: a Farmer-type ionization chamber, a thimble ionization chamber, and a small volume ionization chamber. Beam quality correction factor measurements were made in a specially developed cylindrical polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) phantom and a water phantom using thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) and alanine dosimeters to determine dose to water. The TLD system for absorbed dose to water determination in high energy photon and electron beams was fully characterized as part of this dissertation. The behavior of the beam quality correction factor was observed as it transfers the calibration coefficient from the University of Wisconsin Accredited Dosimetry Calibration Laboratory (UWADCL) 60Co reference beam to the small field calibration conditions of the small field formalism. TLD-determined beam quality correction factors for the calibration conditions investigated ranged from 0.97 to 1.30 and had associated standard deviations from 1% to 3%. The alanine-determined beam quality correction factors ranged from 0.996 to 1.293. Volume averaging effects were observed with the Farmer-type ionization chamber in the small static field conditions. The proposed small and non-standard field dosimetry protocols new composite-field reference condition demonstrated its potential to reduce or remove ionization chamber volume dependancies, but the measured beam quality correction factors were not equal to the standard CoP's kQ, indicating a change in beam quality in the small and non-standard field dosimetry protocols new composite-field reference condition

  13. DRDC Ottawa Participation in the SILENE Accident Dosimetry Intercomparison Exercise. June 10-21, 2002

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2002-11-01

    of CaF2:Mn and A120 3 TLDs for gamma-ray dosimetry ). In addition, DRDC Ottawa has recently substantially expanded its efforts in radiation dosimetry ...use of any real- time electronic dosimeter. Foils have long been proposed and used for criticality dosimetry (as well as for general monitoring of...ray Dosimetry DRDC Ottawa offers a number (over five) of various thermoluminescence dosimetry ( TLD ) systems. The choice of any particular TLD depends

  14. Modeling the impact of prostate edema on LDR brachytherapy: a Monte Carlo dosimetry study based on a 3D biphasic finite element biomechanical model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mountris, K. A.; Bert, J.; Noailly, J.; Rodriguez Aguilera, A.; Valeri, A.; Pradier, O.; Schick, U.; Promayon, E.; Gonzalez Ballester, M. A.; Troccaz, J.; Visvikis, D.

    2017-03-01

    Prostate volume changes due to edema occurrence during transperineal permanent brachytherapy should be taken under consideration to ensure optimal dose delivery. Available edema models, based on prostate volume observations, face several limitations. Therefore, patient-specific models need to be developed to accurately account for the impact of edema. In this study we present a biomechanical model developed to reproduce edema resolution patterns documented in the literature. Using the biphasic mixture theory and finite element analysis, the proposed model takes into consideration the mechanical properties of the pubic area tissues in the evolution of prostate edema. The model’s computed deformations are incorporated in a Monte Carlo simulation to investigate their effect on post-operative dosimetry. The comparison of Day1 and Day30 dosimetry results demonstrates the capability of the proposed model for patient-specific dosimetry improvements, considering the edema dynamics. The proposed model shows excellent ability to reproduce previously described edema resolution patterns and was validated based on previous findings. According to our results, for a prostate volume increase of 10-20% the Day30 urethra D10 dose metric is higher by 4.2%-10.5% compared to the Day1 value. The introduction of the edema dynamics in Day30 dosimetry shows a significant global dose overestimation identified on the conventional static Day30 dosimetry. In conclusion, the proposed edema biomechanical model can improve the treatment planning of transperineal permanent brachytherapy accounting for post-implant dose alterations during the planning procedure.

  15. Modeling the impact of prostate edema on LDR brachytherapy: a Monte Carlo dosimetry study based on a 3D biphasic finite element biomechanical model.

    PubMed

    Mountris, K A; Bert, J; Noailly, J; Aguilera, A Rodriguez; Valeri, A; Pradier, O; Schick, U; Promayon, E; Ballester, M A Gonzalez; Troccaz, J; Visvikis, D

    2017-03-21

    Prostate volume changes due to edema occurrence during transperineal permanent brachytherapy should be taken under consideration to ensure optimal dose delivery. Available edema models, based on prostate volume observations, face several limitations. Therefore, patient-specific models need to be developed to accurately account for the impact of edema. In this study we present a biomechanical model developed to reproduce edema resolution patterns documented in the literature. Using the biphasic mixture theory and finite element analysis, the proposed model takes into consideration the mechanical properties of the pubic area tissues in the evolution of prostate edema. The model's computed deformations are incorporated in a Monte Carlo simulation to investigate their effect on post-operative dosimetry. The comparison of Day1 and Day30 dosimetry results demonstrates the capability of the proposed model for patient-specific dosimetry improvements, considering the edema dynamics. The proposed model shows excellent ability to reproduce previously described edema resolution patterns and was validated based on previous findings. According to our results, for a prostate volume increase of 10-20% the Day30 urethra D10 dose metric is higher by 4.2%-10.5% compared to the Day1 value. The introduction of the edema dynamics in Day30 dosimetry shows a significant global dose overestimation identified on the conventional static Day30 dosimetry. In conclusion, the proposed edema biomechanical model can improve the treatment planning of transperineal permanent brachytherapy accounting for post-implant dose alterations during the planning procedure.

  16. EURADOS strategic research agenda: vision for dosimetry of ionising radiation.

    PubMed

    Rühm, W; Fantuzzi, E; Harrison, R; Schuhmacher, H; Vanhavere, F; Alves, J; Bottollier Depois, J F; Fattibene, P; Knežević, Ž; Lopez, M A; Mayer, S; Miljanić, S; Neumaier, S; Olko, P; Stadtmann, H; Tanner, R; Woda, C

    2016-02-01

    Since autumn 2012, the European Radiation Dosimetry Group (EURADOS) has been developing its Strategic Research Agenda (SRA), which is intended to contribute to the identification of future research needs in radiation dosimetry in Europe. The present article summarises-based on input from EURADOS Working Groups (WGs) and Voting Members-five visions in dosimetry and defines key issues in dosimetry research that are considered important for the next decades. The five visions include scientific developments required towards (a) updated fundamental dose concepts and quantities, (b) improved radiation risk estimates deduced from epidemiological cohorts, (c) efficient dose assessment for radiological emergencies, (d) integrated personalised dosimetry in medical applications and (e) improved radiation protection of workers and the public. The SRA of EURADOS will be used as a guideline for future activities of the EURADOS WGs. A detailed version of the SRA can be downloaded as a EURADOS report from the EURADOS website (www.eurados.org). © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  17. Small field electron beam dosimetry using MOSFET detector

    PubMed Central

    Heaton, Robert; Norrlinger, Bern; Islam, Mohammad K.

    2010-01-01

    The dosimetry of very small electron fields can be challenging due to relative shifts in percent depth‐dose curves, including the location of dmax, and lack of lateral electronic equilibrium in an ion chamber when placed in the beam. Conventionally a small parallel plate chamber or film is utilized to perform small field electron beam dosimetry. Since modern radiotherapy departments are becoming filmless in favor of electronic imaging, an alternate and readily available clinical dosimeter needs to be explored. We have studied the performance of MOSFET as a relative dosimeter in small field electron beams. The reproducibility, linearity and sensitivity of a high‐sensitivity microMOSFET were investigated for clinical electron beams. In addition, the percent depth doses, output factors and profiles have been measured in a water tank with MOSFET and compared with those measured by an ion chamber for a range of field sizes from 1 cm diameter to 10 cm× 10 cm for 6, 12, 16 and 20 MeV beams. Similar comparative measurements were also performed with MOSFET and films in solid water phantom. The MOSFET sensitivity was found to be practically constant over the range of field sizes investigated. The dose response was found to be linear and reproducible (within ±1% for 100 cGy). An excellent agreement was observed among the central axis depth dose curves measured using MOSFET, film and ion chamber. The output factors measured with MOSFET for small fields agreed to within 3% with those measured by film dosimetry. Overall results indicate that MOSFET can be utilized to perform dosimetry for small field electron beam. PACS number: 87.55.Qr

  18. Small field electron beam dosimetry using MOSFET detector.

    PubMed

    Amin, Md Nurul; Heaton, Robert; Norrlinger, Bern; Islam, Mohammad K

    2010-10-04

    The dosimetry of very small electron fields can be challenging due to relative shifts in percent depth-dose curves, including the location of dmax, and lack of lateral electronic equilibrium in an ion chamber when placed in the beam. Conventionally a small parallel plate chamber or film is utilized to perform small field electron beam dosimetry. Since modern radiotherapy departments are becoming filmless in favor of electronic imaging, an alternate and readily available clinical dosimeter needs to be explored. We have studied the performance of MOSFET as a relative dosimeter in small field electron beams. The reproducibility, linearity and sensitivity of a high-sensitivity microMOSFET were investigated for clinical electron beams. In addition, the percent depth doses, output factors and profiles have been measured in a water tank with MOSFET and compared with those measured by an ion chamber for a range of field sizes from 1 cm diameter to 10 cm × 10 cm for 6, 12, 16 and 20 MeV beams. Similar comparative measurements were also per-formed with MOSFET and films in solid water phantom. The MOSFET sensitivity was found to be practically constant over the range of field sizes investigated. The dose response was found to be linear and reproducible (within ± 1% for 100 cGy). An excellent agreement was observed among the central axis depth dose curves measured using MOSFET, film and ion chamber. The output factors measured with MOSFET for small fields agreed to within 3% with those measured by film dosimetry. Overall results indicate that MOSFET can be utilized to perform dosimetry for small field electron beam.

  19. Testing the methodology for dosimetry audit of heterogeneity corrections and small MLC-shaped fields: Results of IAEA multi-center studies

    PubMed Central

    Izewska, Joanna; Wesolowska, Paulina; Azangwe, Godfrey; Followill, David S.; Thwaites, David I.; Arib, Mehenna; Stefanic, Amalia; Viegas, Claudio; Suming, Luo; Ekendahl, Daniela; Bulski, Wojciech; Georg, Dietmar

    2016-01-01

    Abstract The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has a long tradition of supporting development of methodologies for national networks providing quality audits in radiotherapy. A series of co-ordinated research projects (CRPs) has been conducted by the IAEA since 1995 assisting national external audit groups developing national audit programs. The CRP ‘Development of Quality Audits for Radiotherapy Dosimetry for Complex Treatment Techniques’ was conducted in 2009–2012 as an extension of previously developed audit programs. Material and methods. The CRP work described in this paper focused on developing and testing two steps of dosimetry audit: verification of heterogeneity corrections, and treatment planning system (TPS) modeling of small MLC fields, which are important for the initial stages of complex radiation treatments, such as IMRT. The project involved development of a new solid slab phantom with heterogeneities containing special measurement inserts for thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD) and radiochromic films. The phantom and the audit methodology has been developed at the IAEA and tested in multi-center studies involving the CRP participants. Results. The results of multi-center testing of methodology for two steps of dosimetry audit show that the design of audit procedures is adequate and the methodology is feasible for meeting the audit objectives. A total of 97% TLD results in heterogeneity situations obtained in the study were within 3% and all results within 5% agreement with the TPS predicted doses. In contrast, only 64% small beam profiles were within 3 mm agreement between the TPS calculated and film measured doses. Film dosimetry results have highlighted some limitations in TPS modeling of small beam profiles in the direction of MLC leave movements. Discussion. Through multi-center testing, any challenges or difficulties in the proposed audit methodology were identified, and the methodology improved. Using the experience of these

  20. Fast, high-resolution 3D dosimetry utilizing a novel optical-CT scanner incorporating tertiary telecentric collimation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sakhalkar, H. S.; Oldham, M.

    2008-01-15

    This study introduces a charge coupled device (CCD) area detector based optical-computed tomography (optical-CT) scanner for comprehensive verification of radiation dose distributions recorded in nonscattering radiochromic dosimeters. Defining characteristics include: (i) a very fast scanning time of {approx}5 min to acquire a complete three-dimensional (3D) dataset, (ii) improved image formation through the use of custom telecentric optics, which ensures accurate projection images and minimizes artifacts from scattered and stray-light sources, and (iii) high resolution (potentially 50 {mu}m) isotropic 3D dose readout. The performance of the CCD scanner for 3D dose readout was evaluated by comparison with independent 3D readout frommore » the single laser beam OCTOPUS-scanner for the same PRESAGE dosimeters. The OCTOPUS scanner was considered the 'gold standard' technique in light of prior studies demonstrating its accuracy. Additional comparisons were made against calculated dose distributions from the ECLIPSE treatment-planning system. Dose readout for the following treatments were investigated: (i) a single rectangular beam irradiation to investigate small field and very steep dose gradient dosimetry away from edge effects, (ii) a 2-field open beam parallel-opposed irradiation to investigate dosimetry along steep dose gradients, and (iii) a 7-field intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) irradiation to investigate dosimetry for complex treatment delivery involving modulation of fluence and for dosimetry along moderate dose gradients. Dose profiles, dose-difference plots, and gamma maps were employed to evaluate quantitative estimates of agreement between independently measured and calculated dose distributions. Results indicated that dose readout from the CCD scanner was in agreement with independent gold-standard readout from the OCTOPUS-scanner as well as the calculated ECLIPSE dose distribution for all treatments, except in regions within a few

  1. MO-B-BRB-03: 3D Dosimetry in the Clinic: Validating Special Techniques

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Juang, T.

    Full three-dimensional (3D) dosimetry using volumetric chemical dosimeters probed by 3D imaging systems has long been a promising technique for the radiation therapy clinic, since it provides a unique methodology for dose measurements in the volume irradiated using complex conformal delivery techniques such as IMRT and VMAT. To date true 3D dosimetry is still not widely practiced in the community; it has been confined to centres of specialized expertise especially for quality assurance or commissioning roles where other dosimetry techniques are difficult to implement. The potential for improved clinical applicability has been advanced considerably in the last decade by themore » development of improved 3D dosimeters (e.g., radiochromic plastics, radiochromic gel dosimeters and normoxic polymer gel systems) and by improved readout protocols using optical computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. In this session, established users of some current 3D chemical dosimeters will briefly review the current status of 3D dosimetry, describe several dosimeters and their appropriate imaging for dose readout, present workflow procedures required for good dosimetry, and analyze some limitations for applications in select settings. We will review the application of 3D dosimetry to various clinical situations describing how 3D approaches can complement other dose delivery validation approaches already available in the clinic. The applications presented will be selected to inform attendees of the unique features provided by full 3D techniques. Learning Objectives: L. John Schreiner: Background and Motivation Understand recent developments enabling clinically practical 3D dosimetry, Appreciate 3D dosimetry workflow and dosimetry procedures, and Observe select examples from the clinic. Sofie Ceberg: Application to dynamic radiotherapy Observe full dosimetry under dynamic radiotherapy during respiratory motion, and Understand how the measurement of high resolution dose data

  2. MO-B-BRB-01: 3D Dosimetry in the Clinic: Background and Motivation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Schreiner, L.

    Full three-dimensional (3D) dosimetry using volumetric chemical dosimeters probed by 3D imaging systems has long been a promising technique for the radiation therapy clinic, since it provides a unique methodology for dose measurements in the volume irradiated using complex conformal delivery techniques such as IMRT and VMAT. To date true 3D dosimetry is still not widely practiced in the community; it has been confined to centres of specialized expertise especially for quality assurance or commissioning roles where other dosimetry techniques are difficult to implement. The potential for improved clinical applicability has been advanced considerably in the last decade by themore » development of improved 3D dosimeters (e.g., radiochromic plastics, radiochromic gel dosimeters and normoxic polymer gel systems) and by improved readout protocols using optical computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. In this session, established users of some current 3D chemical dosimeters will briefly review the current status of 3D dosimetry, describe several dosimeters and their appropriate imaging for dose readout, present workflow procedures required for good dosimetry, and analyze some limitations for applications in select settings. We will review the application of 3D dosimetry to various clinical situations describing how 3D approaches can complement other dose delivery validation approaches already available in the clinic. The applications presented will be selected to inform attendees of the unique features provided by full 3D techniques. Learning Objectives: L. John Schreiner: Background and Motivation Understand recent developments enabling clinically practical 3D dosimetry, Appreciate 3D dosimetry workflow and dosimetry procedures, and Observe select examples from the clinic. Sofie Ceberg: Application to dynamic radiotherapy Observe full dosimetry under dynamic radiotherapy during respiratory motion, and Understand how the measurement of high resolution dose data

  3. INTEGRATED OPERATIONAL DOSIMETRY SYSTEM AT CERN.

    PubMed

    Dumont, Gérald; Pedrosa, Fernando Baltasar Dos Santos; Carbonez, Pierre; Forkel-Wirth, Doris; Ninin, Pierre; Fuentes, Eloy Reguero; Roesler, Stefan; Vollaire, Joachim

    2017-04-01

    CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, upgraded its operational dosimetry system in March 2013 to be prepared for the first Long Shutdown of CERN's facilities. The new system allows the immediate and automatic checking and recording of the dosimetry data before and after interventions in radiation areas. To facilitate the analysis of the data in context of CERN's approach to As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA), this new system is interfaced to the Intervention Management Planning and Coordination Tool (IMPACT). IMPACT is a web-based application widely used in all CERN's accelerators and their associated technical infrastructures for the planning, the coordination and the approval of interventions (work permit principle). The coupling of the operational dosimetry database with the IMPACT repository allows a direct and almost immediate comparison of the actual dose with the estimations, in addition to enabling the configuration of alarm levels in the dosemeter in function of the intervention to be performed. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  4. Poster - Thur Eve - 69: Electron beam dosimetry in heterogeneous phantoms using the MAGIC normoxic polymer gel.

    PubMed

    Nedaie, H A; Ghahraman, A R; Bolouri, B; Arbabi, A

    2012-07-01

    Recently, radiation sensitive polymer gels are being used as a reliable dosimetry method for three-dimensional (3D) verification of radiation doses in clinical use. Some properties of gel dosimeters have made them useful in verifying complex situations in electron therapy. The aim of this study was to experimentally evaluate the influence of tissue inhomogeneities on electron beam dose distributions by use of polymer gel dosimetry. Another purpose was to evaluate the appropriateness of polymer gels for electron beam dosimetry applications. A cylindrical phantom filled with MAGIC polymer gel with a polyacrilic wall (ρ = 1.18 g.cm -3 ) was placed in a Perspex water-filled tank exactly underneath the bone inhomogeneity region .Then, the slab phantom was irradiated with a dose of 5Gy of 8MeV electrons to measure the dose distribution beyond the heterogeneity region. Afterwards, another cylindrical gel phantom similar to the above was used and irradiated with the same dose of 15 MeV electrons to measure the dose distribution beyond the same heterogeneity region. The same mentioned setup was repeated for measurement of the dose distribution beneath the air heterogeneity and homogenous phantom. The results of gel dosimetry under bone inhomogeneity have shown a reduction in dose. This is related to the high mass stopping and mass scattering powers of bone tissue. In addition, dose enhancement is seen laterally near the bone-tissue interface, due to increased side scattering of electrons. Hot and cold scatter lobes under heterogeneity regions are other effects that can be seen. The results of gel dosimetry under the air inhomogeneity have shown an increase in dose. This is related to the low mass stopping and mass scattering powers of the air cavity. When a high energy beam passes through a low-density medium or an air cavity, electronic equilibrium is lost along the central axis of the beam .The dose rebuild up is a consequence of this electronic disequilibrium. An

  5. Skeletal dosimetry models for alpha-particles for use in molecular radiotherapy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Watchman, Christopher J.

    Molecular radiotherapy is a cancer treatment methodology whereby a radionuclide is combined with a biologically active molecule to preferentially target cancer cells. Alpha-particle emitting radionuclides show significant potential for use in molecular radiotherapy due to the short range of the alpha-particles in tissue and their high rates of energy deposition. Current radiation dosimetry models used to assess alpha emitter dose in the skeleton were developed originally for occupational applications. In medical dosimetry, individual variability in uptake, translocation and other biological factors can result in poor correlation of clinical outcome with marrow dose estimates determined using existing skeletal models. Methods presented in this work were developed in response to the need for dosimetry models which account for these biological and patient-specific factors. Dosimetry models are presented for trabecular bone alpha particle dosimetry as well as a model for cortical bone dosimetry. These radiation transport models are the 3D chord-based infinite spongiosa transport model (3D-CBIST) and the chord-based infinite cortical transport model (CBICT), respectively. Absorbed fraction data for several skeletal tissues for several subjects are presented. Each modeling strategy accounts for biological parameters, such as bone marrow cellularity, not previously incorporated into alpha-particle skeletal dosimetry models used in radiation protection. Using these data a study investigating the variability in alpha-particle absorbed fractions in the human skeleton is also presented. Data is also offered relating skeletal tissue masses in individual bone sites for a range of ages. These data are necessary for dose calculations and have previously only been available as whole body tissue masses. A revised 3D-CBIST model is also presented which allows for changes in endosteum thickness to account for revised target cell location of tissues involved in the radiological

  6. Radiation dosimetry for quality control of food preservation and disinfestation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McLaughlin, W. L.; Miller, A.; Uribe, R. M.

    In the use of x and gamma rays and scanned electron beams to extend the shelf life of food by delay of sprouting and ripening, killing of microbes, and control of insect population, quality assurance is provided by standardized radiation dosimetry. By strategic placement of calibrated dosimeters that are sufficiently stable and reproducible, it is possible to monitor minimum and maximum radiation absorbed dose levels and dose uniformity for a given processed foodstuff. The dosimetry procedure is especially important in the commisioning of a process and in making adjustments of process parameters (e.g. conveyor speed) to meet changes that occur in product and source parameters (e.g. bulk density and radiation spectrum). Routine dosimetry methods and certain corrections of dosimetry data may be selected for the radiations used in typical food processes.

  7. SU-C-BRD-06: Results From a 5 Patient in Vivo Rectal Wall Dosimetry Study Using Plastic Scintillation Detectors

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wootton, L; Kudchadker, R; Lee, A

    Purpose: To evaluate the performance characteristics of plastic scintillation detectors (PSDs) in an in vivo environment for external beam radiation, and to establish the usefulness and ease of implementation of a PSD based in vivo dosimetry system for routine clinical use. Methods: A five patient IRB approved in vivo dosimetry study was performed. Five patients with prostate cancer were enrolled and PSDs were used to monitor rectal wall dose and verify the delivered dose for approximately two fractions each week over the course of their treatment (approximately fourteen fractions), resulting in a total of 142 in vivo measurements. A setmore » of two PSDs was fabricated for each patient. At each monitored fraction the PSDs were attached to the anterior surface of an endorectal balloon used to immobilize the patient's prostate during treatment. A CT scan was acquired with a CTon- rails linear accelerator to localize the detectors and to calculate the dose expected to be delivered to the detectors. Each PSD acquired data in 10 second intervals for the duration of the treatment. The deviation between expected and measured cumulative dose was calculated for each detector for each fraction, and averaged over each patient and the patient population as a whole. Results: The average difference between expected dose and measured dose ranged from -3.3% to 3.3% for individual patients, with standard deviations between 5.6% and 7.1% for four of the patients. The average difference for the entire population was -0.4% with a standard deviation of 2.8%. The detectors were well tolerated by the patients and the system did not interrupt the clinical workflow. Conclusion: PSDs perform well as in vivo dosimeters, exhibiting good accuracy and precision. This, combined with the practicability of using such a system, positions the PSD as a strong candidate for clinical in vivo dosimetry in the future. This work supported in part by the National Cancer Institute through an R01 grant

  8. Voice Use Among Music Theory Teachers: A Voice Dosimetry and Self-Assessment Study.

    PubMed

    Schiller, Isabel S; Morsomme, Dominique; Remacle, Angélique

    2017-07-25

    This study aimed (1) to investigate music theory teachers' professional and extra-professional vocal loading and background noise exposure, (2) to determine the correlation between vocal loading and background noise, and (3) to determine the correlation between vocal loading and self-evaluation data. Using voice dosimetry, 13 music theory teachers were monitored for one workweek. The parameters analyzed were voice sound pressure level (SPL), fundamental frequency (F0), phonation time, vocal loading index (VLI), and noise SPL. Spearman correlation was used to correlate vocal loading parameters (voice SPL, F0, and phonation time) and noise SPL. Each day, the subjects self-assessed their voice using visual analog scales. VLI and self-evaluation data were correlated using Spearman correlation. Vocal loading parameters and noise SPL were significantly higher in the professional than in the extra-professional environment. Voice SPL, phonation time, and female subjects' F0 correlated positively with noise SPL. VLI correlated with self-assessed voice quality, vocal fatigue, and amount of singing and speaking voice produced. Teaching music theory is a profession with high vocal demands. More background noise is associated with increased vocal loading and may indirectly increase the risk for voice disorders. Correlations between VLI and self-assessments suggest that these teachers are well aware of their vocal demands and feel their effect on voice quality and vocal fatigue. Visual analog scales seem to represent a useful tool for subjective vocal loading assessment and associated symptoms in these professional voice users. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Dosimetry audits and intercomparisons in radiotherapy: A Malaysian profile

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    M. Noor, Noramaliza; Nisbet, A.; Hussein, M.; Chu S, Sarene; Kadni, T.; Abdullah, N.; Bradley, D. A.

    2017-11-01

    Quality audits and intercomparisons are important in ensuring control of processes in any system of endeavour. Present interest is in control of dosimetry in teletherapy, there being a need to assess the extent to which there is consistent radiation dose delivery to the patient. In this study we review significant factors that impact upon radiotherapy dosimetry, focusing upon the example situation of radiotherapy delivery in Malaysia, examining existing literature in support of such efforts. A number of recommendations are made to provide for increased quality assurance and control. In addition to this study, the first level of intercomparison audit i.e. measuring beam output under reference conditions at eight selected Malaysian radiotherapy centres is checked; use being made of 9 μm core diameter Ge-doped silica fibres (Ge-9 μm). The results of Malaysian Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratory (SSDL) participation in the IAEA/WHO TLD postal dose audit services during the period between 2011 and 2015 will also been discussed. In conclusion, following review of the development of dosimetry audits and the conduct of one such exercise in Malaysia, it is apparent that regular periodic radiotherapy audits and intercomparison programmes should be strongly supported and implemented worldwide. The programmes to-date demonstrate these to be a good indicator of errors and of consistency between centres. A total of ei+ght beams have been checked in eight Malaysian radiotherapy centres. One out of the eight beams checked produced an unacceptable deviation; this was found to be due to unfamiliarity with the irradiation procedures. Prior to a repeat measurement, the mean ratio of measured to quoted dose was found to be 0.99 with standard deviation of 3%. Subsequent to the repeat measurement, the mean distribution was 1.00, and the standard deviation was 1.3%.

  10. An evaluation of the contouring abilities of medical dosimetry students for the anatomy of a prostate cancer patient

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Collins, Kevin S., E-mail: kscollin@siu.edu

    2012-10-01

    Prostate cancer is one of the most common diseases treated in a radiation oncology department. One of the major predictors of the treatment outcome and patient side effects is the accuracy of the anatomical contours for the treatment plan. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine which anatomical structures are most often contoured correctly and incorrectly by medical dosimetry students. The author also wanted to discover whether a review of the contouring rules would increase contouring accuracy. To achieve this, a male computed tomography dataset consisting of 72 transverse slices was sent to students for contouring. The studentsmore » were instructed to import this dataset into their treatment planning system and contour the following structures: skin, bladder, rectum, prostate, penile bulb, seminal vesicles, left femoral head, and right femoral head. Upon completion of the contours, the contour file was evaluated against a 'gold standard' contour set using StructSure software (Standard Imaging, Inc). A review of the initial contour results was conducted and then students were instructed to contour the dataset a second time. The results of this study showed significant differences between contouring sessions. These results and the standardization of contouring rules should benefit all individuals who participate in the treatment planning of cancer patients.« less

  11. The specifics of dosimetry for food irradiation applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kuntz, Florent; Strasser, Alain

    2016-12-01

    Dose measurement applied to food irradiation is obviously a very important and critical aspect of this process. It is described in many standards and guides. The application of appropriate dosimetry tools is explained. This helps to ensure traceability of this measurement and number of dosimeters available on the market are well studied even though theirs response should be characterized while used in routine processing conditions. When employed in low energy radiation fields, these dosimeters may exhibit specific response compared to the usual Cobalt 60 source irradiation. Traceable calibration or correction factor assessment of this energy dependency is mandatory. It is to mention that the absorbed dose is measured in the dosimeter itself and unfortunately not in/on the food product. However, existing dosimetry systems fulfill all relevant requirements.

  12. Thyroid cancer following scalp irradiation: a reanalysis accounting for uncertainty in dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Schafer, D W; Lubin, J H; Ron, E; Stovall, M; Carroll, R J

    2001-09-01

    In the 1940s and 1950s, over 20,000 children in Israel were treated for tinea capitis (scalp ringworm) by irradiation to induce epilation. Follow-up studies showed that the radiation exposure was associated with the development of malignant thyroid neoplasms. Despite this clear evidence of an effect, the magnitude of the dose-response relationship is much less clear because of probable errors in individual estimates of dose to the thyroid gland. Such errors have the potential to bias dose-response estimation, a potential that was not widely appreciated at the time of the original analyses. We revisit this issue, describing in detail how errors in dosimetry might occur, and we develop a new dose-response model that takes the uncertainties of the dosimetry into account. Our model for the uncertainty in dosimetry is a complex and new variant of the classical multiplicative Berkson error model, having components of classical multiplicative measurement error as well as missing data. Analysis of the tinea capitis data suggests that measurement error in the dosimetry has only a negligible effect on dose-response estimation and inference as well as on the modifying effect of age at exposure.

  13. The IROC Houston Quality Assurance Program: Potential benefits of 3D dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Followill, D. S.; Molineu, H. A.; Lafratta, R.; Ibbott, G. S.

    2017-05-01

    The IROC Houston QA Center has provided QA core support for NCI clinical trials by ensuring that radiation doses delivered to trial patients are accurate and comparable between participating institutions. Within its QA program, IROC Houston uses anthropomorphic QA phantoms to credential sites. It is these phantoms that have the highest potential to benefit from the use of 3D dosimeters. Credentialing is performed to verify that institutions that are using advanced technologies to deliver complex treatment plans that conform to targets. This makes it increasingly difficult to assure the intended calculated dose is being delivered correctly using current techniques that are 2D-based. A 3D dosimeter such as PRESAGE® is able to provide a complete 3D measured dosimetry dataset with one treatment plan delivery. In our preliminary studies, the 3D dosimeters in our H&N and spine phantoms were found to be appropriate for remote dosimetry for relative dose measurements. To implement 3D dosimetry in IROC Houston’s phantoms, the benefit of this significant change to its current infrastructure would have to be assessed and further work would be needed before bringing 3D dosimeters into the phantom dosimetry program.

  14. Characterization of a gated fiber-optic-coupled detector for application in clinical electron beam dosimetry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Tanyi, James A.; Nitzling, Kevin D.; Lodwick, Camille J.

    2011-02-15

    Purpose: Assessment of the fundamental dosimetric characteristics of a novel gated fiber-optic-coupled dosimetry system for clinical electron beam irradiation. Methods: The response of fiber-optic-coupled dosimetry system to clinical electron beam, with nominal energy range of 6-20 MeV, was evaluated for reproducibility, linearity, and output dependence on dose rate, dose per pulse, energy, and field size. The validity of the detector system's response was assessed in correspondence with a reference ionization chamber. Results: The fiber-optic-coupled dosimetry system showed little dependence to dose rate variations (coefficient of variation {+-}0.37%) and dose per pulse changes (with 0.54% of reference chamber measurements). The reproducibilitymore » of the system was {+-}0.55% for dose fractions of {approx}100 cGy. Energy dependence was within {+-}1.67% relative to the reference ionization chamber for the 6-20 MeV nominal electron beam energy range. The system exhibited excellent linear response (R{sup 2}=1.000) compared to reference ionization chamber in the dose range of 1-1000 cGy. The output factors were within {+-}0.54% of the corresponding reference ionization chamber measurements. Conclusions: The dosimetric properties of the gated fiber-optic-coupled dosimetry system compare favorably to the corresponding reference ionization chamber measurements and show considerable potential for applications in clinical electron beam radiotherapy.« less

  15. Effect of contrast media on megavoltage photon beam dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Rankine, Ashley W; Lanzon, Peter J; Spry, Nigel A

    2008-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to quantify changes in photon beam dosimetry caused by using contrast media during computed tomography (CT) simulation and determine if the resulting changes are clinically significant. The effect of contrast on dosimetry was first examined for a single 6-MV photon beam incident on a plane phantom with a structure of varying electron densities (rho(e)) and thickness. Patient studies were then undertaken in which CT data sets were collected with and without contrast for 6 typical patients. Three patients received IV contrast (Optiray-240) only and 3 received IV plus oral (Gastrograffin) contrast. Each patient was planned using conformal multifield techniques in accordance with the department standards. Two methods were used to compare the effect of contrast on dosimetry for each patient. The phantom analysis showed that the change in dose at the isocenter for a single 10 x 10 cm2 6-MV photon beam traversing 10 cm of a contrast-enhanced structure with rho(e) 1.22 was 7.0% (1.22 was the highest average rho(e) observed in the patient data). As a result of using contrast, increases in rho(e) were observed in structures for the 6 patients studied. Consequently, when using contrast-enhanced CT data for multifield planning, increases in dose at the isocenter and in critical structures were observed up to 2.1% and 2.5%, respectively. Planning on contrast-enhanced CT images may result in an increase in dose of up to 2.1% at the isocenter, which would generally be regarded as clinically insignificant. If, however, a critical organ is in close proximity to the planning target volume (PTV) and is planned to receive its maximum allowable dose, planning on contrast-enhanced CT images may result in that organ receiving dose beyond the recommended tolerance. In these instances, pre-contrast CT data should be used for dosimetry.

  16. MIRD Pamphlet No. 21: A Generalized Schema for Radiopharmaceutical Dosimetry-Standardization of Nomenclature

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bolch, W E; Eckerman, Keith F; Sgouros, George

    2009-03-01

    The internal dosimetry schema of the Medical Internal Radiation Dose (MIRD) Committee of the Society of Nuclear Medicine has provided a broad framework for assessment of the absorbed dose to whole organs, tissue subregions, voxelized tissue structures, and individual cellular compartments for use in both diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine. The schema was originally published in 1968, revised in 1976, and republished in didactic form with comprehensive examples as the MIRD primer in 1988 and 1991. The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) is an organization that also supplies dosimetric models and technical data, for use in providing recommendations formore » limits on ionizing radiation exposure to workers and members of the general public. The ICRP has developed a dosimetry schema similar to that of the MIRD Committee but has used different terminology and symbols for fundamental quantities such as the absorbed fraction, specific absorbed fraction, and various dose coefficients. The MIRD Committee objectives for this pamphlet are 3-fold: to restate its schema for assessment of absorbed dose in a manner consistent with the needs of both the nuclear medicine and the radiation protection communities, with the goal of standardizing nomenclature; to formally adopt the dosimetry quantities equivalent dose and effective dose for use in comparative evaluations of potential risks of radiation-induced stochastic effects to patients after nuclear medicine procedures; and to discuss the need to identify dosimetry quantities based on absorbed dose that address deterministic effects relevant to targeted radionuclide therapy.« less

  17. Implementation of an intraoperative electron radiotherapy in vivo dosimetry program.

    PubMed

    López-Tarjuelo, Juan; Morillo-Macías, Virginia; Bouché-Babiloni, Ana; Boldó-Roda, Enrique; Lozoya-Albacar, Rafael; Ferrer-Albiach, Carlos

    2016-03-15

    Intraoperative electron radiotherapy (IOERT) is a highly selective radiotherapy technique which aims to treat restricted anatomic volumes during oncological surgery and is now the subject of intense re-evaluation. In vivo dosimetry has been recommended for IOERT and has been identified as a risk-reduction intervention in the context of an IOERT risk analysis. Despite reports of fruitful experiences, information about in vivo dosimetry in intraoperative radiotherapy is somewhat scarce. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to report our experience in developing a program of in vivo dosimetry for IOERT, from both multidisciplinary and practical approaches, in a consistent patient series. We also report several current weaknesses. Reinforced TN-502RDM-H mobile metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) and Gafchromic MD-55-2 films were used as a redundant in vivo treatment verification system with an Elekta Precise fixed linear accelerator for calibrations and treatments. In vivo dosimetry was performed in 45 patients in cases involving primary tumors or relapses. The most frequent primary tumors were breast (37 %) and colorectal (29 %), and local recurrences among relapses was 83 %. We made 50 attempts to measure with MOSFETs and 48 attempts to measure with films in the treatment zones. The surgical team placed both detectors with supervision from the radiation oncologist and following their instructions. The program was considered an overall success by the different professionals involved. The absorbed doses measured with MOSFETs and films were 93.8 ± 6.7 % and 97.9 ± 9.0 % (mean ± SD) respectively using a scale in which 90 % is the prescribed dose and 100 % is the maximum absorbed dose delivered by the beam. However, in 10 % of cases we experienced dosimetric problems due to detector misalignment, a situation which might be avoided with additional checks. The useful MOSFET lifetime length and the film sterilization procedure should also be

  18. Radiographic film dosimetry of proton beams for depth‐dose constancy check and beam profile measurement

    PubMed Central

    Teran, Anthony; Ghebremedhin, Abiel; Johnson, Matt; Patyal, Baldev

    2015-01-01

    Radiographic film dosimetry suffers from its energy dependence in proton dosimetry. This study sought to develop a method of measuring proton beams by the film and to evaluate film response to proton beams for the constancy check of depth dose (DD). It also evaluated the film for profile measurements. To achieve this goal, from DDs measured by film and ion chamber (IC), calibration factors (ratios of dose measured by IC to film responses) as a function of depth in a phantom were obtained. These factors imply variable slopes (with proton energy and depth) of linear characteristic curves that relate film response to dose. We derived a calibration method that enables utilization of the factors for acquisition of dose from film density measured at later dates by adapting to a potentially altered processor condition. To test this model, the characteristic curve was obtained by using EDR2 film and in‐phantom film dosimetry in parallel with a 149.65 MeV proton beam, using the method. An additional validation of the model was performed by concurrent film and IC measurement perpendicular to the beam at various depths. Beam profile measurements by the film were also evaluated at the center of beam modulation. In order to interpret and ascertain the film dosimetry, Monte Carlos simulation of the beam was performed, calculating the proton fluence spectrum along depths and off‐axis distances. By multiplying respective stopping powers to the spectrum, doses to film and water were calculated. The ratio of film dose to water dose was evaluated. Results are as follows. The characteristic curve proved the assumed linearity. The measured DD approached that of IC, but near the end of the spread‐out Bragg peak (SOBP), a spurious peak was observed due to the mismatch of distal edge between the calibration and measurement films. The width of SOBP and the proximal edge were both reproducible within a maximum of 5 mm; the distal edge was reproducible within 1 mm. At 5 cm depth, the

  19. A dosimetry study comparing NCS report-5, IAEA TRS-381, AAPM TG-51 and IAEA TRS-398 in three clinical electron beam energies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Palmans, Hugo; Nafaa, Laila; de Patoul, Nathalie; Denis, Jean-Marc; Tomsej, Milan; Vynckier, Stefaan

    2003-05-01

    New codes of practice for reference dosimetry in clinical high-energy photon and electron beams have been published recently, to replace the air kerma based codes of practice that have determined the dosimetry of these beams for the past twenty years. In the present work, we compared dosimetry based on the two most widespread absorbed dose based recommendations (AAPM TG-51 and IAEA TRS-398) with two air kerma based recommendations (NCS report-5 and IAEA TRS-381). Measurements were performed in three clinical electron beam energies using two NE2571-type cylindrical chambers, two Markus-type plane-parallel chambers and two NACP-02-type plane-parallel chambers. Dosimetry based on direct calibrations of all chambers in 60Co was investigated, as well as dosimetry based on cross-calibrations of plane-parallel chambers against a cylindrical chamber in a high-energy electron beam. Furthermore, 60Co perturbation factors for plane-parallel chambers were derived. It is shown that the use of 60Co calibration factors could result in deviations of more than 2% for plane-parallel chambers between the old and new codes of practice, whereas the use of cross-calibration factors, which is the first recommendation in the new codes, reduces the differences to less than 0.8% for all situations investigated here. The results thus show that neither the chamber-to-chamber variations, nor the obtained absolute dose values are significantly altered by changing from air kerma based dosimetry to absorbed dose based dosimetry when using calibration factors obtained from the Laboratory for Standard Dosimetry, Ghent, Belgium. The values of the 60Co perturbation factor for plane-parallel chambers (katt . km for the air kerma based and pwall for the absorbed dose based codes of practice) that are obtained from comparing the results based on 60Co calibrations and cross-calibrations are within the experimental uncertainties in agreement with the results from other investigators.

  20. SU-E-J-70: Evaluation of Multiple Isocentric Intensity Modulated and Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy Techniques Using Portal Dosimetry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Muralidhar, K Raja; Pangam, S; Kolla, J

    2015-06-15

    Purpose: To develop a method for verification of dose distribution in a patient during treatment using multiple isocentric Intensity modulated and volumetric modulated arc therapy techniques with portal dosimetry. Methods: Varian True Beam accelerator, equipped with an aS1000 megavoltage electronic portal imaging device (EPID) has an integrated image mode for portal dosimetry (PD). The source-to-imager distance was taken at 150 cm to avoid collision to the table. Fourteen fractions were analyzed for this study. During shift in a single plan from one isocenter to another isocenter, EPID also shifted longitudinally for each field by taking the extent of divergence ofmore » beam into the consideration for EPID distance of 150cm. Patients were given treatment everyday with EPID placed in proper position for each field. Several parameters were obtained by comparing the dose distribution between fractions to fraction. The impact of the intra-fraction and inter-fraction of the patient in combination with isocenter shift of the beams were observed. Results: During treatment, measurements were performed by EPID and were evaluated by the gamma method. Analysis was done between fractions for multiple isocenter treatments. The pass rates of the gamma analysis with a criterion of 3% and 3 mm for the 14 fractions were over 97.8% with good consistency. Whereas maximum gamma exceeded the criteria in few fractions (in<1 cc vol). Average gamma was observed in the criteria of 0.5%. Maximum dose difference and average dose differences were less than 0.22 CU and 0.01 CU for maximum tolerance of 1.0 CU and 0.2 CU respectively. Conclusion: EPID with extended distance is ideal method to verify the multiple isocentric dose distribution in patient during treatment, especially cold and hot spots in junction dose. Verification of shifts as well as the dose differences between each fraction due to inter-fraction and intra-fraction of the patient can be derived.« less

  1. SU-F-T-562: Validation of EPID-Based Dosimetry for FSRS Commissioning

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Song, Y; Saleh, Z; Obcemea, C

    Purpose: The prevailing approach to frameless SRS (fSRS) small field dosimetry is Gafchromic film. Though providing continuous information, its intrinsic uncertainties in fabrication, response, scan, and calibration often make film dosimetry subject to different interpretations. In this study, we explored the feasibility of using EPID portal dosimetry as a viable alternative to film for small field dosimetry. Methods: Plans prescribed a dose of 21 Gy were created on a flat solid water phantom with Eclipse V11 and iPlan for small static square fields (1.0 to 3.0 cm). In addition, two clinical test plans were computed by employing iPlan on amore » CIRS Kesler head phantom for target dimensions of 1.2cm and 2.0cm. Corresponding portal dosimetry plans were computed using the Eclipse TPS and delivered on a Varian TrueBeam machine. EBT-XD film dosimetry was performed as a reference. The isocenter doses were measured using EPID, OSLD, stereotactic diode, and CC01 ion chamber. Results: EPID doses at the center of the square field were higher than Eclipse TPS predicted portal doses, with the mean difference being 2.42±0.65%. Doses measured by EBT-XD film, OSLD, stereotactic diode, and CC01 ion chamber revealed smaller differences (except OSLDs), with mean differences being 0.36±3.11%, 4.12±4.13%, 1.7±2.76%, 1.45±2.37% for Eclipse and −1.36±0.85%, 2.38±4.2%, −0.03±0.50%, −0.27±0.78% for iPlan. The profiles measured by EPID and EBT-XD film resembled TPS (Eclipse and iPlan) predicted ones within 3.0%. For the two clinical test plans, the EPID mean doses at the center of field were 2.66±0.68% and 2.33±0.32% higher than TPS predicted doses. Conclusion: We found that results obtained with EPID portal dosimetry were slightly higher (∼2%) than those obtained with EBT-XD film, diode, and CC01 ion chamber with the exception of OSLDs, but well within IROC tolerance (5.0%). Therefore, EPID has the potential to become a viable real-time alternative method to film

  2. A nephron-based model of the kidneys for macro-to-micro α-particle dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hobbs, Robert F.; Song, Hong; Huso, David L.; Sundel, Margaret H.; Sgouros, George

    2012-07-01

    Targeted α-particle therapy is a promising treatment modality for cancer. Due to the short path-length of α-particles, the potential efficacy and toxicity of these agents is best evaluated by microscale dosimetry calculations instead of whole-organ, absorbed fraction-based dosimetry. Yet time-integrated activity (TIA), the necessary input for dosimetry, can still only be quantified reliably at the organ or macroscopic level. We describe a nephron- and cellular-based kidney dosimetry model for α-particle radiopharmaceutical therapy, more suited to the short range and high linear energy transfer of α-particle emitters, which takes as input kidney or cortex TIA and through a macro to micro model-based methodology assigns TIA to micro-level kidney substructures. We apply a geometrical model to provide nephron-level S-values for a range of isotopes allowing for pre-clinical and clinical applications according to the medical internal radiation dosimetry (MIRD) schema. We assume that the relationship between whole-organ TIA and TIA apportioned to microscale substructures as measured in an appropriate pre-clinical mammalian model also applies to the human. In both, the pre-clinical and the human model, microscale substructures are described as a collection of simple geometrical shapes akin to those used in the Cristy-Eckerman phantoms for normal organs. Anatomical parameters are taken from the literature for a human model, while murine parameters are measured ex vivo. The murine histological slides also provide the data for volume of occupancy of the different compartments of the nephron in the kidney: glomerulus versus proximal tubule versus distal tubule. Monte Carlo simulations are run with activity placed in the different nephron compartments for several α-particle emitters currently under investigation in radiopharmaceutical therapy. The S-values were calculated for the α-emitters and their descendants between the different nephron compartments for both the

  3. Dosimetry in radiobiological studies with the heavy ion beam of the Warsaw cyclotron

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kaźmierczak, U.; Banaś, D.; Braziewicz, J.; Czub, J.; Jaskóła, M.; Korman, A.; Kruszewski, M.; Lankoff, A.; Lisowska, H.; Malinowska, A.; Stępkowski, T.; Szefliński, Z.; Wojewódzka, M.

    2015-12-01

    The aim of this study was to verify various dosimetry methods in the irradiation of biological materials with a 12C ion beam at the Heavy Ion Laboratory of the University of Warsaw. To this end the number of ions hitting the cell nucleus, calculated on the basis of the Si-detector system used in the set-up, was compared with the number of ion tracks counted in irradiated Solid State Nuclear Track Detectors and with the number of ion tracks detected in irradiated Chinese Hamster Ovary cells processed for the γ-H2AX assay. Tests results were self-consistent and confirmed that the system serves its dosimetric purpose.

  4. OSL studies of alkali fluoroperovskite single crystals for radiation dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Daniel, D. Joseph; Raja, A.; Madhusoodanan, U.; Annalakshmi, O.; Ramasamy, P.

    2016-08-01

    This paper presents a preliminary investigation of the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) of alkali fluoroperovskite single crystals for radiation dosimetry. The perovskite-like KMgF3, NaMgF3 and LiBaF3 polycrystalline compounds doped with rare earths (Eu2+ and Ce3+) were synthesized by standard solid state reaction technique. Phase purity of the synthesized compounds was analyzed by powder X-ray diffraction technique. Single crystals of these compounds have been grown from melt by using vertical Bridgman-Stockbarger method. The Linearly Modulated OSL and Continuous Wave OSL measurements were performed in these alkali fluorides using blue light stimulation. Thermal bleaching experiments have shown that OSL signals originate from traps which are unstable near 200 °C, thus proving the suitability of the signals for dosimetric purposes. Optical bleaching measurements were also performed for these fluoride samples. OSL dose response was studied as a function of dose which was found to increase with beta dose.

  5. SU-F-J-100: Standardized Biodistribution Template for Nuclear Medicine Dosimetry Collection and Reporting

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kesner, A; Poli, G; Beykan, S

    Purpose: As the field of Nuclear Medicine moves forward with efforts to integrate radiation dosimetry into clinical practice we can identify the challenge posed by the lack of standardized dose calculation methods and protocols. All personalized internal dosimetry is derived by projecting biodistribution measurements into dosimetry calculations. In an effort to standardize organization of data and its reporting, we have developed, as a sequel to the EANM recommendation of “Good Dosimetry Reporting”, a freely available biodistribution template, which can be used to create a common point of reference for dosimetry data. It can be disseminated, interpreted, and used for methodmore » development widely across the field. Methods: A generalized biodistribution template was built in a comma delineated format (.csv) to be completed by users performing biodistribution measurements. The template is available for free download. The download site includes instructions and other usage details on the template. Results: This is a new resource developed for the community. It is our hope that users will consider integrating it into their dosimetry operations. Having biodistribution data available and easily accessible for all patients processed is a strategy for organizing large amounts of information. It may enable users to create their own databases that can be analyzed for multiple aspects of dosimetry operations. Furthermore, it enables population data to easily be reprocessed using different dosimetry methodologies. With respect to dosimetry-related research and publications, the biodistribution template can be included as supplementary material, and will allow others in the community to better compare calculations and results achieved. Conclusion: As dosimetry in nuclear medicine become more routinely applied in clinical applications, we, as a field, need to develop the infrastructure for handling large amounts of data. Our organ level biodistribution template can be

  6. Feasibility of CBCT dosimetry for IMRT using a normoxic polymethacrylic-acid gel dosimeter

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bong, Ji Hye; Kwon, Soo-Il; Kim, Kum Bae; Kim, Mi Suk; Jung, Hai Jo; Ji, Young Hoon; Ko, In Ok; Park, Ji Ae; Kim, Kyeong Min

    2013-09-01

    The purpose of this study is to evaluate the availability of cone-beam computed tomography(CBCT) for gel dosimetry. The absorbed dose was analyzed by using intensity-modulated radiation therapy(IMRT) to irradiate several tumor shapes with a calculated dose and several tumor acquiring images with CBCT in order to verify the possibility of reading a dose on the polymer gel dosimeter by means of the CBCT image. The results were compared with those obtained using magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) and CT. The linear correlation coefficients at doses less than 10 Gy for the polymer gel dosimeter were 0.967, 0.933 and 0.985 for MRI, CT and CBCT, respectively. The dose profile was symmetric on the basis of the vertical axis in a circular shape, and the uniformity was 2.50% for the MRI and 8.73% for both the CT and the CBCT. In addition, the gradient in the MR image of the gel dosimeter irradiated in an H shape was 109.88 while the gradients of the CT and the CBCT were 71.95 and 14.62, respectively. Based on better image quality, the present study showed that CBCT dosimetry for IMRT could be restrictively performed using a normoxic polymethacrylic-acid gel dosimeter.

  7. Technical basis for external dosimetry at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bradley, E.W.; Wu, C.F.; Goff, T.E.

    1993-12-31

    The WIPP External Dosimetry Program, administered by Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Waste Isolation Division, for the US Department of Energy (DOE), provides external dosimetry support services for operations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Site. These operations include the receipt, experimentation with, storage, and disposal of transuranic (TRU) wastes. This document describes the technical basis for the WIPP External Radiation Dosimetry Program. The purposes of this document are to: (1) provide assurance that the WIPP External Radiation Dosimetry Program is in compliance with all regulatory requirements, (2) provide assurance that the WIPP External Radiation Dosimetry Program is derived from amore » sound technical base, (3) serve as a technical reference for radiation protection personnel, and (4) aid in identifying and planning for future needs. The external radiation exposure fields are those that are documented in the WIPP Final Safety Analysis Report.« less

  8. Ionization chamber dosimetry of small photon fields: a Monte Carlo study on stopping-power ratios for radiosurgery and IMRT beams.

    PubMed

    Sánchez-Doblado, F; Andreo, P; Capote, R; Leal, A; Perucha, M; Arráns, R; Núñez, L; Mainegra, E; Lagares, J I; Carrasco, E

    2003-07-21

    Absolute dosimetry with ionization chambers of the narrow photon fields used in stereotactic techniques and IMRT beamlets is constrained by lack of electron equilibrium in the radiation field. It is questionable that stopping-power ratio in dosimetry protocols, obtained for broad photon beams and quasi-electron equilibrium conditions, can be used in the dosimetry of narrow fields while keeping the uncertainty at the same level as for the broad beams used in accelerator calibrations. Monte Carlo simulations have been performed for two 6 MV clinical accelerators (Elekta SL-18 and Siemens Mevatron Primus), equipped with radiosurgery applicators and MLC. Narrow circular and Z-shaped on-axis and off-axis fields, as well as broad IMRT configured beams, have been simulated together with reference 10 x 10 cm2 beams. Phase-space data have been used to generate 3D dose distributions which have been compared satisfactorily with experimental profiles (ion chamber, diodes and film). Photon and electron spectra at various depths in water have been calculated, followed by Spencer-Attix (delta = 10 keV) stopping-power ratio calculations which have been compared to those used in the IAEA TRS-398 code of practice. For water/air and PMMA/air stopping-power ratios, agreements within 0.1% have been obtained for the 10 x 10 cm2 fields. For radiosurgery applicators and narrow MLC beams, the calculated s(w,air) values agree with the reference within +/-0.3%, well within the estimated standard uncertainty of the reference stopping-power ratios (0.5%). Ionization chamber dosimetry of narrow beams at the photon qualities used in this work (6 MV) can therefore be based on stopping-power ratios data in dosimetry protocols. For a modulated 6 MV broad beam used in clinical IMRT, s(w,air) agrees within 0.1% with the value for 10 x 10 cm2, confirming that at low energies IMRT absolute dosimetry can also be based on data for open reference fields. At higher energies (24 MV) the difference in s

  9. Advances in Inhalation Dosimetry Models and Methods for Occupational Risk Assessment and Exposure Limit Derivation

    PubMed Central

    Kuempel, Eileen D.; Sweeney, Lisa M.; Morris, John B.; Jarabek, Annie M.

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this article is to provide an overview and practical guide to occupational health professionals concerning the derivation and use of dose estimates in risk assessment for development of occupational exposure limits (OELs) for inhaled substances. Dosimetry is the study and practice of measuring or estimating the internal dose of a substance in individuals or a population. Dosimetry thus provides an essential link to understanding the relationship between an external exposure and a biological response. Use of dosimetry principles and tools can improve the accuracy of risk assessment, and reduce the uncertainty, by providing reliable estimates of the internal dose at the target tissue. This is accomplished through specific measurement data or predictive models, when available, or the use of basic dosimetry principles for broad classes of materials. Accurate dose estimation is essential not only for dose-response assessment, but also for interspecies extrapolation and for risk characterization at given exposures. Inhalation dosimetry is the focus of this paper since it is a major route of exposure in the workplace. Practical examples of dose estimation and OEL derivation are provided for inhaled gases and particulates. PMID:26551218

  10. Two-dimensional dosimetry of radiotherapeutical proton beams using thermoluminescence foils.

    PubMed

    Czopyk, L; Klosowski, M; Olko, P; Swakon, J; Waligorski, M P R; Kajdrowicz, T; Cuttone, G; Cirrone, G A P; Di Rosa, F

    2007-01-01

    In modern radiation therapy such as intensity modulated radiation therapy or proton therapy, one is able to cover the target volume with improved dose conformation and to spare surrounding tissue with help of modern measurement techniques. Novel thermoluminescence dosimetry (TLD) foils, developed from the hot-pressed mixture of LiF:Mg,Cu,P (MCP TL) powder and ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) copolymer, have been applied for 2-D dosimetry of radiotherapeutical proton beams at INFN Catania and IFJ Krakow. A TLD reader with 70 mm heating plate and CCD camera was used to read the 2-D emission pattern of irradiated foils. The absorbed dose profiles were evaluated, taking into account correction factors specific for TLD such as dose and energy response. TLD foils were applied for measuring of dose distributions within an eye phantom and compared with predictions obtained from the MCNPX code and Eclipse Ocular Proton Planning (Varian Medical Systems) clinical radiotherapy planning system. We demonstrate the possibility of measuring 2-D dose distributions with point resolution of about 0.5 x 0.5 mm(2).

  11. [Automatic Extraction and Analysis of Dosimetry Data in Radiotherapy Plans].

    PubMed

    Song, Wei; Zhao, Di; Lu, Hong; Zhang, Biyun; Ma, Jun; Yu, Dahai

    To improve the efficiency and accuracy of extraction and analysis of dosimetry data in radiotherapy plans for a batch of patients. With the interface function provided in Matlab platform, a program was written to extract the dosimetry data exported from treatment planning system in DICOM RT format and exported the dose-volume data to an Excel file with the SPSS compatible format. This method was compared with manual operation for 14 gastric carcinoma patients to validate the efficiency and accuracy. The output Excel data were compatible with SPSS in format, the dosimetry data error for PTV dose interval of 90%-98%, PTV dose interval of 99%-106% and all OARs were -3.48E-5 ± 3.01E-5, -1.11E-3 ± 7.68E-4, -7.85E-5 ± 9.91E-5 respectively. Compared with manual operation, the time required was reduced from 5.3 h to 0.19 h and input error was reduced from 0.002 to 0. The automatic extraction of dosimetry data in DICOM RT format for batch patients, the SPSS compatible data exportation, quick analysis were achieved in this paper. The efficiency of clinical researches based on dosimetry data analysis of large number of patients will be improved with this methods.

  12. Guidelines on the implementation of diode in vivo dosimetry programs for photon and electron external beam therapy.

    PubMed

    Alecu, R; Loomis, T; Alecu, J; Ochran, T

    1999-01-01

    Semiconductor diodes offer many advantages for clinical dosimetry: high sensitivity, real-time readout, simple instrumentation, robustness and air pressure independence. The feasibility and usefulness of in vivo dosimetry with diodes has been shown by numerous publications, but very few, if any, refer to the utilization of diodes in electron beam dosimetry. The purpose of this paper is to present our methods for implementing an effective IVD program for external beam therapy with photons and electrons and to evaluate a new type of diodes. Methods of deciding on reasonable action levels along with calibration procedures, established according to the type of measurements intended to be performed and the action limits, are discussed. Correction factors to account for nonreference clinical conditions for new types of diodes (designed for photon and electron beams) are presented and compared with those required by older models commercially available. The possibilities and limitations of each type of diode are presented, emphasizing the importance of using the appropriate diode for each task and energy range.

  13. TOPICAL REVIEW: A review of dosimetry studies on external-beam radiation treatment with respect to second cancer induction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xu, X. George; Bednarz, Bryan; Paganetti, Harald

    2008-07-01

    It has been long known that patients treated with ionizing radiation carry a risk of developing a second cancer in their lifetimes. Factors contributing to the recently renewed concern about the second cancer include improved cancer survival rate, younger patient population as well as emerging treatment modalities such as intensity-modulated radiation treatment (IMRT) and proton therapy that can potentially elevate secondary exposures to healthy tissues distant from the target volume. In the past 30 years, external-beam treatment technologies have evolved significantly, and a large amount of data exist but appear to be difficult to comprehend and compare. This review article aims to provide readers with an understanding of the principles and methods related to scattered doses in radiation therapy by summarizing a large collection of dosimetry and clinical studies. Basic concepts and terminology are introduced at the beginning. That is followed by a comprehensive review of dosimetry studies for external-beam treatment modalities including classical radiation therapy, 3D-conformal x-ray therapy, intensity-modulated x-ray therapy (IMRT and tomotherapy) and proton therapy. Selected clinical data on second cancer induction among radiotherapy patients are also covered. Problems in past studies and controversial issues are discussed. The needs for future studies are presented at the end.

  14. Criticality accident dosimetry with ESR spectroscopy.

    PubMed

    d'Errico, F; Fattibene, P; Onori, S; Pantaloni, M

    1996-01-01

    The suitability of the ESR alanine and sugar detectors for criticality accident dosimetry was experimentally investigated during an intercomparison of dosimetry techniques. Tests were performed irradiating detectors both free-in-air and on-phantom during controlled critcality excursions at the SILENE reactor in Valduc, France. Several grays of absorbed dose were imparted in neutron gamma-ray fields of various relative intensities and spectral distributions. Analysed results confirmed the potential of these systems which can immediately provide an acute dose assessment with an average underestimate of 30%in the various fields. This performance allows for the screening of severely exposed individuals and meets the IAEA recommendations on the early estimate of accident absorbed doses.

  15. Clinical implementation and rapid commissioning of an EPID based in-vivo dosimetry system.

    PubMed

    Hanson, Ian M; Hansen, Vibeke N; Olaciregui-Ruiz, Igor; van Herk, Marcel

    2014-10-07

    Using an Electronic Portal Imaging Device (EPID) to perform in-vivo dosimetry is one of the most effective and efficient methods of verifying the safe delivery of complex radiotherapy treatments. Previous work has detailed the development of an EPID based in-vivo dosimetry system that was subsequently used to replace pre-treatment dose verification of IMRT and VMAT plans. Here we show that this system can be readily implemented on a commercial megavoltage imaging platform without modification to EPID hardware and without impacting standard imaging procedures. The accuracy and practicality of the EPID in-vivo dosimetry system was confirmed through a comparison with traditional TLD in-vivo measurements performed on five prostate patients.The commissioning time required for the EPID in-vivo dosimetry system was initially prohibitive at approximately 10 h per linac. Here we present a method of calculating linac specific EPID dosimetry correction factors that allow a single energy specific commissioning model to be applied to EPID data from multiple linacs. Using this method reduced the required per linac commissioning time to approximately 30 min.The validity of this commissioning method has been tested by analysing in-vivo dosimetry results of 1220 patients acquired on seven linacs over a period of 5 years. The average deviation between EPID based isocentre dose and expected isocentre dose for these patients was (-0.7  ±  3.2)%.EPID based in-vivo dosimetry is now the primary in-vivo dosimetry tool used at our centre and has replaced nearly all pre-treatment dose verification of IMRT treatments.

  16. Clinical implementation and rapid commissioning of an EPID based in-vivo dosimetry system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hanson, Ian M.; Hansen, Vibeke N.; Olaciregui-Ruiz, Igor; van Herk, Marcel

    2014-10-01

    Using an Electronic Portal Imaging Device (EPID) to perform in-vivo dosimetry is one of the most effective and efficient methods of verifying the safe delivery of complex radiotherapy treatments. Previous work has detailed the development of an EPID based in-vivo dosimetry system that was subsequently used to replace pre-treatment dose verification of IMRT and VMAT plans. Here we show that this system can be readily implemented on a commercial megavoltage imaging platform without modification to EPID hardware and without impacting standard imaging procedures. The accuracy and practicality of the EPID in-vivo dosimetry system was confirmed through a comparison with traditional TLD in-vivo measurements performed on five prostate patients. The commissioning time required for the EPID in-vivo dosimetry system was initially prohibitive at approximately 10 h per linac. Here we present a method of calculating linac specific EPID dosimetry correction factors that allow a single energy specific commissioning model to be applied to EPID data from multiple linacs. Using this method reduced the required per linac commissioning time to approximately 30 min. The validity of this commissioning method has been tested by analysing in-vivo dosimetry results of 1220 patients acquired on seven linacs over a period of 5 years. The average deviation between EPID based isocentre dose and expected isocentre dose for these patients was (-0.7  ±  3.2)%. EPID based in-vivo dosimetry is now the primary in-vivo dosimetry tool used at our centre and has replaced nearly all pre-treatment dose verification of IMRT treatments.

  17. Dosimetry for audit and clinical trials: challenges and requirements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kron, T.; Haworth, A.; Williams, I.

    2013-06-01

    Many important dosimetry audit networks for radiotherapy have their roots in clinical trial quality assurance (QA). In both scenarios it is essential to test two issues: does the treatment plan conform with the clinical requirements and is the plan a reasonable representation of what is actually delivered to a patient throughout their course of treatment. Part of a sound quality program would be an external audit of these issues with verification of the equivalence of plan and treatment typically referred to as a dosimetry audit. The increasing complexity of radiotherapy planning and delivery makes audits challenging. While verification of absolute dose delivered at a reference point was the standard of external dosimetry audits two decades ago this is often deemed inadequate for verification of treatment approaches such as Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) and Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT). As such, most dosimetry audit networks have successfully introduced more complex tests of dose delivery using anthropomorphic phantoms that can be imaged, planned and treated as a patient would. The new challenge is to adapt this approach to ever more diversified radiotherapy procedures with image guided/adaptive radiotherapy, motion management and brachytherapy being the focus of current research.

  18. Fast protocol for radiochromic film dosimetry using a cloud computing web application.

    PubMed

    Calvo-Ortega, Juan-Francisco; Pozo, Miquel; Moragues, Sandra; Casals, Joan

    2017-07-01

    To investigate the feasibility of a fast protocol for radiochromic film dosimetry to verify intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) plans. EBT3 film dosimetry was conducted in this study using the triple-channel method implemented in the cloud computing application (Radiochromic.com). We described a fast protocol for radiochromic film dosimetry to obtain measurement results within 1h. Ten IMRT plans were delivered to evaluate the feasibility of the fast protocol. The dose distribution of the verification film was derived at 15, 30, 45min using the fast protocol and also at 24h after completing the irradiation. The four dose maps obtained per plan were compared using global and local gamma index (5%/3mm) with the calculated one by the treatment planning system. Gamma passing rates obtained for 15, 30 and 45min post-exposure were compared with those obtained after 24h. Small differences respect to the 24h protocol were found in the gamma passing rates obtained for films digitized at 15min (global: 99.6%±0.9% vs. 99.7%±0.5%; local: 96.3%±3.4% vs. 96.3%±3.8%), at 30min (global: 99.5%±0.9% vs. 99.7%±0.5%; local: 96.5%±3.2% vs. 96.3±3.8%) and at 45min (global: 99.2%±1.5% vs. 99.7%±0.5%; local: 96.1%±3.8% vs. 96.3±3.8%). The fast protocol permits dosimetric results within 1h when IMRT plans are verified, with similar results as those reported by the standard 24h protocol. Copyright © 2017 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Optimized Varian aSi portal dosimetry: development of datasets for collective use.

    PubMed

    Van Esch, Ann; Huyskens, Dominique P; Hirschi, Lukas; Baltes, Christof

    2013-11-04

    Although much literature has been devoted to portal dosimetry with the Varian amorphous silicon (aSi) portal imager, the majority of the described methods are not routinely adopted because implementation procedures are cumbersome and not within easy reach of most radiotherapy centers. To make improved portal dosimetry solutions more generally available, we have investigated the possibility of converting optimized configurations into ready-to-use standardized datasets. Firstly, for all commonly used photon energies (6, 10, 15, 18, and 20 MV), basic beam data acquired on 20 aSi panels were used to assess the interpanel reproducibility. Secondly, a standardized portal dose image prediction (PDIP) algorithm configuration was created for every energy, using a three-step process to optimize the aSi dose response function and profile correction files for the dosimetric calibration of the imager panel. An approximate correction of the backscatter of the Exact arm was also incorporated. Thirdly, a set of validation fields was assembled to assess the accuracy of the standardized configuration. Variations in the basic beam data measured on different aSi panels very rarely exceeded 2% (2 mm) and are of the same order of magnitude as variations between different Clinacs when measuring in reference conditions in water. All studied aSi panels can hence be regarded as nearly identical. Standardized datasets were successfully created and implemented. The test package proved useful in highlighting possible problems and illustrating remaining limitations, but also in demonstrating the good overall results (95% pass rate for 3%,3 mm) that can be obtained. The dosimetric behavior of all tested aSi panels was found to be nearly identical for all tested energies. The approach of using standardized datasets was then successfully tested through the creation and evaluation of PDIP preconfigured datasets that can be used within the Varian portal dosimetry solution.

  20. Dosimetric characterization of two radium sources for retrospective dosimetry studies

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Candela-Juan, C., E-mail: ccanjuan@gmail.com; Karlsson, M.; Lundell, M.

    2015-05-15

    Purpose: During the first part of the 20th century, {sup 226}Ra was the most used radionuclide for brachytherapy. Retrospective accurate dosimetry, coupled with patient follow up, is important for advancing knowledge on long-term radiation effects. The purpose of this work was to dosimetrically characterize two {sup 226}Ra sources, commonly used in Sweden during the first half of the 20th century, for retrospective dose–effect studies. Methods: An 8 mg {sup 226}Ra tube and a 10 mg {sup 226}Ra needle, used at Radiumhemmet (Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden), from 1925 to the 1960s, were modeled in two independent Monte Carlo (MC) radiationmore » transport codes: GEANT4 and MCNP5. Absorbed dose and collision kerma around the two sources were obtained, from which the TG-43 parameters were derived for the secular equilibrium state. Furthermore, results from this dosimetric formalism were compared with results from a MC simulation with a superficial mould constituted by five needles inside a glass casing, placed over a water phantom, trying to mimic a typical clinical setup. Calculated absorbed doses using the TG-43 formalism were also compared with previously reported measurements and calculations based on the Sievert integral. Finally, the dose rate at large distances from a {sup 226}Ra point-like-source placed in the center of 1 m radius water sphere was calculated with GEANT4. Results: TG-43 parameters [including g{sub L}(r), F(r, θ), Λ, and s{sub K}] have been uploaded in spreadsheets as additional material, and the fitting parameters of a mathematical curve that provides the dose rate between 10 and 60 cm from the source have been provided. Results from TG-43 formalism are consistent within the treatment volume with those of a MC simulation of a typical clinical scenario. Comparisons with reported measurements made with thermoluminescent dosimeters show differences up to 13% along the transverse axis of the radium needle. It has been

  1. Personal exposure to mobile phone frequencies and well-being in adults: a cross-sectional study based on dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Thomas, Silke; Kühnlein, Anja; Heinrich, Sabine; Praml, Georg; Nowak, Dennis; von Kries, Rüdiger; Radon, Katja

    2008-09-01

    The use of mobile phone telecommunication has increased in recent years. In parallel, there is growing concern about possible adverse health effects of cellular phone networks. We used personal dosimetry to investigate the association between exposure to mobile phone frequencies and well-being in adults. A random population-based sample of 329 adults living in four different Bavarian towns was assembled for the study. Using a dosimeter (ESM-140 Maschek Electronics), we obtained an exposure profile over 24 h for three mobile phone frequency ranges (measurement interval 1 s, limit of determination 0.05 V/m). Exposure levels over waking hours were totalled and expressed as mean percentage of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) reference level. Each participant reported acute symptoms in a day-long diary. Data on five groups of chronic symptoms and potential confounders were assessed during an interview. The overall exposure to high-frequency electromagnetic fields was markedly below the ICNIRP reference level. We did not find any statistically significant association between the exposure and chronic symptoms or between the exposure and acute symptoms. Larger studies using mobile phone dosimetry are warranted to confirm these findings. Copyright 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  2. Macroscopic to Microscopic Scales of Particulate Dosimetry: From Source to Fate in the Body

    EPA Science Inventory

    Additional perspective with regards to particle dosimetry is achieved by exploring dosimetry across a range of scales from macroscopic to microscopic in scope. Typically, one thinks of dosimetry as what happens when a particle is inhaled, where it is deposited, and how it is clea...

  3. Optical dosimetry of radiotherapy beams using Cherenkov radiation: the relationship between light emission and dose.

    PubMed

    Glaser, Adam K; Zhang, Rongxiao; Gladstone, David J; Pogue, Brian W

    2014-07-21

    Recent studies have proposed that light emitted by the Cherenkov effect may be used for a number of radiation therapy dosimetry applications. There is a correlation between the captured light and expected dose under certain conditions, yet discrepancies have also been observed and a complete examination of the theoretical differences has not been done. In this study, a fundamental comparison between the Cherenkov emission and absorbed dose was explored for x-ray photons, electrons, and protons using both a theoretical and Monte Carlo-based analysis. Based on the findings of where dose correlates with Cherenkov emission, it was concluded that for x-ray photons the light emission would be optimally suited for narrow beam stereotactic radiation therapy and surgery validation studies, for verification of dynamic intensity-modulated and volumetric modulated arc therapy treatment plans in water tanks, near monoenergetic sources (e.g., Co-60 and brachy therapy sources) and also for entrance and exit surface imaging dosimetry of both narrow and broad beams. For electron use, Cherenkov emission was found to be only suitable for surface dosimetry applications. Finally, for proton dosimetry, there exists a fundamental lack of Cherenkov emission at the Bragg peak, making the technique of little use, although post-irradiation detection of light emission from radioisotopes could prove to be useful.

  4. A parameterization method and application in breast tomosynthesis dosimetry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Li, Xinhua; Zhang, Da; Liu, Bob

    2013-09-15

    Purpose: To present a parameterization method based on singular value decomposition (SVD), and to provide analytical parameterization of the mean glandular dose (MGD) conversion factors from eight references for evaluating breast tomosynthesis dose in the Mammography Quality Standards Act (MQSA) protocol and in the UK, European, and IAEA dosimetry protocols.Methods: MGD conversion factor is usually listed in lookup tables for the factors such as beam quality, breast thickness, breast glandularity, and projection angle. The authors analyzed multiple sets of MGD conversion factors from the Hologic Selenia Dimensions quality control manual and seven previous papers. Each data set was parameterized usingmore » a one- to three-dimensional polynomial function of 2–16 terms. Variable substitution was used to improve accuracy. A least-squares fit was conducted using the SVD.Results: The differences between the originally tabulated MGD conversion factors and the results computed using the parameterization algorithms were (a) 0.08%–0.18% on average and 1.31% maximum for the Selenia Dimensions quality control manual, (b) 0.09%–0.66% on average and 2.97% maximum for the published data by Dance et al. [Phys. Med. Biol. 35, 1211–1219 (1990); ibid. 45, 3225–3240 (2000); ibid. 54, 4361–4372 (2009); ibid. 56, 453–471 (2011)], (c) 0.74%–0.99% on average and 3.94% maximum for the published data by Sechopoulos et al. [Med. Phys. 34, 221–232 (2007); J. Appl. Clin. Med. Phys. 9, 161–171 (2008)], and (d) 0.66%–1.33% on average and 2.72% maximum for the published data by Feng and Sechopoulos [Radiology 263, 35–42 (2012)], excluding one sample in (d) that does not follow the trends in the published data table.Conclusions: A flexible parameterization method is presented in this paper, and was applied to breast tomosynthesis dosimetry. The resultant data offer easy and accurate computations of MGD conversion factors for evaluating mean glandular breast dose in the

  5. Innovation and the future of advanced dosimetry: 2D to 5D

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Oldham, Mark

    2017-05-01

    Recent years have witnessed a remarkable evolution in the techniques, capabilities and applications of 3D dosimetry. Initially the goal was simple: to innovate new techniques capable of comprehensively measuring and verifying exquisitely intricate dose distributions from a paradigm changing emerging new therapy, IMRT. Basic questions emerged: how well were treatment planning systems modelling the complex delivery, and how could treatments be verified for safe use on patients? Since that time, equally significant leaps of innovation have continued in the technology of treatment delivery. In addition, clinical practice has been transformed by the addition of on-board imaging capabilities, which tend to hypo-fractionation strategies and margin reduction. The net result is a high stakes treatment setting where the clinical morbidity of any unintended treatment deviation is exacerbated by the combination of highly conformal dose distributions given with reduced margins with fractionation regimens unfriendly to healthy tissue. Not surprisingly this scenario is replete with challenges and opportunities for new and improved dosimetry systems. In particular tremendous interest exists in comprehensive 3D dosimetry systems, and systems that can resolve the dose in moving structures (4D) and even in deforming structures (5D). Despite significant progress in the capability of multi-dimensional dosimetry systems, it is striking that true 3D dosimetry systems are today largely found in academic institutions or specialist clinics. The reasons will be explored. We will highlight innovations occurring both in treatment delivery and in advanced dosimetry methods designed to verify them, and explore current and future opportunities for advanced dosimetry tools in clinical practice and translational research.

  6. MO-B-BRB-02: 3D Dosimetry in the Clinic: IMRT Technique Validation in Sweden

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ceberg, S.

    Full three-dimensional (3D) dosimetry using volumetric chemical dosimeters probed by 3D imaging systems has long been a promising technique for the radiation therapy clinic, since it provides a unique methodology for dose measurements in the volume irradiated using complex conformal delivery techniques such as IMRT and VMAT. To date true 3D dosimetry is still not widely practiced in the community; it has been confined to centres of specialized expertise especially for quality assurance or commissioning roles where other dosimetry techniques are difficult to implement. The potential for improved clinical applicability has been advanced considerably in the last decade by themore » development of improved 3D dosimeters (e.g., radiochromic plastics, radiochromic gel dosimeters and normoxic polymer gel systems) and by improved readout protocols using optical computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. In this session, established users of some current 3D chemical dosimeters will briefly review the current status of 3D dosimetry, describe several dosimeters and their appropriate imaging for dose readout, present workflow procedures required for good dosimetry, and analyze some limitations for applications in select settings. We will review the application of 3D dosimetry to various clinical situations describing how 3D approaches can complement other dose delivery validation approaches already available in the clinic. The applications presented will be selected to inform attendees of the unique features provided by full 3D techniques. Learning Objectives: L. John Schreiner: Background and Motivation Understand recent developments enabling clinically practical 3D dosimetry, Appreciate 3D dosimetry workflow and dosimetry procedures, and Observe select examples from the clinic. Sofie Ceberg: Application to dynamic radiotherapy Observe full dosimetry under dynamic radiotherapy during respiratory motion, and Understand how the measurement of high resolution dose data

  7. Evaluation of The Combined Effects of Hyperthermia, Cobalt-60 Gamma Rays and IUdR on Cultured Glioblastoma Spheroid Cells and Dosimetry Using TLD-100

    PubMed Central

    Neshasteh-Riz, Ali; Rahdani, Rozhin; Mostaar, Ahmad

    2014-01-01

    Objective In radiation treatment, the irradiation which is effective enough to control the tumors far exceeds normal-tissues tolerance. Thus to avoid such unfavourable outcomes, some methods sensitizing the tumor cells to radiation are used. Iododeoxyuridine (IUdR) is a halogenated thymidine analogue that known to be effective as a radiosensitizer in human cancer therapy. Improving the potential efficacy of radiation therapy after combining to hyperthermia depends on the magnitude of the differential sensitization of the hyperthermic effects or on the differential cytotoxicity of the radiation effects on the tumor cells. In this study, we evaluated the combined effects of IUdR, hyperthermia and gamma rays of 60Co on human glioblastoma spheroids culture. Materials and Methods In this experimental study,the cultured spheroids with 100µm diameter were treated by 1 µM IUdR, 43°C hyperthermia for an hour and 2 Gy gamma rays, respectively. The DNA damages induced in cells were compared using alkaline comet assay method, and dosimetry was then performed by TLD-100. Comet scores were calculated as mean ± standard error of mean (SEM) using one-way ANOVA. Results Comparison of DNA damages induced by IUdR and hyperthermia + gamma treatment showed 2.67- and 1.92-fold enhancement, respectively, as compared to the damages induced by radiation alone or radiation combined IUdR. Dosimetry results showed the accurate dose delivered to cells. Conclusion Analysis of the comet tail moments of spheroids showed that the radiation treatments combined with hyperthermia and IUdR caused significant radiosensitization when compared to related results of irradiation alone or of irradiation with IUdR. These results suggest a potential clinical advantage of combining radiation with hyperthermia and indicate effectiveness of hyperthermia treatment in inducing cytotoxicity of tumor cells. PMID:24611138

  8. An international dosimetry exchange for BNCT part II: computational dosimetry normalizations.

    PubMed

    Riley, K J; Binns, P J; Harling, O K; Albritton, J R; Kiger, W S; Rezaei, A; Sköld, K; Seppälä, T; Savolainen, S; Auterinen, I; Marek, M; Viererbl, L; Nievaart, V A; Moss, R L

    2008-12-01

    The meaningful sharing and combining of clinical results from different centers in the world performing boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) requires improved precision in dose specification between programs. To this end absorbed dose normalizations were performed for the European clinical centers at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, Petten (The Netherlands), Nuclear Research Institute, Rez (Czech Republic), VTT, Espoo (Finland), and Studsvik, Nyköping (Sweden). Each European group prepared a treatment plan calculation that was bench-marked against Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) dosimetry performed in a large, water-filled phantom to uniformly evaluate dose specifications with an estimated precision of +/-2%-3%. These normalizations were compared with those derived from an earlier exchange between Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and MIT in the USA. Neglecting the uncertainties related to biological weighting factors, large variations between calculated and measured dose are apparent that depend upon the 10B uptake in tissue. Assuming a boron concentration of 15 microg g(-1) in normal tissue, differences in the evaluated maximum dose to brain for the same nominal specification of 10 Gy(w) at the different facilities range between 7.6 and 13.2 Gy(w) in the trials using boronophenylalanine (BPA) as the boron delivery compound and between 8.9 and 11.1 Gy(w) in the two boron sulfhydryl (BSH) studies. Most notably, the value for the same specified dose of 10 Gy(w) determined at the different participating centers using BPA is significantly higher than at BNL by 32% (MIT), 43% (VTT), 49% (JRC), and 74% (Studsvik). Conversion of dose specification is now possible between all active participants and should be incorporated into future multi-center patient analyses.

  9. Hanford Internal Dosimetry Program Manual, PNL-MA-552

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Carbaugh, Eugene H.; Bihl, Donald E.; Maclellan, Jay A.

    2003-10-10

    This manual is a guide to the services provided by the Hanford Internal Dosimetry Program (IDP). It describes the roles of and relationships between the IDP and site contractors, and provides recommendations and guidance for consideration in implementing bioassay monitoring and internal dosimetry elements of radiation protection programs. Guidance includes identifying conditions under which workers should be placed on bioassay programs, types, descritptions, and capabilities of measurements, suggested routine bioassay programs, limitations on services, and practices for recording and reporting results.

  10. Test study of boron nitride as a new detector material for dosimetry in high-energy photon beams

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Poppinga, D.; Halbur, J.; Lemmer, S.; Delfs, B.; Harder, D.; Looe, H. K.; Poppe, B.

    2017-09-01

    The aim of this test study is to check whether boron nitride (BN) might be applied as a detector material in high-energy photon-beam dosimetry. Boron nitride exists in various crystalline forms. Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) possesses high mobility of the electrons and holes as well as a high volume resistivity, so that ionizing radiation in the clinical range of the dose rate can be expected to produce a measurable electrical current at low background current. Due to the low atomic numbers of its constituents, its density (2.0 g cm-3) similar to silicon and its commercial availability, h-BN appears as possibly suitable for the dosimetry of ionizing radiation. Five h-BN plates were contacted to triaxial cables, and the detector current was measured in a solid-state ionization chamber circuit at an applied voltage of 50 V. Basic dosimetric properties such as formation by pre-irradiation, sensitivity, reproducibility, linearity and temporal resolution were measured with 6 MV photon irradiation. Depth dose curves at quadratic field sizes of 10 cm and 40 cm were measured and compared to ionization chamber measurements. After a pre-irradiation with 6 Gy, the devices show a stable current signal at a given dose rate. The current-voltage characteristic up to 400 V shows an increase in the collection efficiency with the voltage. The time-resolved detector current behavior during beam interrupts is comparable to diamond material, and the background current is negligible. The measured percentage depth dose curves at 10 cm  ×  10 cm field size agreed with the results of ionization chamber measurements within  ±2%. This is a first study of boron nitride as a detector material for high-energy photon radiation. By current measurements on solid ionization chambers made from boron nitride chips we could demonstrate that boron nitride is in principle suitable as a detector material for high-energy photon-beam dosimetry.

  11. Test study of boron nitride as a new detector material for dosimetry in high-energy photon beams.

    PubMed

    Poppinga, D; Halbur, J; Lemmer, S; Delfs, B; Harder, D; Looe, H K; Poppe, B

    2017-09-05

    The aim of this test study is to check whether boron nitride (BN) might be applied as a detector material in high-energy photon-beam dosimetry. Boron nitride exists in various crystalline forms. Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) possesses high mobility of the electrons and holes as well as a high volume resistivity, so that ionizing radiation in the clinical range of the dose rate can be expected to produce a measurable electrical current at low background current. Due to the low atomic numbers of its constituents, its density (2.0 g cm -3 ) similar to silicon and its commercial availability, h-BN appears as possibly suitable for the dosimetry of ionizing radiation. Five h-BN plates were contacted to triaxial cables, and the detector current was measured in a solid-state ionization chamber circuit at an applied voltage of 50 V. Basic dosimetric properties such as formation by pre-irradiation, sensitivity, reproducibility, linearity and temporal resolution were measured with 6 MV photon irradiation. Depth dose curves at quadratic field sizes of 10 cm and 40 cm were measured and compared to ionization chamber measurements. After a pre-irradiation with 6 Gy, the devices show a stable current signal at a given dose rate. The current-voltage characteristic up to 400 V shows an increase in the collection efficiency with the voltage. The time-resolved detector current behavior during beam interrupts is comparable to diamond material, and the background current is negligible. The measured percentage depth dose curves at 10 cm  ×  10 cm field size agreed with the results of ionization chamber measurements within  ±2%. This is a first study of boron nitride as a detector material for high-energy photon radiation. By current measurements on solid ionization chambers made from boron nitride chips we could demonstrate that boron nitride is in principle suitable as a detector material for high-energy photon-beam dosimetry.

  12. SU-F-T-554: Dark Current Effect On CyberKnife Beam Dosimetry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kim, H; Chang, A

    Purpose: All RF linear accelerators produce dark current to varying degrees when an accelerating voltage and RF input is applied in the absence of electron gun injection. This study is to evaluate how dark current from the linear accelerator of CyberKnife affect the dose in the reference dosimetry. Methods: The G4 CyberKnife system with 6MV photon beam was used in this study. Using the ion chamber and the diode detector, the dose was measured in water with varying time delay between acquiring charges and staring beam-on after applying high-voltage into the linear accelerator. The dose was measured after the timemore » delay with over the range of 0 to 120 seconds in the accelerating high-voltage mode without beam-on, applying 0, 10, 50, 100, and 200 MUs. For the measurements, the collimator of 60 mm was used and the detectors were placed at the depths of 10 cm with the source-to-surface distance of 80 cm. Results: The dark current was constant over time regardless of MU. The dose due to the dark current increased over time linearly with the R-squared value of 0.9983 up to 4.4 cGy for the time 120 seconds. In the dose rate setting of 720 MU/min, the relative dose when applying the accelerating voltage without beam-on was increased over time up to 0.6% but it was less than the leakage radiation resulted from the accelerated head. As the reference dosimetry condition, when 100 MU was delivered after 10 seconds time delay, the relative dose increased by 0.7% but 6.7% for the low MU (10 MU). Conclusion: In the dosimetry using CyberKnife system, the constant dark current affected to the dose. Although the time delay in the accelerating high-voltage mode without beam-on is within 10 seconds, the dose less than 100 cGy can be overestimated more than 1%.« less

  13. [The use of polymer gel dosimetry to measure dose distribution around metallic implants].

    PubMed

    Nagahata, Tomomasa; Yamaguchi, Hajime; Monzen, Hajime; Nishimura, Yasumasa

    2014-10-01

    A semi-solid polymer dosimetry system using agar was developed to measure the dose distribution close to metallic implants. Dosimetry of heterogeneous fields where electron density markedly varies is often problematic. This prompted us to develop a polymer gel dosimetry technique using agar to measure the dose distribution near substance boundaries. Varying the concentration of an oxygen scavenger (tetra-hydroxymethyl phosphonium chloride) showed the absorbed dose and transverse relaxation rate of the magnetic resonance signal to be linear between 3 and 12 Gy. Although a change in the dosimeter due to oxidization was observed in room air after 24 hours, no such effects were observed in the first 4 hours. The dose distribution around the metal implants was measured using agar dosimetry. The metals tested were a lead rod, a titanium hip joint, and a metallic stent. A maximum 30% dose increase was observed near the lead rod, but only a 3% increase in the absorbed dose was noted near the surface of the titanium hip joint and metallic stent. Semi-solid polymer dosimetry using agar thus appears to be a useful method for dosimetry around metallic substances.

  14. Application for internal dosimetry using biokinetic distribution of photons based on nuclear medicine images.

    PubMed

    Leal Neto, Viriato; Vieira, José Wilson; Lima, Fernando Roberto de Andrade

    2014-01-01

    This article presents a way to obtain estimates of dose in patients submitted to radiotherapy with basis on the analysis of regions of interest on nuclear medicine images. A software called DoRadIo (Dosimetria das Radiações Ionizantes [Ionizing Radiation Dosimetry]) was developed to receive information about source organs and target organs, generating graphical and numerical results. The nuclear medicine images utilized in the present study were obtained from catalogs provided by medical physicists. The simulations were performed with computational exposure models consisting of voxel phantoms coupled with the Monte Carlo EGSnrc code. The software was developed with the Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack and the project template Windows Presentation Foundation for C# programming language. With the mentioned tools, the authors obtained the file for optimization of Monte Carlo simulations using the EGSnrc; organization and compaction of dosimetry results with all radioactive sources; selection of regions of interest; evaluation of grayscale intensity in regions of interest; the file of weighted sources; and, finally, all the charts and numerical results. The user interface may be adapted for use in clinical nuclear medicine as a computer-aided tool to estimate the administered activity.

  15. Improved dosimetry techniques for intravascular brachytherapy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sehgal, Varun

    Coronary artery disease leads to the accumulation of atheromatous plaque leading to coronary stenosis. Coronary intervention techniques such as balloon angioplasty and atherectomy are used to address coronary stenosis and establish a stable lumen thus enhancing blood flow to the myocardium. Restenosis or re-blockage of the arteries is a major limitation of the above mentioned interventional techniques. Neointimal hyperplasia or proliferation of cells in response to the vascular injury as a result of coronary intervention is considered to be one of the major causes of restenosis. Recent studies indicated that irradiation of the coronary lesion site, with radiation doses ranging from 15 to 30 Gy, leads to diminishing neointimal hyperplasia with subsequent reduction in restenosis. The radiation dose is given by catheter-based radiation delivery systems using beta-emitters 90Sr/90Y, 32P and gamma-emitting 192Ir among others. However the dose schema used for dose prescription for these sources are relatively simplistic, and are based on calculations using uniform homogenous water or tissue media and simple cylinder geometry. Stenotic coronary vessels are invariably lined with atheromatous plaque of heterogeneous composition, the radiation dose distribution obtained from such dosimetry data can cause significant variations in the actual dose received by a given patient. Such discrepancies in dose calculation can introduce relatively large uncertainties in the limits of dose window for effective and safe application of intravascular brachytherapy, and consequently in the clinical evaluation of the efficacy of this modality. In this research study we investigated the effect of different geometrical and material heterogeneities, including residual plaque, catheter non-centering, lesion eccentricity and cardiac motion on the radiation dose delivered at the lesion site. Correction factors including dose perturbation factors and dose variation factors have been calculated

  16. How feasible is remote 3D dosimetry for MR guided Radiation Therapy (MRgRT)?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mein, S.; Rankine, L.; Miles, D.; Juang, T.; Cai, B.; Curcuru, A.; Mutic, S.; Fenoli, J.; Adamovics, J.; Li, H.; Oldham, M.

    2017-05-01

    To develop and apply a remote dosimetry protocol with PRESAGE® radiochromic plastic and optical-CT readout in the validation of MRI guided radiation therapy (MRgRT) treatments (MRIdian® by ViewRay®). Through multi-institutional collaboration we performed PRESAGE® dosimetry studies in 4ml cuvettes to investigate dose-response linearity, MR-compatibility, and energy-independence. An open calibration field and symmetrical 3-field plans were delivered to 10cm diameter PRESAGE® to examine percent depth dose and response uniformity under a magnetic field. Evidence of non-linear dose response led to a large volume PRESAGE® study where small corrections were developed for temporally- and spatially-dependent behaviors observed between irradiation and delayed readout. TG-119 plans were created in the MRIdian® TPS and then delivered to 14.5cm 2kg PRESAGE® dosimeters. Through the domestic investigation of an off-site MRgRT system, a refined 3D remote dosimetry protocol is presented capable of validation of advanced MRgRT radiation treatments.

  17. Hanford Internal Dosimetry Program Manual, PNL-MA-552

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Carbaugh, Eugene H.; Bihl, Donald E.; Maclellan, Jay A.

    2009-09-24

    This manual is a guide to the services provided by the Hanford Internal Dosimetry Program (IDP), which is operated by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.( ) for the U.S. Department of Energy Richland Operations Office, Office of River Protection and their Hanford Site contractors. The manual describes the roles of and relationships between the IDP and the radiation protection programs of the Hanford Site contractors. Recommendations and guidance are also provided for consideration in implementing bioassay monitoring and internal dosimetry elements of radiation protection programs.

  18. RADON PROGENY AS AN EXPERIMENTAL TOOL FOR DOSIMETRY OF NANOAEROSOLS

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ruzer, Lev; Ruzer, Lev S.; Apte, Michael G.

    2008-02-25

    The study of aerosol exposure and dosimetry measurements and related quantitation of health effects are important to the understanding of the consequences of air pollution, and are discussed widely in the scientific literature. During the last 10 years the need to correlate aerosol exposure and biological effects has become especially important due to rapid development of a new, revolutionary industry ?-- nanotechnology. Nanoproduct commerce is predicted to top $1 trillion by 2015. Quantitative assessment of aerosol particle behavior in air and in lung deposition, and dosimetry in different parts of the lung, particularly for nanoaerosols, remains poor despite several decadesmore » of study. Direct measurements on humans are still needed in order to validate the hollow cast, animal studies, and lung deposition modeling. We discuss here the use of nanoscale radon decay products as an experimental tool in the study of local deposition and lung dosimetry for nanoaerosols. The issue of the safe use of radon progeny in such measurements is discussed based on a comparison of measured exposure in 3 settings: general population, miners, and in a human experiment conducted at the Paul Scherer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland. One of the properties of radon progeny is that they consist partly of 1 nm radioactive particles called unattached activity; having extremely small size and high diffusion coefficients, these particles can be potentially useful as radioactive tracers in the study of nanometer-sized aerosols. We present a theoretical and experimental study of the correlation between the unattached activity and aerosol particle surface area, together with a description of its calibration and method for measurement of the unattached fraction.« less

  19. Experimental evaluation of x-ray acoustic computed tomography for radiotherapy dosimetry applications.

    PubMed

    Hickling, Susannah; Lei, Hao; Hobson, Maritza; Léger, Pierre; Wang, Xueding; El Naqa, Issam

    2017-02-01

    The aim of this work was to experimentally demonstrate the feasibility of x-ray acoustic computed tomography (XACT) as a dosimetry tool in a clinical radiotherapy environment. The acoustic waves induced following a single pulse of linear accelerator irradiation in a water tank were detected with an immersion ultrasound transducer. By rotating the collimator and keeping the transducer stationary, acoustic signals at varying angles surrounding the field were detected and reconstructed to form an XACT image. Simulated XACT images were obtained using a previously developed simulation workflow. Profiles extracted from experimental and simulated XACT images were compared to profiles measured with an ion chamber. A variety of radiation field sizes and shapes were investigated. XACT images resembling the geometry of the delivered radiation field were obtained for fields ranging from simple squares to more complex shapes. When comparing profiles extracted from simulated and experimental XACT images of a 4 cm × 4 cm field, 97% of points were found to pass a 3%/3 mm gamma test. Agreement between simulated and experimental XACT images worsened when comparing fields with fine details. Profiles extracted from experimental XACT images were compared to profiles obtained through clinical ion chamber measurements, confirming that the intensity of XACT images is related to deposited radiation dose. Seventy-seven percent of the points in a profile extracted from an experimental XACT image of a 4 cm × 4 cm field passed a 7%/4 mm gamma test when compared to an ion chamber measured profile. In a complicated puzzle-piece shaped field, 86% of the points in an XACT extracted profile passed a 7%/4 mm gamma test. XACT images with intensity related to the spatial distribution of deposited dose in a water tank were formed for a variety of field sizes and shapes. XACT has the potential to be a useful tool for absolute, relative and in vivo dosimetry. © 2016 American Association of

  20. TU-E-201-01: Methods for Eye Lens Dosimetry and Studies On Lens Opacities with Interventionists

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Rehani, M.

    Madan M. Rehani, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston Methods for Eye Lens Dosimetry and Studies On Lens Opacities with Interventionalists Radiation induced cataract is a major threat among staff working in interventional suites. Nearly 16 million interventional procedures are performed annually in USA. Recent studies by the principal investigator’s group, primarily among interventional cardiologists, on behalf of the International Atomic Energy Agency, show posterior subcapsular (PSC) changes in the eye lens in 38–53% of main operators and 21–45% of support staff. These changes have potential to lead to cataract in future years, as per information from A-Bombmore » survivors. The International Commission on Radiological Protection has reduced dose limit for staff by a factor of 7.5 (from 150 mSv/y to 20 mSv/y). With increasing emphasis on radiation induced cataracts and reduction in threshold dose for eye lens, there is a need to implement strategies for estimating eye lens dose. Unfortunately eye lens dosimetry is at infancy when it comes to routine application. Various approaches are being tried namely direct measurement using active or passive dosimeters kept close to eyes, retrospective estimations and lastly correlating patient dose in interventional procedures with staff eye dose. The talk will review all approaches available and ongoing active research in this area, as well as data from surveys done in Europe on status of eye dose monitoring in interventional radiology and nuclear medicine. The talk will provide update on how good is Hp(10) against Hp(3), estimations from CTDI values, Monte Carlo based simulations and current status of eye lens dosimetry in USA and Europe. The cataract risk among patients is in CT examinations of the head. Since radiation induced cataract predominantly occurs in posterior sub-capsular (PSC) region and is thus distinguishable from age or drug related cataracts and is also preventable

  1. Dosimetry analyses of the Ringhals 3 and 4 reactor pressure vessels

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kulesza, J.A.; Fero, A.H.; Rouden, J.

    2011-07-01

    A comprehensive series of neutron dosimetry measurements consisting of surveillance capsules, reactor pressure vessel cladding samples, and ex-vessel neutron dosimetry has been analyzed and compared to the results of three-dimensional, cycle-specific neutron transport calculations for the Ringhals Unit 3 and Unit 4 reactors in Sweden. The comparisons show excellent agreement between calculations and measurements. The measurements also demonstrate that it is possible to perform retrospective dosimetry measurements using the {sup 93}Nb (n,n') {sup 93m}Nb reaction on samples of 18-8 austenitic stainless steel with only trace amounts of elemental niobium. (authors)

  2. TH-A-204-00: Key Dosimetry Data - Impact of New ICRU Recommendations

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    NONE

    The ICRU is currently finalizing a report on key data for radiation dosimetry. This multi-year review has resulted in a number of recommendations regarding “fundamental” data that are used in dosimetry related to radiation therapy. This educational session will explain the background for the ICRU committee’s work, the content and conclusions of the report and the impact on outputs, including NIST primary standards, ADCL calibration coefficients and clinical reference dosimetry. Parameters and beam modalities potentially affected by this report include: The mean excitation energy, I, for graphite, air, and water, The average energy required to create an ion pair inmore » dry air (commonly referred to as W/e), The uncertainty in the determination of air kerma in kV xrays The absolute value of Co-60 and Cs-137 primary standards and the dissemination of calibration coefficients, The determination of air kerma strength for Ir-192 HDR brachytherapy sources Ion chamber kQ factors for linac MV beams Ion chamber kQ factors for proton beams. The changes in reference dosimetry that would result from adoption of the ICRU recommendations are of the order of 0.5% to 1%, an effect that will not impact clinical dose delivery but will be detectable in the clinical setting. This session will also outline how worldwide metrology is coordinated through the Convention of the Meter and therefore how the international dosimetry community will proceed with adopting these recommendations so that uniformity from country to country in reference dosimetry is maintained. Timelines and communications methods will also be discussed to ensure that users, such as clinical medical physicists, are not surprised when their chamber’s calibration coefficient apparently changes. Learning Objectives: Understand the background for the ICRU committee’s work on key dosimetry data. Understand the proposed changes to key data and the impacts on reference dosimetry. Understand the methodology and

  3. TH-A-204-01: Part I - Key Data for Ionizing-Radiation Dosimetry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Seltzer, S.

    The ICRU is currently finalizing a report on key data for radiation dosimetry. This multi-year review has resulted in a number of recommendations regarding “fundamental” data that are used in dosimetry related to radiation therapy. This educational session will explain the background for the ICRU committee’s work, the content and conclusions of the report and the impact on outputs, including NIST primary standards, ADCL calibration coefficients and clinical reference dosimetry. Parameters and beam modalities potentially affected by this report include: The mean excitation energy, I, for graphite, air, and water, The average energy required to create an ion pair inmore » dry air (commonly referred to as W/e), The uncertainty in the determination of air kerma in kV x-rays The absolute value of Co-60 and Cs-137 primary standards and the dissemination of calibration coefficients, The determination of air kerma strength for Ir-192 HDR brachytherapy sources Ion chamber kQ factors for linac MV beams Ion chamber kQ factors for proton beams. The changes in reference dosimetry that would result from adoption of the ICRU recommendations are of the order of 0.5% to 1%, an effect that will not impact clinical dose delivery but will be detectable in the clinical setting. This session will also outline how worldwide metrology is coordinated through the Convention of the Meter and therefore how the international dosimetry community will proceed with adopting these recommendations so that uniformity from country to country in reference dosimetry is maintained. Timelines and communications methods will also be discussed to ensure that users, such as clinical medical physicists, are not surprised when their chamber’s calibration coefficient apparently changes. Learning Objectives: Understand the background for the ICRU committee’s work on key dosimetry data. Understand the proposed changes to key data and the impacts on reference dosimetry. Understand the methodology and

  4. Fundamentals of materials, techniques and instrumentation for OSL and FNTD dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Akselrod, M. S.

    2013-02-01

    The optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) technique has already become a successful commercial tool in personal radiation dosimetry, medical dosimetry, diagnostic imaging, geological and archeological dating. This review briefly describes the history and fundamental principles of OSL materials, methods and instrumentation. The advantages of OSL technology and instrumentation in comparison with thermoluminescent technique are analyzed. Progress in material and detector engineering has allowed new and promising developments regarding OSL applications in the medical field. Special attention is dedicated to Al2O3:C as a material of choice for many dosimetric applications including fiberoptic OSL/RL sensors with diameters as small as 300 μm. A new RL/OSL fiberoptic system has a high potential for in vivo and in vitro dosimetry in both radiation therapy and diagnostic mammography. Different aspects of instrumentation, data processing algorithms, post-irradiation and real-time measurements are described. The next technological breakthrough was done with Fluorescent Nuclear Track detectors (FNTD) that has some important advantages in measuring fast neutron and high energy heavy charge particles that became the latest tool in radiation therapy. New Mg-doped aluminum oxide crystals and novel type of imaging instrumentation for FNTD technology were engineered and successfully demonstrated for occupational and accident dosimetry, for medical dosimetry and radiobiological research.

  5. Dosimetry of cone-defined stereotactic radiosurgery fields with a commercial synthetic diamond detector.

    PubMed

    Morales, Johnny E; Crowe, Scott B; Hill, Robin; Freeman, Nigel; Trapp, J V

    2014-11-01

    Small field x-ray beam dosimetry is difficult due to lack of lateral electronic equilibrium, source occlusion, high dose gradients, and detector volume averaging. Currently, there is no single definitive detector recommended for small field dosimetry. The objective of this work was to evaluate the performance of a new commercial synthetic diamond detector, namely, the PTW 60019 microDiamond, for the dosimetry of small x-ray fields as used in stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). Small field sizes were defined by BrainLAB circular cones (4-30 mm diameter) on a Novalis Trilogy linear accelerator and using the 6 MV SRS x-ray beam mode for all measurements. Percentage depth doses (PDDs) were measured and compared to an IBA SFD and a PTW 60012 E diode. Cross profiles were measured and compared to an IBA SFD diode. Field factors, ΩQclin,Qmsr (fclin,fmsr) , were calculated by Monte Carlo methods using BEAMnrc and correction factors, kQclin,Qmsr (fclin,fmsr) , were derived for the PTW 60019 microDiamond detector. For the small fields of 4-30 mm diameter, there were dose differences in the PDDs of up to 1.5% when compared to an IBA SFD and PTW 60012 E diode detector. For the cross profile measurements the penumbra values varied, depending upon the orientation of the detector. The field factors, ΩQclin,Qmsr (fclin,fmsr) , were calculated for these field diameters at a depth of 1.4 cm in water and they were within 2.7% of published values for a similar linear accelerator. The corrections factors, kQclin,Qmsr (fclin,fmsr) , were derived for the PTW 60019 microDiamond detector. The authors conclude that the new PTW 60019 microDiamond detector is generally suitable for relative dosimetry in small 6 MV SRS beams for a Novalis Trilogy linear equipped with circular cones.

  6. Software tool for portal dosimetry research.

    PubMed

    Vial, P; Hunt, P; Greer, P B; Oliver, L; Baldock, C

    2008-09-01

    This paper describes a software tool developed for research into the use of an electronic portal imaging device (EPID) to verify dose for intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) beams. A portal dose image prediction (PDIP) model that predicts the EPID response to IMRT beams has been implemented into a commercially available treatment planning system (TPS). The software tool described in this work was developed to modify the TPS PDIP model by incorporating correction factors into the predicted EPID image to account for the difference in EPID response to open beam radiation and multileaf collimator (MLC) transmitted radiation. The processes performed by the software tool include; i) read the MLC file and the PDIP from the TPS, ii) calculate the fraction of beam-on time that each point in the IMRT beam is shielded by MLC leaves, iii) interpolate correction factors from look-up tables, iv) create a corrected PDIP image from the product of the original PDIP and the correction factors and write the corrected image to file, v) display, analyse, and export various image datasets. The software tool was developed using the Microsoft Visual Studio.NET framework with the C# compiler. The operation of the software tool was validated. This software provided useful tools for EPID dosimetry research, and it is being utilised and further developed in ongoing EPID dosimetry and IMRT dosimetry projects.

  7. Reconstructive dosimetry for cutaneous radiation syndrome

    PubMed Central

    Lima, C.M.A.; Lima, A.R.; Degenhardt, Ä.L.; Valverde, N.J.; Da Silva, F.C.A.

    2015-01-01

    According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a relatively significant number of radiological accidents have occurred in recent years mainly because of the practices referred to as potentially high-risk activities, such as radiotherapy, large irradiators and industrial radiography, especially in gammagraphy assays. In some instances, severe injuries have occurred in exposed persons due to high radiation doses. In industrial radiography, 80 cases involving a total of 120 radiation workers, 110 members of the public including 12 deaths have been recorded up to 2014. Radiological accidents in industrial practices in Brazil have mainly resulted in development of cutaneous radiation syndrome (CRS) in hands and fingers. Brazilian data include 5 serious cases related to industrial gammagraphy, affecting 7 radiation workers and 19 members of the public; however, none of them were fatal. Some methods of reconstructive dosimetry have been used to estimate the radiation dose to assist in prescribing medical treatment. The type and development of cutaneous manifestations in the exposed areas of a person is the first achievable gross dose estimation. This review article presents the state-of-the-art reconstructive dosimetry methods enabling estimation of local radiation doses and provides guidelines for medical handling of the exposed individuals. The review also presents the Chilean and Brazilian radiological accident cases to highlight the importance of reconstructive dosimetry. PMID:26445332

  8. A protocol for EBT3 radiochromic film dosimetry using reflection scanning

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Papaconstadopoulos, Pavlos, E-mail: pavpapac@gmail.com; Hegyi, Gyorgy; Seuntjens, Jan

    2014-12-15

    Purpose: To evaluate the performance of the EBT3 radiochromic film dosimetry system using reflection measurements and to suggest a calibration protocol for precise and accurate reflection film dosimetry. Methods: A set of 14 Gafchromic EBT3 film pieces were irradiated to various doses ranging from 0 to 8 Gy and subsequently scanned using both the reflection and transmission mode. Scanning resolution varied from 50 to 508 dpi (0.5–0.05 mm/pixel). Both the red and green color channels of scanned images were used to relate the film response to the dose. A sensitivity, uncertainty, and accuracy analysis was performed for all scanning modesmore » and color channels. The total uncertainty, along with the fitting and experimental uncertainty components, was identified and analyzed. A microscope resolution target was used to evaluate possible resolution losses under reflection scanning. The calibration range was optimized for reflection scanning in the low (<2 Gy) and high (>2 Gy) dose regions based on the reported results. Results: Reflection scanning using the red channel exhibited the highest sensitivity among all modes, being up to 150% higher than transmission mode in the red channel for the lowest dose level. Furthermore, there was no apparent loss in resolution between the two modes. However, higher uncertainties and reduced accuracy were observed for the red channel under reflection mode, especially at dose levels higher than 2 Gy. These uncertainties were mainly attributed to saturation effects which were translated in poor fitting results. By restricting the calibration to the 0–2 Gy dose range, the situation is reversed and the red reflection mode was superior to the transmission mode. For higher doses, the green channel in reflection mode presented comparable results to the red transmission. Conclusions: A two-color reflection scanning protocol can be suggested for EBT3 radiochromic film dosimetry using the red channel for doses less than 2 Gy and the

  9. A small-scale anatomical dosimetry model of the liver

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stenvall, Anna; Larsson, Erik; Strand, Sven-Erik; Jönsson, Bo-Anders

    2014-07-01

    Radionuclide therapy is a growing and promising approach for treating and prolonging the lives of patients with cancer. For therapies where high activities are administered, the liver can become a dose-limiting organ; often with a complex, non-uniform activity distribution and resulting non-uniform absorbed-dose distribution. This paper therefore presents a small-scale dosimetry model for various source-target combinations within the human liver microarchitecture. Using Monte Carlo simulations, Medical Internal Radiation Dose formalism-compatible specific absorbed fractions were calculated for monoenergetic electrons; photons; alpha particles; and 125I, 90Y, 211At, 99mTc, 111In, 177Lu, 131I and 18F. S values and the ratio of local absorbed dose to the whole-organ average absorbed dose was calculated, enabling a transformation of dosimetry calculations from macro- to microstructure level. For heterogeneous activity distributions, for example uptake in Kupffer cells of radionuclides emitting low-energy electrons (125I) or high-LET alpha particles (211At) the target absorbed dose for the part of the space of Disse, closest to the source, was more than eight- and five-fold the average absorbed dose to the liver, respectively. With the increasing interest in radionuclide therapy of the liver, the presented model is an applicable tool for small-scale liver dosimetry in order to study detailed dose-effect relationships in the liver.

  10. Dosimetry Prediction for Clinical Translation of 64Cu-Pembrolizumab ImmunoPET Targeting Human PD-1 Expression.

    PubMed

    Natarajan, Arutselvan; Patel, Chirag B; Habte, Frezghi; Gambhir, Sanjiv S

    2018-01-12

    The immune checkpoint programmed death 1 receptor (PD-1) expressed on some tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, and its ligand (PD-L1) expressed on tumor cells, enable cancers to evade the immune system. Blocking PD-1 with the monoclonal antibody pembrolizumab is a promising immunotherapy strategy. Thus, noninvasively quantifying the presence of PD-1 expression in the tumor microenvironment prior to initiation of immune checkpoint blockade may identify the patients likely to respond to therapy. We have developed a 64 Cu-pembrolizumab radiotracer and evaluated human dosimetry. The tracer was utilized to image hPD-1 levels in two subcutaneous mouse models: (a) 293 T/hPD-1 cells xenografted into NOD-scid IL-2Rγnull mice (NSG/293 T/hPD-1) and (b) human peripheral blood mononuclear cells engrafted into NSG bearing A375 human melanoma tumors (hNSG/A375). In each mouse model two cohorts were evaluated (hPD-1 blockade with pembrolizumab [blk] and non-blocked [nblk]), for a total of four groups (n = 3-5/group). The xenograft-to-muscle ratio in the NSG/293 T/hPD-1 model at 24 h was significantly increased in the nblk group (7.0 ± 0.5) compared to the blk group (3.4 ± 0.9), p = 0.01. The radiotracer dosimetry evaluation (PET/CT ROI-based and ex vivo) in the hNSG/A375 model revealed the highest radiation burden to the liver. In summary, we validated the 64 Cu-pembrolizumab tracer's specific hPD-1 receptor targeting and predicted human dosimetry.

  11. Online dosimetry for temoporfin-mediated interstitial photodynamic therapy using the canine prostate as model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Swartling, Johannes; Höglund, Odd V.; Hansson, Kerstin; Södersten, Fredrik; Axelsson, Johan; Lagerstedt, Anne-Sofie

    2016-02-01

    Online light dosimetry with real-time feedback was applied for temoporfin-mediated interstitial photodynamic therapy (PDT) of dog prostate. The aim was to investigate the performance of online dosimetry by studying the correlation between light dose plans and the tissue response, i.e., extent of induced tissue necrosis and damage to surrounding organs at risk. Light-dose planning software provided dose plans, including light source positions and light doses, based on ultrasound images. A laser instrument provided therapeutic light and dosimetric measurements. The procedure was designed to closely emulate the procedure for whole-prostate PDT in humans with prostate cancer. Nine healthy dogs were subjected to the procedure according to a light-dose escalation plan. About 0.15 mg/kg temoporfin was administered 72 h before the procedure. The results of the procedure were assessed by magnetic resonance imaging, and gross pathology and histopathology of excised tissue. Light dose planning and online dosimetry clearly resulted in more focused effect and less damage to surrounding tissue than interstitial PDT without dosimetry. A light energy dose-response relationship was established where the threshold dose to induce prostate gland necrosis was estimated from 20 to 30 J/cm2.

  12. ESR/Alanine gamma-dosimetry in the 10-30 Gy range.

    PubMed

    Fainstein, C; Winkler, E; Saravi, M

    2000-05-01

    We report Alanine Dosimeter preparation, procedures for using the ESR/Dosimetry method, and the resulting calibration curve for gamma-irradiation in the range from 10-30 Gy. We use calibration curve to measure the irradiation dose in gamma-irradiation of human blood, as required in Blood Transfusion Therapy. The ESR/Alanine results are compared against those obtained using the thermoluminescent dosimetry (TLD) method.

  13. Medical dosimetry in Hungary

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Turák, O.; Osvay, M.; Ballay, L.

    2012-09-01

    Radiation exposure of medical staff during cardiological and radiological procedures was investigated. The exposure of medical staff is directly connected to patient exposure. The aim of this study was to determine the distribution of doses on uncovered part of body of medical staff using LiF thermoluminescent (TL) dosimeters in seven locations. Individual Kodak film dosimeters (as authorized dosimetry system) were used for the assessment of medical staff's effective dose. Results achieved on dose distribution measurements confirm that wearing only one film badge under the lead apron does not provide enough information on the personal dose. The value of estimated annual doses on eye lens and extremities (fingers) were in good correlation with international publications.

  14. History of dose specification in Brachytherapy: From Threshold Erythema Dose to Computational Dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Williamson, Jeffrey F.

    2006-09-01

    This paper briefly reviews the evolution of brachytherapy dosimetry from 1900 to the present. Dosimetric practices in brachytherapy fall into three distinct eras: During the era of biological dosimetry (1900-1938), radium pioneers could only specify Ra-226 and Rn-222 implants in terms of the mass of radium encapsulated within the implanted sources. Due to the high energy of its emitted gamma rays and the long range of its secondary electrons in air, free-air chambers could not be used to quantify the output of Ra-226 sources in terms of exposure. Biological dosimetry, most prominently the threshold erythema dose, gained currency as a means of intercomparing radium treatments with exposure-calibrated orthovoltage x-ray units. The classical dosimetry era (1940-1980) began with successful exposure standardization of Ra-226 sources by Bragg-Gray cavity chambers. Classical dose-computation algorithms, based upon 1-D buildup factor measurements and point-source superposition computational algorithms, were able to accommodate artificial radionuclides such as Co-60, Ir-192, and Cs-137. The quantitative dosimetry era (1980- ) arose in response to the increasing utilization of low energy K-capture radionuclides such as I-125 and Pd-103 for which classical approaches could not be expected to estimate accurate correct doses. This led to intensive development of both experimental (largely TLD-100 dosimetry) and Monte Carlo dosimetry techniques along with more accurate air-kerma strength standards. As a result of extensive benchmarking and intercomparison of these different methods, single-seed low-energy radionuclide dose distributions are now known with a total uncertainty of 3%-5%.

  15. Revisiting photodynamic therapy dosimetry: reductionist & surrogate approaches to facilitate clinical success

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pogue, Brian W.; Elliott, Jonathan T.; Kanick, Stephen C.; Davis, Scott C.; Samkoe, Kimberley S.; Maytin, Edward V.; Pereira, Stephen P.; Hasan, Tayyaba

    2016-04-01

    Photodynamic therapy (PDT) can be a highly complex treatment, with many parameters influencing treatment efficacy. The extent to which dosimetry is used to monitor and standardize treatment delivery varies widely, ranging from measurement of a single surrogate marker to comprehensive approaches that aim to measure or estimate as many relevant parameters as possible. Today, most clinical PDT treatments are still administered with little more than application of a prescribed drug dose and timed light delivery, and thus the role of patient-specific dosimetry has not reached widespread clinical adoption. This disconnect is at least partly due to the inherent conflict between the need to measure and understand multiple parameters in vivo in order to optimize treatment, and the need for expedience in the clinic and in the regulatory and commercialization process. Thus, a methodical approach to selecting primary dosimetry metrics is required at each stage of translation of a treatment procedure, moving from complex measurements to understand PDT mechanisms in pre-clinical and early phase I trials, towards the identification and application of essential dose-limiting and/or surrogate measurements in phase II/III trials. If successful, identifying the essential and/or reliable surrogate dosimetry measurements should help facilitate increased adoption of clinical PDT. In this paper, examples of essential dosimetry points and surrogate dosimetry tools that may be implemented in phase II/III trials are discussed. For example, the treatment efficacy as limited by light penetration in interstitial PDT may be predicted by the amount of contrast uptake in CT, and so this could be utilized as a surrogate dosimetry measurement to prescribe light doses based upon pre-treatment contrast. Success of clinical ALA-based skin lesion treatment is predicted almost uniquely by the explicit or implicit measurements of photosensitizer and photobleaching, yet the individualization of treatment

  16. Introduction of a deformable x-ray CT polymer gel dosimetry system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maynard, E.; Heath, E.; Hilts, M.; Jirasek, A.

    2018-04-01

    This study introduces the first 3D deformable dosimetry system based on x-ray computed tomography (CT) polymer gel dosimetry and establishes the setup reproducibility, deformation characteristics and dose response of the system. A N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM)-based gel formulation optimized for x-ray CT gel dosimetry was used, with a latex balloon serving as the deformable container and low-density polyethylene and polyvinyl alcohol providing additional oxygen barrier. Deformable gels were irradiated with a 6 MV calibration pattern to determine dosimetric response and a dosimetrically uniform plan to determine the spatial uniformity of the response. Wax beads were added to each gel as fiducial markers to track the deformation and setup of the gel dosimeters. From positions of the beads on CT images the setup reproducibility and the limits and reproducibility of gel deformation were determined. Comparison of gel measurements with Monte Carlo dose calculations found excellent dosimetric accuracy, comparable to that of an established non-deformable dosimetry system, with a mean dose discrepancy of 1.5% in the low-dose gradient region and a gamma pass rate of 97.9% using a 3%/3 mm criterion. The deformable dosimeter also showed good overall spatial dose uniformity throughout the dosimeter with some discrepancies within 20 mm of the edge of the container. Tracking of the beads within the dosimeter found that sub-millimetre setup accuracy is achievable with this system. The dosimeter was able to deform and relax when externally compressed by up to 30 mm without sustaining any permanent damage. Internal deformations in 3D produced average marker movements of up to 12 mm along the direction of compression. These deformations were also shown to be reproducible over 100 consecutive deformations. This work has established several important characteristics of a new deformable dosimetry system which shows promise for future clinical applications, including the

  17. Fiber-coupled Luminescence Dosimetry in Therapeutic and Diagnostic Radiology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Andersen, Claus E.

    2011-05-01

    Fiber-coupled luminescence dosimetry is an emerging technology with several potentially attractive features of relevance for uses in therapeutic and diagnostic radiology: direct water equivalence (i.e. no significant perturbation of the radiation field in a water phantom or a patient), sub-mm detector size, high dynamic range (below a mGy to several Gy), microsecond time resolution, and absence of electrical wires or other electronics in the dosimeter probe head. Fiber-coupled luminescence dosimetry systems typically consist of one or more small samples of phosphor, e.g. a mg of plastic scintillator, attached to 10-20 m long optical fiber cables of plastic. During irradiation, each dosimeter probe spontaneously emits radioluminescence (RL) in proportion to the dose rate. The luminescence intensity can be detected with photomultiplier tubes, CCD cameras or other highly sensitive photodetectors. Some crystalline phosphors, such as carbon-doped aluminium oxide (Al2O3:C) have the ability to store charge produced in the crystal during irradiation. The stored charge may later be released by fiber-guided laser light under emission of so-called optically stimulated luminescence (OSL). The OSL signal therefore reflects the passively integrated dose. In contrast to thermoluminescence dosimetry, fiber-coupled OSL dosimetry may be performed in vivo while the dosimeter is still in the patient. Within the last few years, several improvements and new applications of these techniques have been published, and the objective of this review is to provide an introduction to this field and to outline some of these new results. Emphasis will be given to applications in medical dosimetry such as in vivo real-time dose verification in brachytherapy and methods aimed for improved quality assurance of linear accelerators.

  18. Development and dosimetry of a small animal lung irradiation platform

    PubMed Central

    McGurk, Ross; Hadley, Caroline; Jackson, Isabel L.; Vujaskovic, Zeljko

    2015-01-01

    Advances in large scale screening of medical counter measures for radiation-induced normal tissue toxicity are currently hampered by animal irradiation paradigms that are both inefficient and highly variable among institutions. Here, we introduce a novel high-throughput small animal irradiation platform for use in orthovoltage small animal irradiators. We used radiochromic film and metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor detectors to examine several parameters, including 2D field uniformity, dose rate consistency, and shielding transmission. We posit that this setup will improve efficiency of drug screens by allowing for simultaneous, targeted irradiation of multiple animals, improving efficiency within a single institution. Additionally, we suggest that measurement of the described parameters in all centers conducting counter measure studies will improve the translatability of findings among institutions. We also investigated the use of tissue equivalent phantoms in performing dosimetry measurements for small animal irradiation experiments. Though these phantoms are commonly used in dosimetry, we recorded a significant difference in both the entrance and target tissue dose rates between euthanized rats and mice with implanted detectors and the corresponding phantom measurement. This suggests that measurements using these phantoms may not provide accurate dosimetry for in vivo experiments. Based on these measurements, we propose that this small animal irradiation platform can increase the capacity of animal studies by allowing for more efficient animal irradiation. We also suggest that researchers fully characterize the parameters of whatever radiation setup is in use in order to facilitate better comparison among institutions. PMID:23091878

  19. Whole-body voxel-based personalized dosimetry: Multiple voxel S-value approach for heterogeneous media with non-uniform activity distributions.

    PubMed

    Lee, Min Sun; Kim, Joong Hyun; Paeng, Jin Chul; Kang, Keon Wook; Jeong, Jae Min; Lee, Dong Soo; Lee, Jae Sung

    2017-12-14

    Personalized dosimetry with high accuracy is becoming more important because of the growing interests in personalized medicine and targeted radionuclide therapy. Voxel-based dosimetry using dose point kernel or voxel S-value (VSV) convolution is available. However, these approaches do not consider medium heterogeneity. Here, we propose a new method for whole-body voxel-based personalized dosimetry for heterogeneous media with non-uniform activity distributions, which is referred to as the multiple VSV approach. Methods: The multiple numbers (N) of VSVs for media with different densities covering the whole-body density ranges were used instead of using only a single VSV for water. The VSVs were pre-calculated using GATE Monte Carlo simulation; those were convoluted with the time-integrated activity to generate density-specific dose maps. Computed tomography-based segmentation was conducted to generate binary maps for each density region. The final dose map was acquired by the summation of N segmented density-specific dose maps. We tested several sets of VSVs with different densities: N = 1 (single water VSV), 4, 6, 8, 10, and 20. To validate the proposed method, phantom and patient studies were conducted and compared with direct Monte Carlo, which was considered the ground truth. Finally, patient dosimetry (10 subjects) was conducted using the multiple VSV approach and compared with the single VSV and organ-based dosimetry approaches. Errors at the voxel- and organ-levels were reported for eight organs. Results: In the phantom and patient studies, the multiple VSV approach showed significant improvements regarding voxel-level errors, especially for the lung and bone regions. As N increased, voxel-level errors decreased, although some overestimations were observed at lung boundaries. In the case of multiple VSVs ( N = 8), we achieved voxel-level errors of 2.06%. In the dosimetry study, our proposed method showed much improved results compared to the single VSV and

  20. EPR-dosimetry of ionizing radiation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Popova, Mariia; Vakhnin, Dmitrii; Tyshchenko, Igor

    2017-09-01

    This article discusses the problems that arise during the radiation sterilization of medical products. It is propose the solution based on alanine EPR-dosimetry. The parameters of spectrometer and methods of absorbed dose calculation are given. In addition, the problems that arise during heavy particles irradiation are investigated.

  1. Technical basis for internal dosimetry at Hanford

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sula, M.J.; Carbaugh, E.H.; Bihl, D.E.

    1991-07-01

    The Hanford Internal Dosimetry Program, administered by Pacific Northwest Laboratory for the US Department of Energy, provides routine bioassay monitoring for employees who are potentially exposed to radionuclides in the workplace. This report presents the technical basis for routine bioassay monitoring and the assessment of internal dose at Hanford. The radionuclides of concern include tritium, corrosion products ({sup 58}Co, {sup 60}Co, {sup 54}Mn, and {sup 59}Fe), strontium, cesium, iodine, europium, uranium, plutonium, and americium,. Sections on each of these radionuclides discuss the sources and characteristics; dosimetry; bioassay measurements and monitoring; dose measurement, assessment, and mitigation and bioassay follow-up treatment. 78more » refs., 35 figs., 115 tabs.« less

  2. Technical basis for internal dosimetry at Hanford

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sula, M.J.; Carbaugh, E.H.; Bihl, D.E.

    1989-04-01

    The Hanford Internal Dosimetry Program, administered by Pacific Northwest Laboratory for the US Department of Energy, provides routine bioassay monitoring for employees who are potentially exposed to radionuclides in the workplace. This report presents the technical basis for routine bioassay monitoring and the assessment of internal dose at Hanford. The radionuclides of concern include tritium, corrosion products (/sup 58/Co, /sup 60/Co, /sup 54/Mn, and /sup 59/Fe), strontium, cesium, iodine, europium, uranium, plutonium, and americium. Sections on each of these radionuclides discuss the sources and characteristics; dosimetry; bioassay measurements and monitoring; dose measurement, assessment, and mitigation; and bioassay follow-up treatment. 64more » refs., 42 figs., 118 tabs.« less

  3. Evaluation of a lithium formate EPR dosimetry system for dose measurements around {sup 192}Ir brachytherapy sources

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Antonovic, Laura; Gustafsson, Haakan; Alm Carlsson, Gudrun

    2009-06-15

    A dosimetry system using lithium formate monohydrate (HCO{sub 2}Li{center_dot}H{sub 2}O) as detector material and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy for readout has been used to measure absorbed dose distributions around clinical {sup 192}Ir sources. Cylindrical tablets with diameter of 4.5 mm, height of 4.8 mm, and density of 1.26 g/cm{sup 3} were manufactured. Homogeneity test and calibration of the dosimeters were performed in a 6 MV photon beam. {sup 192}Ir irradiations were performed in a PMMA phantom using two different source models, the GammaMed Plus HDR and the microSelectron PDR-v1 model. Measured absorbed doses to water in the PMMA phantommore » were converted to the corresponding absorbed doses to water in water phantoms of dimensions used by the treatment planning systems (TPSs) using correction factors explicitly derived for this experiment. Experimentally determined absorbed doses agreed with the absorbed doses to water calculated by the TPS to within {+-}2.9%. Relative standard uncertainties in the experimentally determined absorbed doses were estimated to be within the range of 1.7%-1.3% depending on the radial distance from the source, the type of source (HDR or PDR), and the particular absorbed doses used. This work shows that a lithium formate dosimetry system is well suited for measurements of absorbed dose to water around clinical HDR and PDR {sup 192}Ir sources. Being less energy dependent than the commonly used thermoluminescent lithium fluoride (LiF) dosimeters, lithium formate monohydrate dosimeters are well suited to measure absorbed doses in situations where the energy dependence cannot easily be accounted for such as in multiple-source irradiations to verify treatment plans. Their wide dynamic range and linear dose response over the dose interval of 0.2-1000 Gy make them suitable for measurements on sources of the strengths used in clinical applications. The dosimeter size needs, however, to be reduced for application

  4. INTERSPECIES DOSIMETRY MODELS FOR PULMONARY PHARMACOLOGY

    EPA Science Inventory

    Interspecies Dosimetry Models for Pulmonary Pharmacology

    Ted B. Martonen, Jeffry D. Schroeter, and John S. Fleming

    Experimental Toxicology Division, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangl...

  5. Neutron dosimetry at a high-energy electron-positron collider

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bedogni, Roberto

    Electron-positron colliders with energy of hundreds of MeV per beam have been employed for studies in the domain of nuclear and sub-nuclear physics. The typical structure of such a collider includes an LINAC, able to produce both types of particles, an accumulator ring and a main ring, whose diameter ranges from several tens to hundred meters and allows circulating particle currents of several amperes per beam. As a consequence of the interaction of the primary particles with targets, shutters, structures and barriers, a complex radiation environment is produced. This paper addresses the neutron dosimetry issues associated with the operation of such accelerators, referring in particular to the DAΦ NE complex, operative since 1997 at INFN-Frascati National Laboratory (Italy). Special attention is given to the active and passive techniques used for the spectrometric and dosimetric characterization of the workplace neutron fields, for radiation protection dosimetry purposes.

  6. Fostering a culture of interprofessional education for radiation therapy and medical dosimetry students

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lavender, Charlotte, E-mail: charlavender@gmail.com; Miller, Seth; Church, Jessica

    A less-studied aspect of radiation therapy and medical dosimetry education is experiential learning through attendance at interprofessional conferences. University of North Carolina radiation therapy and medical dosimetry students regularly attended morning conferences and daily pretreatment peer review, including approximately 145 hours of direct interaction with medical attending physicians and residents, medical physicists, and other faculty. We herein assessed the effect of their participation in these interprofessional conferences on knowledge and communication. The students who graduated from our radiation therapy and medical dosimetry programs who were exposed to the interprofessional education initiative were compared with those who graduated in the previousmore » years. The groups were compared with regard to their knowledge (as assessed by grades on end-of-training examinations) and team communication (assessed via survey). The results for the 2 groups were compared via exact tests. There was a trend for the examination scores for the 2012 cohort to be higher than for the 2007 to 2011 groups. Survey results suggested that students who attended the interprofessional education sessions were more comfortable speaking with attending physicians, residents, physicists, and faculty compared with earlier students who did not attend these educational sessions. Interprofessional education, particularly vertical integration, appears to provide an enhanced educational experience both in regard to knowledge (per the examination scores) and in building a sense of communication (via the survey results). Integration of interprofessional education into radiation therapy and medical dosimetry educational programs may represent an opportunity to enrich the learning experience in multiple ways and merits further study.« less

  7. Accuracy and efficiency of published film dosimetry techniques using a flat-bed scanner and EBT3 film.

    PubMed

    Spelleken, E; Crowe, S B; Sutherland, B; Challens, C; Kairn, T

    2018-03-01

    Gafchromic EBT3 film is widely used for patient specific quality assurance of complex treatment plans. Film dosimetry techniques commonly involve the use of transmission scanning to produce TIFF files, which are analysed using a non-linear calibration relationship between the dose and red channel net optical density (netOD). Numerous film calibration techniques featured in the literature have not been independently verified or evaluated. A range of previously published film dosimetry techniques were re-evaluated, to identify whether these methods produce better results than the commonly-used non-linear, netOD method. EBT3 film was irradiated at calibration doses between 0 and 4000 cGy and 25 pieces of film were irradiated at 200 cGy to evaluate uniformity. The film was scanned using two different scanners: The Epson Perfection V800 and the Epson Expression 10000XL. Calibration curves, uncertainty in the fit of the curve, overall uncertainty and uniformity were calculated following the methods described by the different calibration techniques. It was found that protocols based on a conventional film dosimetry technique produced results that were accurate and uniform to within 1%, while some of the unconventional techniques produced much higher uncertainties (> 25% for some techniques). Some of the uncommon methods produced reliable results when irradiated to the standard treatment doses (< 400 cGy), however none could be recommended as an efficient or accurate replacement for a common film analysis technique which uses transmission scanning, red colour channel analysis, netOD and a non-linear calibration curve for measuring doses up to 4000 cGy when using EBT3 film.

  8. A multicentre 'end to end' dosimetry audit for cervix HDR brachytherapy treatment.

    PubMed

    Palmer, Antony L; Diez, Patricia; Gandon, Laura; Wynn-Jones, Andrea; Bownes, Peter; Lee, Chris; Aird, Edwin; Bidmead, Margaret; Lowe, Gerry; Bradley, David; Nisbet, Andrew

    2015-02-01

    To undertake the first multicentre fully 'end to end' dosimetry audit for HDR cervix brachytherapy, comparing planned and delivered dose distributions around clinical treatment applicators, with review of local procedures. A film-dosimetry audit was performed at 46 centres, including imaging, applicator reconstruction, treatment planning and delivery. Film dose maps were calculated using triple-channel dosimetry and compared to RTDose data from treatment planning systems. Deviations between plan and measurement were quantified at prescription Point A and using gamma analysis. Local procedures were also discussed. The mean difference between planned and measured dose at Point A was -0.6% for plastic applicators and -3.0% for metal applicators, at standard uncertainty 3.0% (k=1). Isodose distributions agreed within 1mm over a dose range 2-16Gy. Mean gamma passing rates exceeded 97% for plastic and metal applicators at 3% (local) 2mm criteria. Two errors were found: one dose normalisation error and one applicator library misaligned with the imaged applicator. Suggestions for quality improvement were also made. The concept of 'end to end' dosimetry audit for HDR brachytherapy has been successfully implemented in a multicentre environment, providing evidence that a high level of accuracy in brachytherapy dosimetry can be achieved. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Feasibility and dosimetry studies for 18F-NOS as a potential PET radiopharmaceutical for inducible nitric oxide synthase in humans.

    PubMed

    Herrero, Pilar; Laforest, Richard; Shoghi, Kooresh; Zhou, Dong; Ewald, Gregory; Pfeifer, John; Duncavage, Eric; Krupp, Kitty; Mach, Robert; Gropler, Robert

    2012-06-01

    Nitric oxide (NO), the end product of the inducible form of NO synthase (iNOS), is an important mediator of a variety of inflammatory diseases. Therefore, a radiolabeled iNOS radiopharmaceutical for assessing iNOS protein concentration as a marker for its activity would be of value to the study and treatment of NO-related diseases. We recently synthesized an (18)F-radiolabeled analog of the reversible NOS inhibitor, 2-amino-4-methylpyridine ((18)F-NOS), and confirmed its utility in a murine model of lung inflammation. To determine its potential for use in humans, we measured (18)F-NOS myocardial activity in patients after orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT) and correlated it with pathologic allograft rejection, tissue iNOS levels, and calculated human radiation dosimetry. Two groups were studied-a kinetic analysis group and a dosimetry group. In the kinetic analysis group, 10 OHT patients underwent dynamic myocardial (18)F-NOS PET/CT, followed by endomyocardial biopsy. Myocardial (18)F-NOS PET was assessed using volume of distribution; standardized uptake values at 10 min; area under the myocardial moment curve (AUMC); and mean resident time at 5, 10, and 30 min after tracer injection. Tissue iNOS levels were measured by immunohistochemistry. In the dosimetry group, the biodistribution and radiation dosimetry were calculated using whole-body PET/CT in 4 healthy volunteers and 12 OHT patients. The combined time-activity curves were used for residence time calculation, and organ doses were calculated with OLINDA. Both AUMC at 10 min (P < 0.05) and tissue iNOS (P < 0.0001) were higher in patients exhibiting rejection than in those without rejection. Moreover, the (18)F-NOS AUMC at 10 min correlated positively with tissue iNOS at 10 min (R(2) = 0.42, P < 0.05). (18)F-NOS activity was cleared by the hepatobiliary system. The critical organ was the bladder wall, with a dose of 95.3 μGy/MBq, and an effective dose of 15.9 μSv/MBq was calculated. Myocardial (18)F

  10. Dosimetry study for a new in vivo X-ray fluorescence (XRF) bone lead measurement system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nie, Huiling; Chettle, David; Luo, Liqiang; O'Meara, Joanne

    2007-10-01

    A new 109Cd γ-ray induced bone lead measurement system has been developed to reduce the minimum detectable limit (MDL) of the system. The system consists of four 16 mm diameter detectors. It requires a stronger source compared to the "conventional" system. A dosimetry study has been performed to estimate the dose delivered by this system. The study was carried out by using human-equivalent phantoms. Three sets of phantoms were made to estimate the dose delivered to three age groups: 5-year old, 10-year old and adults. Three approaches have been applied to evaluate the dose: calculations, Monte Carlo (MC) simulations, and experiments. Experimental results and analytical calculations were used to validate MC simulation. The experiments were performed by placing Panasonic UD-803AS TLDs at different places in phantoms that representing different organs. Due to the difficulty of obtaining the organ dose and the whole body dose solely by experiments and traditional calculations, the equivalent dose and effective dose were calculated by MC simulations. The result showed that the doses delivered to the organs other than the targeted lower leg are negligibly small. The total effective doses to the three age groups are 8.45/9.37 μSv (female/male), 4.20 μSv, and 0.26 μSv for 5-year old, 10-year old and adult, respectively. An approval to conduct human measurements on this system has been received from the Research Ethics Board based on this research.

  11. Feasibility of using two-dimensional array dosimeter for in vivo dose reconstruction via transit dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Chung, Heeteak; Li, Jonathan; Samant, Sanjiv

    2011-04-08

    Two-dimensional array dosimeters are commonly used to perform pretreatment quality assurance procedures, which makes them highly desirable for measuring transit fluences for in vivo dose reconstruction. The purpose of this study was to determine if an in vivo dose reconstruction via transit dosimetry using a 2D array dosimeter was possible. To test the accuracy of measuring transit dose distribution using a 2D array dosimeter, we evaluated it against the measurements made using ionization chamber and radiochromic film (RCF) profiles for various air gap distances (distance from the exit side of the solid water slabs to the detector distance; 0 cm, 30 cm, 40 cm, 50 cm, and 60 cm) and solid water slab thicknesses (10 cm and 20 cm). The backprojection dose reconstruction algorithm was described and evaluated. The agreement between the ionization chamber and RCF profiles for the transit dose distribution measurements ranged from -0.2% ~ 4.0% (average 1.79%). Using the backprojection dose reconstruction algorithm, we found that, of the six conformal fields, four had a 100% gamma index passing rate (3%/3 mm gamma index criteria), and two had gamma index passing rates of 99.4% and 99.6%. Of the five IMRT fields, three had a 100% gamma index passing rate, and two had gamma index passing rates of 99.6% and 98.8%. It was found that a 2D array dosimeter could be used for backprojection dose reconstruction for in vivo dosimetry.

  12. An Interlaboratory Comparison of Dosimetry for a Multi-institutional Radiobiological

    PubMed Central

    Seed, TM; Xiao, S; Manley, N; Nikolich-Zugich, J; Pugh, J; van den Brink, M; Hirabayashi, Y; Yasutomo, K; Iwama, A; Koyasu, S; Shterev, I; Sempowski, G; Macchiarini, F; Nakachi, K; Kunugi, KC; Hammer, CG; DeWerd, LA

    2016-01-01

    Purpose An interlaboratory comparison of radiation dosimetry was conducted to determine the accuracy of doses being used experimentally for animal exposures within a large multi-institutional research project. The background and approach to this effort are described and discussed in terms of basic findings, problems and solutions. Methods Dosimetry tests were carried out utilizing optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dosimeters embedded midline into mouse carcasses and thermal luminescence dosimeters (TLD) embedded midline into acrylic phantoms. Results The effort demonstrated that the majority (4/7) of the laboratories was able to deliver sufficiently accurate exposures having maximum dosing errors of ≤ 5%. Comparable rates of ‘dosimetric compliance’ were noted between OSL- and TLD-based tests. Data analysis showed a highly linear relationship between ‘measured’ and ‘target’ doses, with errors falling largely between 0–20%. Outliers were most notable for OSL-based tests, while multiple tests by ‘non-compliant’ laboratories using orthovoltage x-rays contributed heavily to the wide variation in dosing errors. Conclusions For the dosimetrically non-compliant laboratories, the relatively high rates of dosing errors were problematic, potentially compromising the quality of ongoing radiobiological research. This dosimetry effort proved to be instructive in establishing rigorous reviews of basic dosimetry protocols ensuring that dosing errors were minimized. PMID:26857121

  13. ALGEBRA: ALgorithm for the heterogeneous dosimetry based on GEANT4 for BRAchytherapy.

    PubMed

    Afsharpour, H; Landry, G; D'Amours, M; Enger, S; Reniers, B; Poon, E; Carrier, J-F; Verhaegen, F; Beaulieu, L

    2012-06-07

    Task group 43 (TG43)-based dosimetry algorithms are efficient for brachytherapy dose calculation in water. However, human tissues have chemical compositions and densities different than water. Moreover, the mutual shielding effect of seeds on each other (interseed attenuation) is neglected in the TG43-based dosimetry platforms. The scientific community has expressed the need for an accurate dosimetry platform in brachytherapy. The purpose of this paper is to present ALGEBRA, a Monte Carlo platform for dosimetry in brachytherapy which is sufficiently fast and accurate for clinical and research purposes. ALGEBRA is based on the GEANT4 Monte Carlo code and is capable of handling the DICOM RT standard to recreate a virtual model of the treated site. Here, the performance of ALGEBRA is presented for the special case of LDR brachytherapy in permanent prostate and breast seed implants. However, the algorithm is also capable of handling other treatments such as HDR brachytherapy.

  14. Dose optimization of total or partial skin electron irradiation by thermoluminescent dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Schüttrumpf, Lars; Neumaier, Klement; Maihoefer, Cornelius; Niyazi, Maximilian; Ganswindt, Ute; Li, Minglun; Lang, Peter; Reiner, Michael; Belka, Claus; Corradini, Stefanie

    2018-05-01

    Due to the complex surface of the human body, total or partial skin irradiation using large electron fields is challenging. The aim of the present study was to quantify the magnitude of dose optimization required after the application of standard fields. Total skin electron irradiation (TSEI) was applied using the Stanford technique with six dual-fields. Patients presenting with localized lesions were treated with partial skin electron irradiation (PSEI) using large electron fields, which were individually adapted. In order to verify and validate the dose distribution, in vivo dosimetry with thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD) was performed during the first treatment fraction to detect potential dose heterogeneity and to allow for an individual dose optimization with adjustment of the monitor units (MU). Between 1984 and 2017, a total of 58 patients were treated: 31 patients received TSEI using 12 treatment fields, while 27 patients underwent PSEI and were treated with 4-8 treatment fields. After evaluation of the dosimetric results, an individual dose optimization was necessary in 21 patients. Of these, 7 patients received TSEI (7/31). Monitor units (MU) needed to be corrected by a mean value of 117 MU (±105, range 18-290) uniformly for all 12 treatment fields, corresponding to a mean relative change of 12% of the prescribed MU. In comparison, the other 14 patients received PSEI (14/27) and the mean adjustment of monitor units was 282 MU (±144, range 59-500) to single or multiple fields, corresponding to a mean relative change of 22% of the prescribed MU. A second dose optimization to obtain a satisfying dose at the prescription point was need in 5 patients. Thermoluminescent dosimetry allows an individual dose optimization in TSEI and PSEI to enable a reliable adjustment of the MUs to obtain the prescription dose. Especially in PSEI in vivo dosimetry is of fundamental importance.

  15. Application for internal dosimetry using biokinetic distribution of photons based on nuclear medicine images*

    PubMed Central

    Leal Neto, Viriato; Vieira, José Wilson; Lima, Fernando Roberto de Andrade

    2014-01-01

    Objective This article presents a way to obtain estimates of dose in patients submitted to radiotherapy with basis on the analysis of regions of interest on nuclear medicine images. Materials and Methods A software called DoRadIo (Dosimetria das Radiações Ionizantes [Ionizing Radiation Dosimetry]) was developed to receive information about source organs and target organs, generating graphical and numerical results. The nuclear medicine images utilized in the present study were obtained from catalogs provided by medical physicists. The simulations were performed with computational exposure models consisting of voxel phantoms coupled with the Monte Carlo EGSnrc code. The software was developed with the Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack and the project template Windows Presentation Foundation for C# programming language. Results With the mentioned tools, the authors obtained the file for optimization of Monte Carlo simulations using the EGSnrc; organization and compaction of dosimetry results with all radioactive sources; selection of regions of interest; evaluation of grayscale intensity in regions of interest; the file of weighted sources; and, finally, all the charts and numerical results. Conclusion The user interface may be adapted for use in clinical nuclear medicine as a computer-aided tool to estimate the administered activity. PMID:25741101

  16. [Characterization of a diode system for in vivo dosimetry with electron beams].

    PubMed

    Ragona, R; Rossetti, V; Lucio, F; Anglesio, S; Giglioli, F R

    2001-10-01

    Current quality assurance regulation stresses the basic role of in vivo dosimetry. Our study evaluates the usefulness and reliability of semiconductor diodes in determining the electron absorbed dose. P-type EDE semiconductor detectors were irradiated with electron beams of different energies produced by a CGR Saturn Therac 20. The diode and ionization chamber response were compared, and effect of energy value, collimator opening, source skin distance and gantry angle on diode response was studied. Measurements show a maximum increment of about 20% in diode response increasing the beam energy (6-20 MeV). The response also increases with: collimator opening, reaching 5% with field sizes larger than 10x10 cm2 (with the exception of 20 MeV energy); SSD increase (with a maximum of 8% for 20 MeV); transversal gantry incidence, compared with the diode longitudinal axis; it does not affect the response in the interval of +/- 45 degrees. Absorbed dose attenuation at dmax, due to the presence of diode on the axis of the beam as a function of electron energy was also determined : the maximum attenuation value is 15% in 6 MeV electron beams. A dose calculation algorithm, taking into account diode response dependence was outlined. In vivo dosimetry was performed in 92 fields for 80 patients, with an agreement of +/-4 % (1 SD) between prescribed and measured dose. It is possible to use the EDE semiconductor detectors on a quality control program of dose delivery for electron beam therapy, but particular attention should be paid to the beam incidence angle and diode dose attenuation.

  17. SU-E-T-600: In Vivo Dosimetry for Total Body and Total Marrow Irradiations with Optically Stimulated Luminescence Dosimeters

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Niedbala, M; Save, C; Cygler, J

    Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of using optically stimulated luminescence dosimeters (OSLDs) for in-vivo dosimetry of patients undergoing Total Body and Total Marrow Irradiations (TBI and TMI). Methods: TBI treatments of 12 Gy were delivered in 6 BID fractions with the patient on a moving couch under a static 10 MV beam (Synergy, Elekta). TMI treatments of 18 Gy in 9 BID fractions were planned and delivered using a 6 MV TomoTherapy unit (Accuray). To provide a uniform dose to the entire patient length, the treatment was split into 2 adjacent fields junctioned in the thigh region. Our standard clinicalmore » practice involves in vivo dosimetry with MOSFETs for each TBI fraction and TLDs for at least one fraction of the TMI treatment for dose verification. In this study we also used OSLDs. Individual calibration coefficients were obtained for the OSLDs based on irradiations in a solid water phantom to the dose of 50 cGy from Elekta Synergy 10 MV (TBI) and 6 MV (TMI) beams. Calibration coefficients were calculated based on the OSLDs readings taken 2 hrs post-irradiation. For in vivo dosimetry OSLDs were placed alongside MOSFETs for TBI patients and in approximately the same locations as the TLDs for TMI patients. OSLDs were read 2 hours post treatment and compared to the MOSFET and TLD results. Results: OSLD measured doses agreed within 5% with MOSFET and TLD results, with the exception of the junction region in the TMI patient due to very high dose gradient and difficulty of precise and reproducible detector placement. Conclusion: OSLDs are useful for in vivo dosimetry of TBI and TMI patients. The quick post-treatment readout is an advantage over TLDs, allowing the results to be obtained between BID fractions, while wireless detectors are advantageous over MOSFETs for treatments involving a moving couch.« less

  18. Digital Mammography Breast Dosimetry Using Copper-Doped Lithium Fluoride (LiF:MCP) Thermoluminescent Dosimeters (TLDs)

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2003-06-18

    Mammography Breast Dosimetry Using Copper-Doped Lithium Fluoride (LiF:MCP) Thermoluminescent Dosimeters ( TLDs ) 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c...34Digital Mammography Breast Dosimetry Using Copper- Doped Lithium Fluoride (LiF:MCP) Thermoluminescent Dosimeters ( TLDs )" Author: LT John J. Tomon...Title of Thesis: " Digital Mammography Breast Dosimetry Using Copper-Doped Lithium Fluoride (LiF:MCP) Thermoluminescent

  19. Radiation-induced damage analysed by luminescence methods in retrospective dosimetry and emergency response.

    PubMed

    Woda, Clemens; Bassinet, Céline; Trompier, François; Bortolin, Emanuela; Della Monaca, Sara; Fattibene, Paola

    2009-01-01

    The increasing risk of a mass casualty scenario following a large scale radiological accident or attack necessitates the development of appropriate dosimetric tools for emergency response. Luminescence dosimetry has been reliably applied for dose reconstruction in contaminated settlements for several decades and recent research into new materials carried close to the human body opens the possibility of estimating individual doses for accident and emergency dosimetry using the same technique. This paper reviews the luminescence research into materials useful for accident dosimetry and applications in retrospective dosimetry. The properties of the materials are critically discussed with regard to the requirements for population triage. It is concluded that electronic components found within portable electronic devices, such as e.g. mobile phones, are at present the most promising material to function as a fortuitous dosimeter in an emergency response.

  20. The stability of liquid-filled matrix ionization chamber electronic portal imaging devices for dosimetry purposes.

    PubMed

    Louwe, R J W; Tielenburg, R; van Ingen, K M; Mijnheer, B J; van Herk, M B

    2004-04-01

    This study was performed to determine the stability of liquid-filled matrix ionization chamber (LiFi-type) electronic portal imaging devices (EPID) for dosimetric purposes. The short- and long-term stability of the response was investigated, as well as the importance of factors influencing the response (e.g., temperature fluctuations, radiation damage, and the performance of the electronic hardware). It was shown that testing the performance of the electronic hardware as well as the short-term stability of the imagers may reveal the cause of a poor long-term stability of the imager response. In addition, the short-term stability was measured to verify the validity of the fitted dose-response curve immediately after beam startup. The long-term stability of these imagers could be considerably improved by correcting for room temperature fluctuations and gradual changes in response due to radiation damage. As a result, the reproducibility was better than 1% (1 SD) over a period of two years. The results of this study were used to formulate recommendations for a quality control program for portal dosimetry. The effect of such a program was assessed by comparing the results of portal dosimetry and in vivo dosimetry using diodes during the treatment of 31 prostate patients. The improvement of the results for portal dosimetry was consistent with the deviations observed with the reproducibility tests in that particular period. After a correction for the variation in response of the imager, the average difference between the measured and prescribed dose during the treatment of prostate patients was -0.7%+/-1.5% (1 SD), and -0.6%+/-1.1% (1 SD) for EPID and diode in vivo dosimetry, respectively. It can be concluded that a high stability of the response can be achieved for this type of EPID by applying a rigorous quality control program.

  1. Biodistribution and radiation dosimetry of [64Cu]copper dichloride: first-in-human study in healthy volunteers.

    PubMed

    Avila-Rodriguez, M A; Rios, C; Carrasco-Hernandez, J; Manrique-Arias, J C; Martinez-Hernandez, R; García-Pérez, F O; Jalilian, A R; Martinez-Rodriguez, E; Romero-Piña, M E; Diaz-Ruiz, A

    2017-12-12

    In recent years, Copper-64 (T 1/2  = 12.7 h) in the chemical form of copper dichloride ([ 64 Cu]CuCl 2 ) has been identified as a potential agent for PET imaging and radionuclide therapy targeting the human copper transporter 1, which is overexpressed in a variety of cancer cells. Limited human biodistribution and radiation dosimetry data is available for this tracer. The aim of this research was to determine the biodistribution and estimate the radiation dosimetry of [ 64 Cu]CuCl 2 , using whole-body (WB) PET scans in healthy volunteers. Six healthy volunteers were included in this study (3 women and 3 men, mean age ± SD, 54.3 ± 8.6 years; mean weight ± SD, 77.2 ± 12.4 kg). After intravenous injection of the tracer (4.0 MBq/kg), three consecutive WB emission scans were acquired at 5, 30, and 60 min after injection. Additional scans were acquired at 5, 9, and 24 h post-injection. Low-dose CT scan without contrast was used for anatomic localization and attenuation correction. OLINDA/EXM software was used to calculate human radiation doses using the reference adult model. The highest uptake was in the liver, followed by lower and upper large intestine walls, and pancreas, in descending order. Urinary excretion was negligible. The critical organ was liver with a mean absorbed dose of 310 ± 67 μGy/MBq for men and 421 ± 56 μGy/MBq for women, while the mean WB effective doses were 51.2 ± 3.0 and 61.8 ± 5.2 μSv/MBq for men and women, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on biodistribution and radiation dosimetry of [ 64 Cu]CuCl 2 in healthy volunteers. Measured absorbed doses and effective doses are higher than previously reported doses estimated with biodistribution data from patients with prostate cancer, a difference that could be explained not just due to altered biodistribution in cancer patients compared to healthy volunteers but most likely due to the differences in the analysis

  2. Five-Year ALARA Review of Dosimetry Results 1 January 2009 through 31 December 2013.

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Paulus, Luke R

    2014-08-01

    A review of dosimetry results from 1 January 2009 through 31 December 2013 was conducted to demonstrate that radiation protection methods used are compliant with regulatory limits and conform to the ALARA philosophy. This included a review and evaluation of personnel dosimetry (external and internal) results at Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico as well as at Sandia National Laboratories, California. Additionally, results of environmental monitoring efforts at Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico were reviewed. ALARA is a philosophical approach to radiation protection by managing and controlling radiation exposures (individual and collective) to the work force and to the general publicmore » to levels that are As Low As is Reasonably Achievable taking social, technical, economic, practical, and public policy considerations into account. ALARA is not a dose limit but a process which has the objective of attaining doses as far below applicable dose limits As Low As is Reasonably Achievable.« less

  3. Five-Year ALARA Review of Dosimetry Results 1 January 2010 through 31 December 2014.

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Paulus, Luke R.

    2015-06-01

    A review of dosimetry results from 1 January 2010 through 31 December 2014 was conducted to demonstrate that radiation protection methods used are compliant with regulatory limits and conform to the philosophy to keep exposures to radiation As Low As is Reasonably Achievable (ALARA). This included a review and evaluation of personnel dosimetry (external and internal) results at Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico as well as at Sandia National Laboratories, California. Additionally, results of environmental monitoring efforts at Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico were reviewed. ALARA is a philosophical approach to radiation protection by managing and controlling radiation exposures (individualmore » and collective) to the work force and to the general public to levels that are As Low As is Reasonably Achievable taking social, technical, economic, practical, and public policy considerations into account. ALARA is not a dose limit but a process which has the objective of attaining doses as far below applicable dose limits As Low As is Reasonably Achievable.« less

  4. Improvement of Accuracy in Environmental Dosimetry by TLD Cards Using Three-dimensional Calibration Method.

    PubMed

    HosseiniAliabadi, S J; Hosseini Pooya, S M; Afarideh, H; Mianji, F

    2015-06-01

    The angular dependency of response for TLD cards may cause deviation from its true value on the results of environmental dosimetry, since TLDs may be exposed to radiation at different angles of incidence from the surrounding area. A 3D setting of TLD cards has been calibrated isotropically in a standard radiation field to evaluate the improvement of the accuracy of measurement for environmental dosimetry. Three personal TLD cards were rectangularly placed in a cylindrical holder, and calibrated using 1D and 3D calibration methods. Then, the dosimeter has been used simultaneously with a reference instrument in a real radiation field measuring the accumulated dose within a time interval. The results show that the accuracy of measurement has been improved by 6.5% using 3D calibration factor in comparison with that of normal 1D calibration method. This system can be utilized in large scale environmental monitoring with a higher accuracy.

  5. Improvement of Accuracy in Environmental Dosimetry by TLD Cards Using Three-dimensional Calibration Method

    PubMed Central

    HosseiniAliabadi, S. J.; Hosseini Pooya, S. M.; Afarideh, H.; Mianji, F.

    2015-01-01

    Introduction The angular dependency of response for TLD cards may cause deviation from its true value on the results of environmental dosimetry, since TLDs may be exposed to radiation at different angles of incidence from the surrounding area. Objective A 3D setting of TLD cards has been calibrated isotropically in a standard radiation field to evaluate the improvement of the accuracy of measurement for environmental dosimetry. Method Three personal TLD cards were rectangularly placed in a cylindrical holder, and calibrated using 1D and 3D calibration methods. Then, the dosimeter has been used simultaneously with a reference instrument in a real radiation field measuring the accumulated dose within a time interval. Result The results show that the accuracy of measurement has been improved by 6.5% using 3D calibration factor in comparison with that of normal 1D calibration method. Conclusion This system can be utilized in large scale environmental monitoring with a higher accuracy. PMID:26157729

  6. WE-H-207A-07: Image-Based Versus Atlas-Based Internal Dosimetry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Fallahpoor, M; Abbasi, M; Parach, A

    Purpose: Monte Carlo (MC) simulation is known as the gold standard method for internal dosimetry. It requires radionuclide distribution from PET or SPECT and body structure from CT for accurate dose calculation. The manual or semi-automatic segmentation of organs from CT images is a major obstacle. The aim of this study is to compare the dosimetry results based on patient’s own CT and a digital humanoid phantom as an atlas with pre-specified organs. Methods: SPECT-CT images of a 50 year old woman who underwent bone pain palliation with Samarium-153 EDTMP for osseous metastases from breast cancer were used. The anatomicalmore » date and attenuation map were extracted from SPECT/CT and three XCAT digital phantoms with different BMIs (i.e. matched (38.8) and unmatched (35.5 and 36.7) with patient’s BMI that was 38.3). Segmentation of patient’s organs in CT image was performed using itk-SNAP software. GATE MC Simulator was used for dose calculation. Specific absorbed fractions (SAFs) and S-values were calculated for the segmented organs. Results: The differences between SAFs and S-values are high using different anatomical data and range from −13% to 39% for SAF values and −109% to 79% for S-values in different organs. In the spine, the clinically important target organ for Samarium Therapy, the differences in the S-values and SAF values are higher between XCAT phantom and CT when the phantom with identical BMI is employed (53.8% relative difference in S-value and 26.8% difference in SAF). However, the whole body dose values were the same between the calculations based on the CT and XCAT with different BMIs. Conclusion: The results indicated that atlas-based dosimetry using XCAT phantom even with matched BMI for patient leads to considerable errors as compared to image-based dosimetry that uses the patient’s own CT Patient-specific dosimetry using CT image is essential for accurate results.« less

  7. Air core detectors for Cerenkov-free scintillation dosimetry of brachytherapy β-sources.

    PubMed

    Eichmann, Marion; Thomann, Benedikt

    2017-09-01

    Plastic scintillation detectors are used for dosimetry in small radiation fields with high dose gradients, e.g., provided by β-emitting sources like 106 Ru/ 106 Rh eye plaques. A drawback is a background signal caused by Cerenkov radiation generated by electrons passing the optical fibers (light guides) of this dosimetry system. Common approaches to correct for the Cerenkov signal are influenced by uncertainties resulting from detector positioning and calibration procedures. A different approach to avoid any correction procedure is to suppress the Cerenkov signal by replacing the solid core optical fiber with an air core light guide, previously shown for external beam therapy. In this study, the air core concept is modified and applied to the requirements of dosimetry in brachytherapy, proving its usability for measuring water energy doses in small radiation fields. Three air core detectors with different air core lengths are constructed and their performance in dosimetry for brachytherapy β-sources is compared with a standard two-fiber system, which uses a second fiber for Cerenkov correction. The detector systems are calibrated with a 90 Sr/ 90 Y secondary standard and tested for their angular dependence as well as their performance in depth dose measurements of 106 Ru/ 106 Rh sources. The signal loss relative to the standard detector increases with increasing air core length to a maximum value of 58.3%. At the same time, however, the percentage amount of Cerenkov light in the total signal is reduced from at least 12.1% to a value below 1.1%. There is a linear correlation between induced dose and measured signal current. The air core detectors determine the dose rates for 106 Ru/ 106 Rh sources without any form of correction for the Cerenkov signal. The air core detectors show advantages over the standard two-fiber system especially when measuring in radiation fields with high dose gradients. They can be used as simple one-fiber systems and allow for an almost

  8. In vivo dosimetry in external beam radiotherapy.

    PubMed

    Mijnheer, Ben; Beddar, Sam; Izewska, Joanna; Reft, Chester

    2013-07-01

    In vivo dosimetry (IVD) is in use in external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) to detect major errors, to assess clinically relevant differences between planned and delivered dose, to record dose received by individual patients, and to fulfill legal requirements. After discussing briefly the main characteristics of the most commonly applied IVD systems, the clinical experience of IVD during EBRT will be summarized. Advancement of the traditional aspects of in vivo dosimetry as well as the development of currently available and newly emerging noninterventional technologies are required for large-scale implementation of IVD in EBRT. These new technologies include the development of electronic portal imaging devices for 2D and 3D patient dosimetry during advanced treatment techniques, such as IMRT and VMAT, and the use of IVD in proton and ion radiotherapy by measuring the decay of radiation-induced radionuclides. In the final analysis, we will show in this Vision 20∕20 paper that in addition to regulatory compliance and reimbursement issues, the rationale for in vivo measurements is to provide an accurate and independent verification of the overall treatment procedure. It will enable the identification of potential errors in dose calculation, data transfer, dose delivery, patient setup, and changes in patient anatomy. It is the authors' opinion that all treatments with curative intent should be verified through in vivo dose measurements in combination with pretreatment checks.

  9. Fostering a culture of interprofessional education for radiation therapy and medical dosimetry students.

    PubMed

    Lavender, Charlotte; Miller, Seth; Church, Jessica; Chen, Ronald C; Muresan, Petronella A; Adams, Robert D

    2014-01-01

    A less-studied aspect of radiation therapy and medical dosimetry education is experiential learning through attendance at interprofessional conferences. University of North Carolina radiation therapy and medical dosimetry students regularly attended morning conferences and daily pretreatment peer review, including approximately 145 hours of direct interaction with medical attending physicians and residents, medical physicists, and other faculty. We herein assessed the effect of their participation in these interprofessional conferences on knowledge and communication. The students who graduated from our radiation therapy and medical dosimetry programs who were exposed to the interprofessional education initiative were compared with those who graduated in the previous years. The groups were compared with regard to their knowledge (as assessed by grades on end-of-training examinations) and team communication (assessed via survey). The results for the 2 groups were compared via exact tests. There was a trend for the examination scores for the 2012 cohort to be higher than for the 2007 to 2011 groups. Survey results suggested that students who attended the interprofessional education sessions were more comfortable speaking with attending physicians, residents, physicists, and faculty compared with earlier students who did not attend these educational sessions. Interprofessional education, particularly vertical integration, appears to provide an enhanced educational experience both in regard to knowledge (per the examination scores) and in building a sense of communication (via the survey results). Integration of interprofessional education into radiation therapy and medical dosimetry educational programs may represent an opportunity to enrich the learning experience in multiple ways and merits further study. © 2013 Published by American Association of Medical Dosimetrists on behalf of American Association of Medical Dosimetrists.

  10. Anthropomorphic Phantom Radiation Dosimetry at the NATO Standard Reference Point at Aberdeen Proving Ground,

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1987-04-01

    and would still be well under 10(C. .% % p., I V a- E p - -12 - IABLE 8 (a) TLD results for phantom dosimetry - all values shown are measured charge...SAI. Conclusions The current DREO dosimetry system-consisting of bubble, CR39 and TLD dosimeters - has proven capable of producing meaningful results at...MC FILE CoPy’ Defence nationale 00 ANTHROPOMORPHIC PHANTOM RADIATION DOSIMETRY AT THE NATO STANDARD OREFERENCE POINT AT ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND by T

  11. Sci-Sat AM: Radiation Dosimetry and Practical Therapy Solutions - 03: Energy dependence of a clinical probe-format calorimeter and its pertinence to absolute photon and electron beam dosimetry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Renaud, James; Seuntjens, Jan; Sarfehnia, Arman

    Purpose: To evaluate the intrinsic and absorbed-dose energy dependence of a small-scale graphite calorimeter probe (GPC) developed for use as a routine clinical dosimeter. The influence of charge deposition on the response of the GPC was also assessed by performing absolute dosimetry in clinical linac-based electron beams. Methods: Intrinsic energy dependence was determined by performing constant-temperature calorimetry dose measurements in a water-equivalent solid phantom, under otherwise reference conditions, in five high-energy photon (63.5 < %dd(10){sub X} < 76.3), and five electron (2.3 cm < R{sub 50} < 8.3 cm) beams. Reference dosimetry was performed for all beams in question usingmore » an Exradin A19 ion chamber with a calibration traceable to national standards. The absorbed-dose component of the overall energy dependence was calculated using the EGSnrc egs-chamber user code. Results: A total of 72 measurements were performed with the GPC, resulting in a standard error on the mean absorbed dose of better than 0.3 % for all ten beams. For both the photon and electron beams, no statistically-significant energy dependence was observed experimentally. Peak-to-peak, variations in the relative response of the GPC across all beam qualities of a given radiation type were on the order of 1 %. No effects, either transient or permanent, were attributable to the charge deposited by the electron beams. Conclusions: The GPC’s apparent energy-independence, combined with its well-established linearity and dose rate independence, make it a potentially useful dosimetry system capable measuring photon and electron doses in absolute terms at the clinical level.« less

  12. Flat Ge-doped optical fibres for food irradiation dosimetry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Noor, N. Mohd; Jusoh, M. A.; Razis, A. F. Abdull

    Exposing food to radiation can improve hygiene quality, germination control, retard sprouting, and enhance physical attributes of the food product. To provide for food safety, radiation dosimetry in irradiated food is required. Herein, fabricated germanium doped (Ge-doped) optical fibres have been used. The fibres have been irradiated using a gamma source irradiator, doses in the range 1 kGy to 10 kGy being delivered. Using Ge-doped optical fibres of variable size, type and dopant concentration, study has been made of linearity, reproducibility, and fading. The thermoluminescence (TL) yield of the fibres were obtained and compared. The fibres exhibit a linear dosemore » response over the investigated range of doses, with mean reproducibility to within 2.69 % to 8.77 %, exceeding the dose range of all commercial dosimeters used in evaluating high doses for the food irradiation industry. TL fading of the Ge-doped flat fibres has been found to be < 13%.« less

  13. Flat Ge-doped optical fibres for food irradiation dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Noor, N. Mohd; Jusoh, M. A.; Razis, A. F. Abdull; Alawiah, A.; Bradley, D. A.

    2015-04-01

    Exposing food to radiation can improve hygiene quality, germination control, retard sprouting, and enhance physical attributes of the food product. To provide for food safety, radiation dosimetry in irradiated food is required. Herein, fabricated germanium doped (Ge-doped) optical fibres have been used. The fibres have been irradiated using a gamma source irradiator, doses in the range 1 kGy to 10 kGy being delivered. Using Ge-doped optical fibres of variable size, type and dopant concentration, study has been made of linearity, reproducibility, and fading. The thermoluminescence (TL) yield of the fibres were obtained and compared. The fibres exhibit a linear dose response over the investigated range of doses, with mean reproducibility to within 2.69 % to 8.77 %, exceeding the dose range of all commercial dosimeters used in evaluating high doses for the food irradiation industry. TL fading of the Ge-doped flat fibres has been found to be < 13%.

  14. Methods and Models of the Hanford Internal Dosimetry Program, PNNL-MA-860

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Carbaugh, Eugene H.; Bihl, Donald E.; Maclellan, Jay A.

    2003-01-03

    This manual describes the technical basis for the design of the routine radiobioassay monitoring program and assessments of internal dose. Its purpose is to provide a historical record of the methods, models, and assumptions used for internal dosimetry at Hanford, and serve as a technical reference for radiation protection and dosimetry staff.

  15. Evaluation of linear array MOSFET detectors for in vivo dosimetry to measure rectal dose in HDR brachytherapy.

    PubMed

    Haughey, Aisling; Coalter, George; Mugabe, Koki

    2011-09-01

    The study aimed to assess the suitability of linear array metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor detectors (MOSFETs) as in vivo dosimeters to measure rectal dose in high dose rate brachytherapy treatments. The MOSFET arrays were calibrated with an Ir192 source and phantom measurements were performed to check agreement with the treatment planning system. The angular dependence, linearity and constancy of the detectors were evaluated. For in vivo measurements two sites were investigated, transperineal needle implants for prostate cancer and Fletcher suites for cervical cancer. The MOSFETs were inserted into the patients' rectum in theatre inside a modified flatus tube. The patients were then CT scanned for treatment planning. Measured rectal doses during treatment were compared with point dose measurements predicted by the TPS. The MOSFETs were found to require individual calibration factors. The calibration was found to drift by approximately 1% ±0.8 per 500 mV accumulated and varies with distance from source due to energy dependence. In vivo results for prostate patients found only 33% of measured doses agreed with the TPS within ±10%. For cervix cases 42% of measured doses agreed with the TPS within ±10%, however of those not agreeing variations of up to 70% were observed. One of the most limiting factors in this study was found to be the inability to prevent the MOSFET moving internally between the time of CT and treatment. Due to the many uncertainties associated with MOSFETs including calibration drift, angular dependence and the inability to know their exact position at the time of treatment, we consider them to be unsuitable for in vivo dosimetry in rectum for HDR brachytherapy.

  16. Developing an Optimum Protocol for Thermoluminescence Dosimetry with GR-200 Chips using Taguchi Method.

    PubMed

    Sadeghi, Maryam; Faghihi, Reza; Sina, Sedigheh

    2017-06-15

    Thermoluminescence dosimetry (TLD) is a powerful technique with wide applications in personal, environmental and clinical dosimetry. The optimum annealing, storage and reading protocols are very effective in accuracy of TLD response. The purpose of this study is to obtain an optimum protocol for GR-200; LiF: Mg, Cu, P, by optimizing the effective parameters, to increase the reliability of the TLD response using Taguchi method. Taguchi method has been used in this study for optimization of annealing, storage and reading protocols of the TLDs. A number of 108 GR-200 chips were divided into 27 groups, each containing four chips. The TLDs were exposed to three different doses, and stored, annealed and read out by different procedures as suggested by Taguchi Method. By comparing the signal-to-noise ratios the optimum dosimetry procedure was obtained. According to the results, the optimum values for annealing temperature (°C), Annealing Time (s), Annealing to Exposure time (d), Exposure to Readout time (d), Pre-heat Temperature (°C), Pre-heat Time (s), Heating Rate (°C/s), Maximum Temperature of Readout (°C), readout time (s) and Storage Temperature (°C) are 240, 90, 1, 2, 50, 0, 15, 240, 13 and -20, respectively. Using the optimum protocol, an efficient glow curve with low residual signals can be achieved. Using optimum protocol obtained by Taguchi method, the dosimetry can be effectively performed with great accuracy. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  17. Dosimetry for photo-coagulation by the use of autofluorescence

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brodzinski, T.

    1989-01-01

    A basic problem when using lasers in medicine is that of dosimetry. The definition of the terms dose, effective value etc. will be dealt with in Chapter 2. This chapter is intended to give an insight into the problems of basic dosimetry and its technical realization within the field of photocoagulation, an established method used to treat the retina, or some skin diseases. Until now the coagulation process was assessed to be completed when the irradiated area became blanched. However in terms of dosimetry, it must be possible to predict or at least to monitor the biological effect using well-defined parameters for the laser or in achieving an objective measure for a feedback loop. In the case of coagulation, a prediction in this form is not possible. There are two ways of pro- ceeding further see Fig. 1. One can either determine the physical effect, i.e. temperature, by some kind of sensors, or even better, use some biological effect as a direct measure of the effective dose applied.

  18. Dose verification of eye plaque brachytherapy using spectroscopic dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Jarema, T; Cutajar, D; Weaver, M; Petasecca, M; Lerch, M; Kejda, A; Rosenfeld, A

    2016-09-01

    Eye plaque brachytherapy has been developed and refined for the last 80 years, demonstrating effective results in the treatment of ocular malignancies. Current dosimetry techniques for eye plaque brachytherapy (such as TLD- and film-based techniques) are time consuming and cannot be used prior to treatment in a sterile environment. The measurement of the expected dose distribution within the eye, prior to insertion within the clinical setting, would be advantageous, as any errors in source loading will lead to an erroneous dose distribution and inferior treatment outcomes. This study investigated the use of spectroscopic dosimetry techniques for real-time quality assurance of I-125 based eye plaques, immediately prior to insertion. A silicon detector based probe, operating in spectroscopy mode was constructed, containing a small (1 mm(3)) silicon detector, mounted within a ceramic holder, all encapsulated within a rubber sheath to prevent water infiltration of the electronics. Preliminary tests of the prototype demonstrated that the depth dose distribution through the central axis of an I-125 based eye plaque may be determined from AAPM Task Group 43 recommendations to a deviation of 6 % at 3 mm depth, 7 % at 5 mm depth, 1 % at 10 mm depth and 13 % at 20 mm depth, with the deviations attributed to the construction of the probe. A new probe design aims to reduce these discrepancies, however the concept of spectroscopic dosimetry shows great promise for use in eye plaque quality assurance in the clinical setting.

  19. Time-gated scintillator imaging for real-time optical surface dosimetry in total skin electron therapy.

    PubMed

    Bruza, Petr; Gollub, Sarah L; Andreozzi, Jacqueline M; Tendler, Irwin I; Williams, Benjamin B; Jarvis, Lesley A; Gladstone, David J; Pogue, Brian W

    2018-05-02

    The purpose of this study was to measure surface dose by remote time-gated imaging of plastic scintillators. A novel technique for time-gated, intensified camera imaging of scintillator emission was demonstrated, and key parameters influencing the signal were analyzed, including distance, angle and thickness. A set of scintillator samples was calibrated by using thermo-luminescence detector response as reference. Examples of use in total skin electron therapy are described. The data showed excellent room light rejection (signal-to-noise ratio of scintillation SNR  ≈  470), ideal scintillation dose response linearity, and 2% dose rate error. Individual sample scintillation response varied by 7% due to sample preparation. Inverse square distance dependence correction and lens throughput error (8% per meter) correction were needed. At scintillator-to-source angle and observation angle  <50°, the radiant energy fluence error was smaller than 1%. The achieved standard error of the scintillator cumulative dose measurement compared to the TLD dose was 5%. The results from this proof-of-concept study documented the first use of small scintillator targets for remote surface dosimetry in ambient room lighting. The measured dose accuracy renders our method to be comparable to thermo-luminescent detector dosimetry, with the ultimate realization of accuracy likely to be better than shown here. Once optimized, this approach to remote dosimetry may substantially reduce the time and effort required for surface dosimetry.

  20. Time-gated scintillator imaging for real-time optical surface dosimetry in total skin electron therapy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bruza, Petr; Gollub, Sarah L.; Andreozzi, Jacqueline M.; Tendler, Irwin I.; Williams, Benjamin B.; Jarvis, Lesley A.; Gladstone, David J.; Pogue, Brian W.

    2018-05-01

    The purpose of this study was to measure surface dose by remote time-gated imaging of plastic scintillators. A novel technique for time-gated, intensified camera imaging of scintillator emission was demonstrated, and key parameters influencing the signal were analyzed, including distance, angle and thickness. A set of scintillator samples was calibrated by using thermo-luminescence detector response as reference. Examples of use in total skin electron therapy are described. The data showed excellent room light rejection (signal-to-noise ratio of scintillation SNR  ≈  470), ideal scintillation dose response linearity, and 2% dose rate error. Individual sample scintillation response varied by 7% due to sample preparation. Inverse square distance dependence correction and lens throughput error (8% per meter) correction were needed. At scintillator-to-source angle and observation angle  <50°, the radiant energy fluence error was smaller than 1%. The achieved standard error of the scintillator cumulative dose measurement compared to the TLD dose was 5%. The results from this proof-of-concept study documented the first use of small scintillator targets for remote surface dosimetry in ambient room lighting. The measured dose accuracy renders our method to be comparable to thermo-luminescent detector dosimetry, with the ultimate realization of accuracy likely to be better than shown here. Once optimized, this approach to remote dosimetry may substantially reduce the time and effort required for surface dosimetry.

  1. Fourth conference on radiation protection and dosimetry: Proceedings, program, and abstracts

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Casson, W.H.; Thein, C.M.; Bogard, J.S.

    This Conference is the fourth in a series of conferences organized by staff members of Oak Ridge National Laboratory in an effort to improve communication in the field of radiation protection and dosimetry. Scientists, regulators, managers, professionals, technologists, and vendors from the United States and countries around the world have taken advantage of this opportunity to meet with their contemporaries and peers in order to exchange information and ideas. The program includes over 100 papers in 9 sessions, plus an additional session for works in progress. Papers are presented in external dosimetry, internal dosimetry, radiation protection programs and assessments, developmentsmore » in instrumentation and materials, environmental and medical applications, and on topics related to standards, accreditation, and calibration. Individual papers are indexed separately on EDB.« less

  2. Air density correction in ionization dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Christ, G; Dohm, O S; Schüle, E; Gaupp, S; Martin, M

    2004-05-21

    Air density must be taken into account when ionization dosimetry is performed with unsealed ionization chambers. The German dosimetry protocol DIN 6800-2 states an air density correction factor for which current barometric pressure and temperature and their reference values must be known. It also states that differences between air density and the attendant reference value, as well as changes in ionization chamber sensitivity, can be determined using a radioactive check source. Both methods have advantages and drawbacks which the paper discusses in detail. Barometric pressure at a given height above sea level can be determined by using a suitable barometer, or data downloaded from airport or weather service internet sites. The main focus of the paper is to show how barometric data from measurement or from the internet are correctly processed. Therefore the paper also provides all the requisite equations and terminological explanations. Computed and measured barometric pressure readings are compared, and long-term experience with air density correction factors obtained using both methods is described.

  3. Time resolved dosimetry of human brain exposed to low frequency pulsed magnetic fields.

    PubMed

    Paffi, Alessandra; Camera, Francesca; Lucano, Elena; Apollonio, Francesca; Liberti, Micaela

    2016-06-21

    An accurate dosimetry is a key issue to understanding brain stimulation and related interaction mechanisms with neuronal tissues at the basis of the increasing amount of literature revealing the effects on human brain induced by low-level, low frequency pulsed magnetic fields (PMFs). Most literature on brain dosimetry estimates the maximum E field value reached inside the tissue without considering its time pattern or tissue dispersivity. Nevertheless a time-resolved dosimetry, accounting for dispersive tissues behavior, becomes necessary considering that the threshold for an effect onset may vary depending on the pulse waveform and that tissues may filter the applied stimulatory fields altering the predicted stimulatory waveform's size and shape. In this paper a time-resolved dosimetry has been applied on a realistic brain model exposed to the signal presented in Capone et al (2009 J. Neural Transm. 116 257-65), accounting for the broadband dispersivity of brain tissues up to several kHz, to accurately reconstruct electric field and current density waveforms inside different brain tissues. The results obtained by exposing the Duke's brain model to this PMF signal show that the E peak in the brain is considerably underestimated if a simple monochromatic dosimetry is carried out at the pulse repetition frequency of 75 Hz.

  4. Time resolved dosimetry of human brain exposed to low frequency pulsed magnetic fields

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Paffi, Alessandra; Camera, Francesca; Lucano, Elena; Apollonio, Francesca; Liberti, Micaela

    2016-06-01

    An accurate dosimetry is a key issue to understanding brain stimulation and related interaction mechanisms with neuronal tissues at the basis of the increasing amount of literature revealing the effects on human brain induced by low-level, low frequency pulsed magnetic fields (PMFs). Most literature on brain dosimetry estimates the maximum E field value reached inside the tissue without considering its time pattern or tissue dispersivity. Nevertheless a time-resolved dosimetry, accounting for dispersive tissues behavior, becomes necessary considering that the threshold for an effect onset may vary depending on the pulse waveform and that tissues may filter the applied stimulatory fields altering the predicted stimulatory waveform’s size and shape. In this paper a time-resolved dosimetry has been applied on a realistic brain model exposed to the signal presented in Capone et al (2009 J. Neural Transm. 116 257-65), accounting for the broadband dispersivity of brain tissues up to several kHz, to accurately reconstruct electric field and current density waveforms inside different brain tissues. The results obtained by exposing the Duke’s brain model to this PMF signal show that the E peak in the brain is considerably underestimated if a simple monochromatic dosimetry is carried out at the pulse repetition frequency of 75 Hz.

  5. Sci—Thur AM: YIS - 03: irtGPUMCD: a new GPU-calculated dosimetry code for {sup 177}Lu-octreotate radionuclide therapy of neuroendocrine tumors

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Montégiani, Jean-François; Gaudin, Émilie; Després, Philippe

    2014-08-15

    In peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT), huge inter-patient variability in absorbed radiation doses per administered activity mandates the utilization of individualized dosimetry to evaluate therapeutic efficacy and toxicity. We created a reliable GPU-calculated dosimetry code (irtGPUMCD) and assessed {sup 177}Lu-octreotate renal dosimetry in eight patients (4 cycles of approximately 7.4 GBq). irtGPUMCD was derived from a brachytherapy dosimetry code (bGPUMCD), which was adapted to {sup 177}Lu PRRT dosimetry. Serial quantitative single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) images were obtained from three SPECT/CT acquisitions performed at 4, 24 and 72 hours after {sup 177}Lu-octreotate administration, and registered with non-rigid deformation of CTmore » volumes, to obtain {sup 177}Lu-octreotate 4D quantitative biodistribution. Local energy deposition from the β disintegrations was assumed. Using Monte Carlo gamma photon transportation, irtGPUMCD computed dose rate at each time point. Average kidney absorbed dose was obtained from 1-cm{sup 3} VOI dose rate samples on each cortex, subjected to a biexponential curve fit. Integration of the latter time-dose rate curve yielded the renal absorbed dose. The mean renal dose per administered activity was 0.48 ± 0.13 Gy/GBq (range: 0.30–0.71 Gy/GBq). Comparison to another PRRT dosimetry code (VRAK: Voxelized Registration and Kinetics) showed fair accordance with irtGPUMCD (11.4 ± 6.8 %, range: 3.3–26.2%). These results suggest the possibility to use the irtGPUMCD code in order to personalize administered activity in PRRT. This could allow improving clinical outcomes by maximizing per-cycle tumor doses, without exceeding the tolerable renal dose.« less

  6. Evaluation of a real-time BeO ceramic fiber-coupled luminescence dosimetry system for dose verification of high dose rate brachytherapy.

    PubMed

    Santos, Alexandre M Caraça; Mohammadi, Mohammad; Afshar V, Shahraam

    2015-11-01

    The authors evaluate the capability of a beryllium oxide (BeO) ceramic fiber-coupled luminescence dosimeter, named radioluminescence/optically stimulated luminescence (RL/OSL) BeO FOD, for dosimetric verification of high dose rate (HDR) treatments. The RL/OSL BeO FOD is capable of RL and OSL measurements. The RL/OSL BeO FOD is able to be inserted in 6F proguide needles, used in interstitial HDR treatments. Using a custom built Perspex phantom, 6F proguide needles could be submerged in a water tank at 1 cm separations from each other. A second background fiber was required to correct for the stem effect. The stem effect, dose linearity, reproducibility, depth-dose curves, and angular and temperature dependency of the RL/OSL BeO FOD were characterised using an Ir-192 source. The RL/OSL BeO FOD was also applied to the commissioning of a 10 mm horizontal Leipzig applicator. Both the RL and OSL were found to be reproducible and their percentage depth-dose curves to be in good agreement with those predicted via TG-43. A combined uncertainty of 7.9% and 10.1% (k=1) was estimated for the RL and OSL, respectively. For the 10 mm horizontal Leipzig applicator, measured percentage depth doses were within 5% agreement of the published reference calculations. The output at the 3 mm prescription depth for a 1 Gy delivery was verified to be 0.99±0.08 Gy and 1.01±0.10 Gy by the RL and OSL, respectively. The use of the second background fiber under the current setup means that the two fibers cannot fit into a single 6F needle. Hence, use of the RL is currently not adequate for the purpose of in vivo brachytherapy dosimetry. While not real-time, the OSL is shown to be adequate for in vivo brachytherapy dosimetry.

  7. Exposure to mobile telecommunication networks assessed using personal dosimetry and well-being in children and adolescents: the German MobilEe-study.

    PubMed

    Thomas, Silke; Kühnlein, Anja; Heinrich, Sabine; Praml, Georg; von Kries, Rüdiger; Radon, Katja

    2008-11-04

    Despite the increase of mobile phone use in the last decade and the growing concern whether mobile telecommunication networks adversely affect health and well-being, only few studies have been published that focussed on children and adolescents. Especially children and adolescents are important in the discussion of adverse health effects because of their possibly higher vulnerability to radio frequency electromagnetic fields. We investigated a possible association between exposure to mobile telecommunication networks and well-being in children and adolescents using personal dosimetry. A population-based sample of 1.498 children and 1.524 adolescents was assembled for the study (response 52%). Participants were randomly selected from the population registries of four Bavarian (South of Germany) cities and towns with different population sizes. During a Computer Assisted Personal Interview data on participants' well-being, socio-demographic characteristics and potential confounder were collected. Acute symptoms were assessed three times during the study day (morning, noon, evening).Using a dosimeter (ESM-140 Maschek Electronics), we obtained an exposure profile over 24 hours for three mobile phone frequency ranges (measurement interval 1 second, limit of determination 0.05 V/m) for each of the participants. Exposure levels over waking hours were summed up and expressed as mean percentage of the ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection) reference level. In comparison to non-participants, parents and adolescents with a higher level of education who possessed a mobile phone and were interested in the topic of possible adverse health effects caused by mobile telecommunication network frequencies were more willing to participate in the study. The median exposure to radio frequency electromagnetic fields of children and adolescents was 0.18% and 0.19% of the ICNIRP reference level respectively. In comparison to previous studies this is one of

  8. Effect of contrast agent administration on consequences of dosimetry and biology in radiotherapy planning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lo, Ching-Jung; Yang, Pei-Ying; Chao, Tsi-Chian; Tu, Shu-Ju

    2015-06-01

    In the treatment planning of radiation therapy, patients may be administrated with contrast media in CT scanning to assist physicians for accurate delineation of the target or organs. However, contrast media are not used in patients during the treatment delivery. In particular, contrast media contain materials with high atomic numbers and dosimetric variations may occur between scenarios where contrast media are present in treatment planning and absent in treatment delivery. In this study we evaluate the effect of contrast media on the dosimetry and biological consequence. An analytical phantom based on AAPM TG 119 and five sets of CT images from clinical patients are included. Different techniques of treatment planning are considered, including 1-field AP, 2-field AP+PA, 4-field box, 7-field IMRT, and RapidArc. RapidArc is a recent technique of volumetric modulated arc therapy and is used in our study of contrast media in clinical scenarios. The effect of RapidArc on dosimetry and biological consequence for administration of contrast media in radiotherapy is not discussed previously in literature. It is shown that dose difference is reduced as the number of external beams is increased, suggesting RapidArc may be favored to be used in the treatment planning enhanced by contrast media. Linear trend lines are fitted for assessment of percent dose differences in the planning target volume versus concentrations of contrast media between plans where contrast media are present and absent, respectively.

  9. Characterization of a new commercial single crystal diamond detector for photon- and proton-beam dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Akino, Yuichi; Gautam, Archana; Coutinho, Len; Würfel, Jan; Das, Indra J

    2015-11-01

    A synthetic single crystal diamond detector (SCDD) is commercially available and is characterized for radiation dosimetry in various radiation beams in this study. The characteristics of the commercial SCDD model 60019 (PTW) with 6- and 15-MV photon beams, and 208-MeV proton beams, were investigated and compared with the pre-characterized detectors: Semiflex (model 31010) and PinPoint (model 31006) ionization chambers (PTW), the EDGE diode detector (Sun Nuclear Corp) and the SFD Stereotactic Dosimetry Diode Detector (IBA). To evaluate the effects of the pre-irradiation, the diamond detector, which had not been irradiated on the day, was set up in the water tank, and the response to 100 MU was measured every 20 s. The depth-dose and profiles data were collected for various field sizes and depths. For all radiation types and field sizes, the depth-dose data of the diamond chamber showed identical curves to those of the ionization chambers. The profile of the diamond detector was very similar to those of the EDGE and SFD detectors, although the Semiflex and PinPoint chambers showed volume-averaging effects in the penumbrae region. The temperature dependency was within 0.7% in the range of 4-41°C. A dose of 900 cGy and 1200 cGy was needed to stabilize the chamber to the level within 0.5% and 0.2%, respectively. The PTW type 60019 SCDD detector showed suitable characteristics for radiation dosimetry, for relative dose, depth-dose and profile measurements for a wide range of field sizes. However, at least 1000 cGy of pre-irradiation will be needed for accurate measurements. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Japan Radiation Research Society and Japanese Society for Radiation Oncology.

  10. Applications of Cherenkov Light Emission for Dosimetry in Radiation Therapy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Glaser, Adam Kenneth

    Since its discovery in the 1930's, the Cherenkov effect has been paramount in the development of high-energy physics research. It results in light emission from charged particles traveling faster than the local speed of light in a dielectric medium. The ability of this emitted light to describe a charged particle's trajectory, energy, velocity, and mass has allowed scientists to study subatomic particles, detect neutrinos, and explore the properties of interstellar matter. However, only recently has the phenomenon been considered in the practical context of medical physics and radiation therapy dosimetry, where Cherenkov light is induced by clinical x-ray photon, electron, and proton beams. To investigate the relationship between this phenomenon and dose deposition, a Monte Carlo plug-in was developed within the Geant4 architecture for medically-oriented simulations (GAMOS) to simulate radiation-induced optical emission in biological media. Using this simulation framework, it was determined that Cherenkov light emission may be well suited for radiation dosimetry of clinically used x-ray photon beams. To advance this application, several novel techniques were implemented to realize the maximum potential of the signal, such as time-gating for maximizing the signal to noise ratio (SNR) and Cherenkov-excited fluorescence for generating isotropic light release in water. Proof of concept experiments were conducted in water tanks to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method for two-dimensional (2D) projection imaging, three-dimensional (3D) parallel beam tomography, large field of view 3D cone beam tomography, and video-rate dynamic imaging of treatment plans for a number of common radiotherapy applications. The proposed dosimetry method was found to have a number of unique advantages, including but not limited to its non-invasive nature, water-equivalence, speed, high-resolution, ability to provide full 3D data, and potential to yield data in-vivo. Based on

  11. Trends in gel dosimetry: Preliminary bibliometric overview of active growth areas, research trends and hot topics from Gore’s 1984 paper onwards

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baldock, C.

    2017-05-01

    John Gore’s seminal 1984 paper on gel dosimetry spawned a vibrant research field ranging from fundamental science through to clinical applications. A preliminary bibliometric study was undertaken of the gel dosimetry family of publications inspired by, and resulting from, Gore’s original 1984 paper to determine active growth areas, research trends and hot topics from Gore’s paper up to and including 2016. Themes and trends of the gel dosimetry research field were bibliometrically explored by way of co-occurrence term maps using the titles and abstracts text corpora from the Web of Science database for all relevant papers from 1984 to 2016. Visualisation of similarities was used by way of the VOSviewer visualisation tool to generate cluster maps of gel dosimetry knowledge domains and the associated citation impact of topics within the domains. Heat maps were then generated to assist in the understanding of active growth areas, research trends, and emerging and hot topics in gel dosimetry.

  12. COMPARISON OF RESPONSE OF PASSIVE DOSIMETRY SYSTEMS IN SCANNING PROTON RADIOTHERAPY-A STUDY USING PAEDIATRIC ANTHROPOMORPHIC PHANTOMS.

    PubMed

    Kneževic, Ž; Ambrozova, I; Domingo, C; De Saint-Hubert, M; Majer, M; Martínez-Rovira, I; Miljanic, S; Mojzeszek, N; Porwol, P; Ploc, O; Romero-Expósito, M; Stolarczyk, L; Trinkl, S; Harrison, R M; Olko, P

    2017-11-18

    Proton beam therapy has advantages in comparison to conventional photon radiotherapy due to the physical properties of proton beams (e.g. sharp distal fall off, adjustable range and modulation). In proton therapy, there is the possibility of sparing healthy tissue close to the target volume. This is especially important when tumours are located next to critical organs and while treating cancer in paediatric patients. On the other hand, the interactions of protons with matter result in the production of secondary radiation, mostly neutrons and gamma radiation, which deposit their energy at a distance from the target. The aim of this study was to compare the response of different passive dosimetry systems in mixed radiation field induced by proton pencil beam inside anthropomorphic phantoms representing 5 and 10 years old children. Doses were measured in different organs with thermoluminescent (MTS-7, MTS-6 and MCP-N), radiophotoluminescent (GD-352 M and GD-302M), bubble and poly-allyl-diglycol carbonate (PADC) track detectors. Results show that RPL detectors are the less sensitive for neutrons than LiF TLDs and can be applied for in-phantom dosimetry of gamma component. Neutron doses determined using track detectors, bubble detectors and pairs of MTS-7/MTS-6 are consistent within the uncertainty range. This is the first study dealing with measurements on child anthropomorphic phantoms irradiated by a pencil scanning beam technique. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  13. SU-E-J-17: A Study of Accelerator-Induced Cerenkov Radiation as a Beam Diagnostic and Dosimetry Tool

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bateman, F; Tosh, R

    2014-06-01

    Purpose: To investigate accelerator-induced Cerenkov radiation imaging as a possible beam diagnostic and medical dosimetry tool. Methods: Cerenkov emission produced by clinical accelerator beams in a water phantom was imaged using a camera system comprised of a high-sensitivity thermoelectrically-cooled CCD camera coupled to a large aperture (f/0.75) objective lens with 16:1 magnification. This large format lens allows a significant amount of the available Cerenkov light to be collected and focused onto the CCD camera to form the image. Preliminary images, obtained with 6 MV photon beams, used an unshielded camera mounted horizontally with the beam normal to the water surface,more » and confirmed the detection of Cerenkov radiation. Several improvements were subsequently made including the addition of radiation shielding around the camera, and altering of the beam and camera angles to give a more favorable geometry for Cerenkov light collection. A detailed study was then undertaken over a range of electron and photon beam energies and dose rates to investigate the possibility of using this technique for beam diagnostics and dosimetry. Results: A series of images were obtained at a fixed dose rate over a range of electron energies from 6 to 20 MeV. The location of maximum intensity was found to vary linearly with the energy of the beam. A linear relationship was also found between the light observed from a fixed point on the central axis and the dose rate for both photon and electron beams. Conclusion: We have found that the analysis of images of beam-induced Cerenkov light in a water phantom has potential for use as a beam diagnostic and medical dosimetry tool. Our future goals include the calibration of the light output in terms of radiation dose and development of a tomographic system for 3D Cerenkov imaging in water phantoms and other media.« less

  14. Commissioning dosimetry and in situ dose mapping of a semi-industrial Cobalt-60 gamma-irradiation facility using Fricke and Ceric-cerous dosimetry system and comparison with Monte Carlo simulation data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mortuza, Md Firoz; Lepore, Luigi; Khedkar, Kalpana; Thangam, Saravanan; Nahar, Arifatun; Jamil, Hossen Mohammad; Bandi, Laxminarayan; Alam, Md Khorshed

    2018-03-01

    Characterization of a 90 kCi (3330 TBq), semi-industrial, cobalt-60 gamma irradiator was performed by commissioning dosimetry and in-situ dose mapping experiments with Ceric-cerous and Fricke dosimetry systems. Commissioning dosimetry was carried out to determine dose distribution pattern of absorbed dose in the irradiation cell and products. To determine maximum and minimum absorbed dose, overdose ratio and dwell time of the tote boxes, homogeneous dummy product (rice husk) with a bulk density of 0.13 g/cm3 were used in the box positions of irradiation chamber. The regions of minimum absorbed dose of the tote boxes were observed in the lower zones of middle plane and maximum absorbed doses were found in the middle position of front plane. Moreover, as a part of dose mapping, dose rates in the wall positions and some selective strategic positions were also measured to carry out multiple irradiation program simultaneously, especially for low dose research irradiation program. In most of the cases, Monte Carlo simulation data, using Monte Carlo N-Particle eXtended code version MCNPX 2.7., were found to be in congruence with experimental values obtained from Ceric-cerous and Fricke dosimetry; however, in close proximity positions from the source, the dose rate variation between chemical dosimetry and MCNP was higher than distant positions.

  15. SU-E-T-66: A Prototype for Couch Based Real-Time Dosimetry in External Beam Radiotherapy

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ramachandran, P

    Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to design a prototype for couch-based based real time dosimetry system in external beam radiotherapy Methods: A prototype of 100 ionization chambers was designed on a printed circuit board by etching the copper layer and each ionization chamber was wired to a 50 pin connector. The signals from the two 50 pin connectors collected from the ionization chambers were then transferred to a PXI module from National Instruments. The PXI module houses a current amplifier that amplifies the charge collected from the ionization chamber. The amplified signal is then sent to amore » digital multimeter module for converting the analog signal to digital signal. A software was designed in labview to read and display the signals obtained from the PXI module. A couch attachment frame was designed to house the 100 ionization chamber module. The frame was fixed underneath the treatment couch for measuring the dose during treatment. Resutls: The ionization chamber based prototype dosimetry was tested for simple radiotherapy treatment fields and found to be a useful device for measuring real time dosimetry at the treatment couch plane. This information could be used to assess the delivered dose to a patient during radiotherapy. It could be used as an invivo dosimeter during radiotherapy. Conclusion: In this study, a prototype for couch based real time dosimetry system was designed and tested. The prototype forms a basis for the development of large scale couch based real time dosimetry system that could be used to perform morning QA prior to treatment, assess real time doses delivered to patient and as a device to monitor the output of the treatment beam. Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation.« less

  16. Feasibility of using two‐dimensional array dosimeter for in vivo dose reconstruction via transit dosimetry

    PubMed Central

    Li, Jonathan; Samant, Sanjiv

    2011-01-01

    Two‐dimensional array dosimeters are commonly used to perform pretreatment quality assurance procedures, which makes them highly desirable for measuring transit fluences for in vivo dose reconstruction. The purpose of this study was to determine if an in vivo dose reconstruction via transit dosimetry using a 2D array dosimeter was possible. To test the accuracy of measuring transit dose distribution using a 2D array dosimeter, we evaluated it against the measurements made using ionization chamber and radiochromic film (RCF) profiles for various air gap distances (distance from the exit side of the solid water slabs to the detector distance; 0 cm, 30 cm, 40 cm, 50 cm, and 60 cm) and solid water slab thicknesses (10 cm and 20 cm). The backprojection dose reconstruction algorithm was described and evaluated. The agreement between the ionization chamber and RCF profiles for the transit dose distribution measurements ranged from ‐0.2%~ 4.0% (average 1.79%). Using the backprojection dose reconstruction algorithm, we found that, of the six conformal fields, four had a 100% gamma index passing rate (3%/3 mm gamma index criteria), and two had gamma index passing rates of 99.4% and 99.6%. Of the five IMRT fields, three had a 100% gamma index passing rate, and two had gamma index passing rates of 99.6% and 98.8%. It was found that a 2D array dosimeter could be used for backprojection dose reconstruction for in vivo dosimetry. PACS number: 87.55.N‐

  17. Episcleral eye plaque dosimetry comparison for the Eye Physics EP917 using Plaque Simulator and Monte Carlo simulation

    PubMed Central

    Amoush, Ahmad; Wilkinson, Douglas A.

    2015-01-01

    This work is a comparative study of the dosimetry calculated by Plaque Simulator, a treatment planning system for eye plaque brachytherapy, to the dosimetry calculated using Monte Carlo simulation for an Eye Physics model EP917 eye plaque. Monte Carlo (MC) simulation using MCNPX 2.7 was used to calculate the central axis dose in water for an EP917 eye plaque fully loaded with 17 IsoAid Advantage  125I seeds. In addition, the dosimetry parameters Λ, gL(r), and F(r,θ) were calculated for the IsoAid Advantage model IAI‐125  125I seed and benchmarked against published data. Bebig Plaque Simulator (PS) v5.74 was used to calculate the central axis dose based on the AAPM Updated Task Group 43 (TG‐43U1) dose formalism. The calculated central axis dose from MC and PS was then compared. When the MC dosimetry parameters for the IsoAid Advantage  125I seed were compared with the consensus values, Λ agreed with the consensus value to within 2.3%. However, much larger differences were found between MC calculated gL(r) and F(r,θ) and the consensus values. The differences between MC‐calculated dosimetry parameters are much smaller when compared with recently published data. The differences between the calculated central axis absolute dose from MC and PS ranged from 5% to 10% for distances between 1 and 12 mm from the outer scleral surface. When the dosimetry parameters for the  125I seed from this study were used in PS, the calculated absolute central axis dose differences were reduced by 2.3% from depths of 4 to 12 mm from the outer scleral surface. We conclude that PS adequately models the central dose profile of this plaque using its defaults for the IsoAid model IAI‐125 at distances of 1 to 7 mm from the outer scleral surface. However, improved dose accuracy can be obtained by using updated dosimetry parameters for the IsoAid model IAI‐125  125I seed. PACS number: 87.55.K‐ PMID:26699577

  18. PDT dose dosimetry for Photofrin-mediated pleural photodynamic therapy (pPDT)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ong, Yi Hong; Kim, Michele M.; Finlay, Jarod C.; Dimofte, Andreea; Singhal, Sunil; Glatstein, Eli; Cengel, Keith A.; Zhu, Timothy C.

    2018-01-01

    Photosensitizer fluorescence excited by photodynamic therapy (PDT) treatment light can be used to monitor the in vivo concentration of the photosensitizer and its photobleaching. The temporal integral of the product of in vivo photosensitizer concentration and light fluence is called PDT dose, which is an important dosimetry quantity for PDT. However, the detected photosensitizer fluorescence may be distorted by variations in the absorption and scattering of both excitation and fluorescence light in tissue. Therefore, correction of the measured fluorescence for distortion due to variable optical properties is required for absolute quantification of photosensitizer concentration. In this study, we have developed a four-channel PDT dose dosimetry system to simultaneously acquire light dosimetry and photosensitizer fluorescence data. We measured PDT dose at four sites in the pleural cavity during pleural PDT. We have determined an empirical optical property correction function using Monte Carlo simulations of fluorescence for a range of physiologically relevant tissue optical properties. Parameters of the optical property correction function for Photofrin fluorescence were determined experimentally using tissue-simulating phantoms. In vivo measurements of photosensitizer fluorescence showed negligible photobleaching of Photofrin during the PDT treatment, but large intra- and inter-patient heterogeneities of in vivo Photofrin concentration are observed. PDT doses delivered to 22 sites in the pleural cavity of 8 patients were different by 2.9 times intra-patient and 8.3 times inter-patient.

  19. Verification of Dosimetry Measurements with Timepix Pixel Detectors for Space Applications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kroupa, M.; Pinsky, L. S.; Idarraga-Munoz, J.; Hoang, S. M.; Semones, E.; Bahadori, A.; Stoffle, N.; Rios, R.; Vykydal, Z.; Jakubek, J.; hide

    2014-01-01

    The current capabilities of modern pixel-detector technology has provided the possibility to design a new generation of radiation monitors. Timepix detectors are semiconductor pixel detectors based on a hybrid configuration. As such, the read-out chip can be used with different types and thicknesses of sensors. For space radiation dosimetry applications, Timepix devices with 300 and 500 microns thick silicon sensors have been used by a collaboration between NASA and University of Houston to explore their performance. For that purpose, an extensive evaluation of the response of Timepix for such applications has been performed. Timepix-based devices were tested in many different environments both at ground-based accelerator facilities such as HIMAC (Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba, Japan), and at NSRL (NASA Space Radiation Laboratory at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, NY), as well as in space on board of the International Space Station (ISS). These tests have included a wide range of the particle types and energies, from protons through iron nuclei. The results have been compared both with other devices and theoretical values. This effort has demonstrated that Timepix-based detectors are exceptionally capable at providing accurate dosimetry measurements in this application as verified by the confirming correspondence with the other accepted techniques.

  20. Cholesteric liquid crystals as sensor materials for bioequivalent UV-dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lisetski, Longin N.; Vashchenko, O. V.; Panikarskaya, V. D.; Sidletskiy, O. T.; Terenetskaya, Irina P.

    2003-12-01

    Selective reflection spectra have been studied for cholesteric matrices doped with certain steroids of vitamin D group, and substantial effect of the dopants upon the helical pitch was noted. Under UV irradiation, shifts of selective reflection peaks were observed. It is argued that the effect studied can be used for monitoring of vitamin D formation reactions induced by UV irradiation, thus being a base of bioequivalent UV dosimetry.

  1. Application of salicylic acid dosimetry to evaluate hydrodynamic cavitation as an advanced oxidation process.

    PubMed

    Arrojo, S; Nerín, C; Benito, Y

    2007-03-01

    The generation of OH* radicals inside hydrodynamic cavitation bubbles was monitored using a salicylic acid dosimeter. The reaction of this scavenger with OH* produces 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (2,5-DHB) and, to a lesser degree, 2,3-DHB. The former, is a specific reaction product that can be determined with a very high sensitivity using HPLC-IF. This method has been applied to study the influence of the flow-rate and the solution pH for a given cavitation chamber geometry. The salicylic dosimetry has proven especially suitable for the characteristic time scales of hydrodynamic cavitation (higher than those of ultrasonic cavitation), which usually gives rise to recombination of radicals before they can reach the liquid-phase. Working at low pH the hydrophobic salicylic acid migrates to the gas-liquid interface and reacts with the OH* radicals, increasing the trapping efficiency of the dosimeter. Hydrodynamic cavitation works as a very low frequency sonochemical reactor, and therefore its potential as an Advanced Oxidation Process might be limited to reactions at the gas-liquid interface and inner bubble (i.e. with volatiles and/or hydrophobic substances).

  2. Evaluation of dose uncertainty in radiation processing using EPR spectroscopy and butylated hydroxytoluene rods as dosimetry system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alkhorayef, M.; Mansour, A.; Sulieman, A.; Alnaaimi, M.; Alduaij, M.; Babikir, E.; Bradley, D. A.

    2017-12-01

    Butylatedhydroxytoluene (BHT) rods represent a potential dosimeter in radiation processing, with readout via electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Among the possible sources of uncertainty are those associated with the performance of the dosimetric medium and the conditions under which measurements are made, including sampling and environmental conditions. Present study makes estimate of the uncertainties, investigating physical response in different resonance regions. BHT, a white crystalline solid with a melting point of between 70-73 °C, was investigated using 60Co gamma irradiation over the dose range 0.1-100 kGy. The intensity of the EPR signal increases linearly in the range 0.1-35 kGy, the uncertainty budget for high doses being 3.3% at the 2σ confidence level. The rod form represents an excellent alternative dosimeter for high level dosimetry, of small uncertainty compared to powder form.

  3. Preclinical acute toxicity, biodistribution, pharmacokinetics, radiation dosimetry and microPET imaging studies of [(18)F]fluorocholine in mice.

    PubMed

    Silveira, Marina B; Ferreira, Soraya M Z M D; Nascimento, Leonardo T C; Costa, Flávia M; Mendes, Bruno M; Ferreira, Andrea V; Malamut, Carlos; Silva, Juliana B; Mamede, Marcelo

    2016-10-01

    [(18)F]Fluorocholine ([(18)F]FCH) has been proven to be effective in prostate cancer. Since [(18)F]FCH is classified as a new radiopharmaceutical in Brazil, preclinical safety and efficacy data are required to support clinical trials and to obtain its approval. The aim of this work was to perform acute toxicity, biodistribution, pharmacokinetics, radiation dosimetry and microPET imaging studies of [(18)F]FCH. The results could support its use in nuclear medicine as an important piece of work for regulatory in Brazil. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Critical dosimetry measures and surrogate tools that can facilitate clinical success in PDT (Conference Presentation)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pogue, Brian W.; Davis, Scott C.; Kanick, Stephen C.; Maytin, Edward V.; Pereira, Stephen P.; Palanisami, Akilan; Hasan, Tayyaba

    2016-03-01

    Photodynamic therapy can be a highly complex treatment with more than one parameter to control, or in some cases it is easily implemented with little control other than prescribed drug and light values. The role of measured dosimetry as related to clinical adoption has not been as successful as it could have been, and part of this may be from the conflicting goals of advocating for as many measurements as possible for accurate control, versus companies and clinical adopters advocating for as few measurements as possible, to keep it simple. An organized approach to dosimetry selection is required, which shifts from mechanistic measurements in pre-clinical and early phase I trials, towards just those essential dose limiting measurements and a focus on possible surrogate measures in phase II/III trials. This essential and surrogate approach to dosimetry should help successful adoption of clinical PDT if successful. The examples of essential dosimetry points and surrogate dosimetry tools which might be implemented in phase II and higher trials are discussed for solid tissue PDT with verteporfin and skin lesion treatment with aminolevulinc acid.

  5. SU-F-BRE-13: Replacing Pre-Treatment Phantom QA with 3D In-Vivo Portal Dosimetry for IMRT Breast Cancer

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Stroom, J; Vieira, S; Greco, C

    Purpose: Pre-treatment QA of individual treatment plans requires costly linac time and physics effort. Starting with IMRT breast treatments, we aim to replace pre-treatment QA with in-vivo portal dosimetry. Methods: Our IMRT breast cancer plans are routinely measured using the ArcCheck device (SunNuclear). 2D-Gamma analysis is performed with 3%/3mm criteria and the percentage of points with gamma<1 (nG1) is calculated within the 50% isodose surface. Following AAPM recommendations, plans with nG1<90% are approved; others need further inspection and might be rejected. For this study, we used invivo portal dosimetry (IPD) to measure the 3D back-projected dose of the first threemore » fractions for IMRT breast plans. Patient setup was online corrected before for all measured fractions. To reduce patient related uncertainties, the three IPD results were averaged and 3D-gamma analysis was applied with abovementioned criteria . For a subset of patients, phantom portal dosimetry (PPD) was also performed on a slab phantom. Results: Forty consecutive breast patients with plans that fitted the EPID were analysed. The average difference between planned and IPD dose in the reference point was −0.7+/−1.6% (1SD). Variation in nG1 between the 3 invivo fractions was about 6% (1SD). The average nG1 for IPD was 89+/−6%, worse than ArcCheck (95+/−3%). This can be explained by patient related factors such as changes in anatomy and/or model deficiencies due to e.g. inhomogeneities. For the 20 cases with PPD, mean nG1 was equal to ArcCheck values, which indicates that the two systems are equally accurate. These data therefore suggest that proper criteria for 3D invivo verification of breast treatments should be nG1>80% instead of nG1>90%, which, for our breast cases, would result in 5% (2/40) further inspections. Conclusion: First-fraction in-vivo portal dosimetry using new gamma-evaluation criteria will replace phantom measurements in our institution, saving resources and

  6. A new paradigm in personal dosimetry using LiF:Mg,Cu,P.

    PubMed

    Cassata, J R; Moscovitch, M; Rotunda, J E; Velbeck, K J

    2002-01-01

    The United States Navy has been monitoring personnel for occupational exposure to ionising radiation since 1947. Film was exclusively used until 1973 when thermoluminescence dosemeters were introduced and used to the present time. In 1994, a joint research project between the Naval Dosimetry Center, Georgetown University, and Saint Gobain Crystals and Detectors (formerly Bicron RMP formerly Harshaw TLD) began to develop a state of the art thermoluminescent dosimetry system. The study was conducted from a large-scale dosimetry processor point of view with emphasis on a systems approach. Significant improvements were achieved by replacing the LiF:Mg,Ti with LiF:Mg,Cu,P TL elements due to the significant sensitivity increase, linearity, and negligible hiding. Dosemeter filters were optimised for gamma and X ray energy discrimination using Monte Carlo modelling (MCNP) resulting in significant improvement in accuracy and precision. Further improvements were achieved through the use of neural-network based dose calculation algorithms. Both back propagation and functional link methods were implemented and the data compared with essentially the same results. Several operational aspects of the system are discussed, including (1) background subtraction using control dosemeters, (2) selection criteria for control dosemeters, (3) optimisation of the TLD readers, (4) calibration methodology, and (5) the optimisation of the heating profile.

  7. Benefits of online in vivo dosimetry for single-fraction total body irradiation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Eaton, David J., E-mail: davideaton@nhs.net; Warry, Alison J.; Trimble, Rachel E.

    Use of a patient test dose before single-fraction total body irradiation (TBI) allows review of in vivo dosimetry and modification of the main treatment setup. However, use of computed tomography (CT) planning and online in vivo dosimetry may reduce the need for this additional step. Patients were treated using a supine CT-planned extended source-to-surface distance (SSD) technique with lead compensators and bolus. In vivo dosimetry was performed using thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) and diodes at 10 representative anatomical locations, for both a 0.1-Gy test dose and the treatment dose. In total, 28 patients were treated between April 2007 and July 2013,more » with changes made in 10 cases (36%) following test dose results. Overall, 98.1% of measured in vivo treatment doses were within 10% of the prescribed dose, compared with 97.0% of test dose readings. Changes made following the test dose could have been applied during the single-fraction treatment itself, assuming that the dose was delivered in subportions and online in vivo dosimetry was available for all clinically important anatomical sites. This alleviates the need for a test dose, saving considerable time and resources.« less

  8. Recent developments of optically stimulated luminescence materials and techniques for radiation dosimetry and clinical applications.

    PubMed

    Pradhan, A S; Lee, J I; Kim, J L

    2008-07-01

    During the last 10 years, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) has emerged as a formidable competitor not only to thermoluminescence dosimetry (TLD) but also to several other dosimetry systems. Though a large number of materials have been synthesized and studied for OSL, Al(2)O(3):C continues to dominate the dosimetric applications. Re-investigations of OSL in BeOindicate that this material might provide an alternative to Al(2)O(3):C. Study of OSL of electronic components of mobile phones and ID cards appears to have opened up a feasibility of dosimetry and dose reconstruction using the electronic components of gadgets of everyday use in the events of unforeseen situations of radiological accidents, including the event of a dirty bomb by terrorist groups. Among the newly reported materials, a very recent development of NaMgF(3):Eu(2+) appears fascinating because of its high OSL sensitivity and tolerable tissue equivalence. In clinical dosimetry, an OSL as a passive dosimeter could do all that TLD can do, much faster with a better or at least the same efficiency; and in addition, it provides a possibility of repeated readout unlike TLD, in which all the dose information is lost in a single readout. Of late, OSL has also emerged as a practical real-time dosimeter for in vivo measurements in radiation therapy (for both external beams and brachytherapy) and in various diagnostic radiological examinations including mammography and CT dosimetry. For in vivo measurements, a probe of Al(2)O(3):C of size of a fraction of a millimeter provides the information on both the dose rate and the total dose from the readout of radioluminescence and OSL signals respectively, from the same probe. The availability of OSL dosimeters in various sizes and shapes and their performance characteristics as compared to established dosimeters such as plastic scintillation dosimeters, diode detectors, MOSFET detectors, radiochromic films, etc., shows that OSL may soon become the first choice

  9. Recent developments of optically stimulated luminescence materials and techniques for radiation dosimetry and clinical applications

    PubMed Central

    Pradhan, A. S.; Lee, J. I.; Kim, J. L.

    2008-01-01

    During the last 10 years, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) has emerged as a formidable competitor not only to thermoluminescence dosimetry (TLD) but also to several other dosimetry systems. Though a large number of materials have been synthesized and studied for OSL, Al2O3:C continues to dominate the dosimetric applications. Re-investigations of OSL in BeOindicate that this material might provide an alternative to Al2O3:C. Study of OSL of electronic components of mobile phones and ID cards appears to have opened up a feasibility of dosimetry and dose reconstruction using the electronic components of gadgets of everyday use in the events of unforeseen situations of radiological accidents, including the event of a dirty bomb by terrorist groups. Among the newly reported materials, a very recent development of NaMgF3:Eu2+ appears fascinating because of its high OSL sensitivity and tolerable tissue equivalence. In clinical dosimetry, an OSL as a passive dosimeter could do all that TLD can do, much faster with a better or at least the same efficiency; and in addition, it provides a possibility of repeated readout unlike TLD, in which all the dose information is lost in a single readout. Of late, OSL has also emerged as a practical real-time dosimeter for in vivo measurements in radiation therapy (for both external beams and brachytherapy) and in various diagnostic radiological examinations including mammography and CT dosimetry. For in vivo measurements, a probe of Al2O3:C of size of a fraction of a millimeter provides the information on both the dose rate and the total dose from the readout of radioluminescence and OSL signals respectively, from the same probe. The availability of OSL dosimeters in various sizes and shapes and their performance characteristics as compared to established dosimeters such as plastic scintillation dosimeters, diode detectors, MOSFET detectors, radiochromic films, etc., shows that OSL may soon become the first choice for point dose

  10. Radiation Dosimetry Study of [89Zr]rituximab Tracer for Clinical Translation of B cell NHL Imaging using Positron Emission Tomography

    PubMed Central

    Natarajan, Arutselvan; Gambhir, Sanjiv Sam

    2015-01-01

    Purpose We evaluated the dosimetry of [89Zr]rituximab, an anti-CD20 immunoPET tracer to image B cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) using a humanized transgenic mouse model that expresses human CD20 transgenic mice (huCD20TM). Procedures Rituximab was conjugated to desferrioxamine (Df) for radiolabeling of Zirconium-89. [89Zr]rituximab (2.8±0.2 MBq) was tail vein-injected into huCD20T mice. Positron emission tomography (PET)/CT imaging was performed on the two groups of mice (blocking=2 mg/kg pre-dose of rituximab and non-blocking; n=5) at eight time points (1, 4, 24, 48, 72, 96, 120, and 168 h) post injection. Results The novel [89Zr]rituximab PET tracer had good immunoreactivity, was stable in human serum, and was able to specifically target human CD20 in mice. The human equivalents of highest dose (mean±SD) organs with and without pre-dose are liver (345±284 μSv/MBq) and spleen (1165±149 μSv/MBq), respectively. Conclusions Dosimetry of the human patient whole-body dose was found to be 145 MBq per annum, and the patient dose-limiting organ will be the liver (with rituximab pre-dose blocking) and spleen for non-blocking. The [89Zr]rituximab (t½=78.4 h) imaging of B cell NHL patients could permit the observation of targeting lesions in NHL patients over an extended period due to longer half-life as compared to the [64Cu] rituximab (t½=12.7 h). PMID:25500766

  11. Preliminary thermoluminescence investigation of commercial pharmaceutical glass containers towards the sterilization dosimetry of liquid drugs.

    PubMed

    Kazakis, Nikolaos A; Tsirliganis, Nestor C; Kitis, George

    2015-11-01

    Drug sterilization with ionizing radiation is a well-established technology, which is constantly extending to several products due to its numerous advantages, since it allows the heat-free sterilization of heat-sensitive pharmaceutical preparations. In a previous study, the possibility to identify irradiated solid-state drugs by means of OSL and TL was examined with very promising findings. In the same respect, the present work aims, for the first time to the authors' best knowledge, to explore whether TL can be employed as a method for post-sterilization dosimetry on commercial liquid-state drugs, by studying the properties of their glass containers. Two different types of glass containers (bottle and ampoule) of two widely used liquid drugs, i.e., Hexalen® and Voltaren®, are used for this purpose. Both glass containers exhibit a linear TL dose response for doses up to 6kGy with a stable behavior through time, while no significant sensitization of the main peaks is observed. Thus, preliminary findings are very promising towards the post-sterilization dosimetry of liquid drugs and the use of the containers of commercial liquid drugs for normal and/or accidental dosimetry. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. A method to improve the effectiveness of diode in vivo dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Alecu, R; Alecu, M; Ochran, T G

    1998-05-01

    A routine diode in vivo dosimetry program based on a combination of entrance and exit dose measurements was clinically implemented in the radiation oncology department of Grace Hospital, Detroit, in January 1995. The delivered dose has been monitored by taking weekly measurements. The calibration of the diodes and the in vivo dosimetry protocol for this new, more effective type of dose verification is presented. The problems encountered within the program are discussed along with our solutions.

  13. Quantitative performance evaluation of 124I PET/MRI lesion dosimetry in differentiated thyroid cancer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wierts, R.; Jentzen, W.; Quick, H. H.; Wisselink, H. J.; Pooters, I. N. A.; Wildberger, J. E.; Herrmann, K.; Kemerink, G. J.; Backes, W. H.; Mottaghy, F. M.

    2018-01-01

    The aim was to investigate the quantitative performance of 124I PET/MRI for pre-therapy lesion dosimetry in differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). Phantom measurements were performed on a PET/MRI system (Biograph mMR, Siemens Healthcare) using 124I and 18F. The PET calibration factor and the influence of radiofrequency coil attenuation were determined using a cylindrical phantom homogeneously filled with radioactivity. The calibration factor was 1.00  ±  0.02 for 18F and 0.88  ±  0.02 for 124I. Near the radiofrequency surface coil an underestimation of less than 5% in radioactivity concentration was observed. Soft-tissue sphere recovery coefficients were determined using the NEMA IEC body phantom. Recovery coefficients were systematically higher for 18F than for 124I. In addition, the six spheres of the phantom were segmented using a PET-based iterative segmentation algorithm. For all 124I measurements, the deviations in segmented lesion volume and mean radioactivity concentration relative to the actual values were smaller than 15% and 25%, respectively. The effect of MR-based attenuation correction (three- and four-segment µ-maps) on bone lesion quantification was assessed using radioactive spheres filled with a K2HPO4 solution mimicking bone lesions. The four-segment µ-map resulted in an underestimation of the imaged radioactivity concentration of up to 15%, whereas the three-segment µ-map resulted in an overestimation of up to 10%. For twenty lesions identified in six patients, a comparison of 124I PET/MRI to PET/CT was performed with respect to segmented lesion volume and radioactivity concentration. The interclass correlation coefficients showed excellent agreement in segmented lesion volume and radioactivity concentration (0.999 and 0.95, respectively). In conclusion, it is feasible that accurate quantitative 124I PET/MRI could be used to perform radioiodine pre-therapy lesion dosimetry in DTC.

  14. Current status of 3D EPID-based in vivo dosimetry in The Netherlands Cancer Institute

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mijnheer, B.; Olaciregui-Ruiz, I.; Rozendaal, R.; Spreeuw, H.; van Herk, M.; Mans, A.

    2015-01-01

    3D in vivo dose verification using a-Si EPIDs is performed routinely in our institution for almost all RT treatments. The EPID-based 3D dose distribution is reconstructed using a back-projection algorithm and compared with the planned dose distribution using 3D gamma evaluation. Dose-reconstruction and gamma-evaluation software runs automatically, and deviations outside the alert criteria are immediately available and investigated, in combination with inspection of cone-beam CT scans. The implementation of our 3D EPID- based in vivo dosimetry approach was able to replace pre-treatment verification for more than 90% of the patient treatments. Clinically relevant deviations could be detected for approximately 1 out of 300 patient treatments (IMRT and VMAT). Most of these errors were patient related anatomical changes or deviations from the routine clinical procedure, and would not have been detected by pre-treatment verification. Moreover, 3D EPID-based in vivo dose verification is a fast and accurate tool to assure the safe delivery of RT treatments. It provides clinically more useful information and is less time consuming than pre-treatment verification measurements. Automated 3D in vivo dosimetry is therefore a prerequisite for large-scale implementation of patient-specific quality assurance of RT treatments.

  15. Dosimetry of nasal uptake of soluble and reactive gases: A first study of inter-human variability (Journal Article)

    EPA Science Inventory

    Anatomically accurate human child and adult nasal tract models will be used in concert with computationally simulated air flow information to investigate the influence of age-related differences in anatomy on inhalation dosimetry in the upper and lower airways. The findings of t...

  16. Clinical application of the OneDose™ Patient Dosimetry System for total body irradiation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Best, S.; Ralston, A.; Suchowerska, N.

    2005-12-01

    The OneDose™ Patient Dosimetry System (Sicel Technologies) is a new dosimeter based on metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor technology and designed for the in vivo measurement of patient dose during radiotherapy. In vivo dosimetry for total body irradiation (TBI) is challenging due to the extended treatment distance, low dose rates and beam spoilers. Phantom results confirm the suitability of the dosimeter for TBI in terms of inherent build-up, post-irradiation fading, accuracy, reproducibility, linearity and temperature dependence. Directional dependence is significant and should be taken into account. The OneDose™ dosimeters were also trialed in vivo for two TBI patients and the dose measured compared to conventional dosimeter measurements using an ionization chamber and thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD), with agreement to within 2.2% and 3.9%, respectively. Phantom and patient results confirm that the OneDose™ patient dosimetry system is a practical and convenient alternative to TLDs for TBI in vivo dosimetry. For increased confidence in results with this dosimeter, we recommend that two dosimeters be used for each site of interest.

  17. Clinical application of the OneDose Patient Dosimetry System for total body irradiation.

    PubMed

    Best, S; Ralston, A; Suchowerska, N

    2005-12-21

    The OneDose Patient Dosimetry System (Sicel Technologies) is a new dosimeter based on metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor technology and designed for the in vivo measurement of patient dose during radiotherapy. In vivo dosimetry for total body irradiation (TBI) is challenging due to the extended treatment distance, low dose rates and beam spoilers. Phantom results confirm the suitability of the dosimeter for TBI in terms of inherent build-up, post-irradiation fading, accuracy, reproducibility, linearity and temperature dependence. Directional dependence is significant and should be taken into account. The OneDose dosimeters were also trialed in vivo for two TBI patients and the dose measured compared to conventional dosimeter measurements using an ionization chamber and thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD), with agreement to within 2.2% and 3.9%, respectively. Phantom and patient results confirm that the OneDose patient dosimetry system is a practical and convenient alternative to TLDs for TBI in vivo dosimetry. For increased confidence in results with this dosimeter, we recommend that two dosimeters be used for each site of interest.

  18. International Standardization of the Clinical Dosimetry of Beta Radiation Brachytherapy Sources: Progress of an ISO Standard

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Soares, Christopher

    2006-03-01

    In 2004 a new work item proposal (NWIP) was accepted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee 85 (TC85 -- Nuclear Energy), Subcommittee 2 (Radiation Protection) for the development of a standard for the clinical dosimetry of beta radiation sources used for brachytherapy. To develop this standard, a new Working Group (WG 22 - Ionizing Radiation Dosimetry and Protocols in Medical Applications) was formed. The standard is based on the work of an ad-hoc working group initiated by the Dosimetry task group of the Deutsches Insitiut für Normung (DIN). Initially the work was geared mainly towards the needs of intravascular brachytherapy, but with the decline of this application, more focus has been placed on the challenges of accurate dosimetry for the concave eye plaques used to treat ocular melanoma. Guidance is given for dosimetry formalisms, reference data to be used, calibrations, measurement methods, modeling, uncertainty determinations, treatment planning and reporting, and clinical quality control. The document is currently undergoing review by the ISO member bodies for acceptance as a Committee Draft (CD) with publication of the final standard expected by 2007. There are opportunities for other ISO standards for medical dosimetry within the framework of WG22.

  19. Korean standard nuclear plant ex-vessel neutron dosimetry program Ulchin 4

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Duo, J.I.; Chen, J.; Kulesza, J.A.

    2011-07-01

    A comprehensive ex-vessel neutron dosimetry (EVND) surveillance program has been deployed in 16 pressurized water reactors (PWR) in South Korea and EVND dosimetry sets have already been installed and analyzed in Westinghouse reactor designs. In this paper, the unique features of the design, training, and installation in the Korean standard nuclear plant (KSNP) Ulchin Unit 4 are presented. Ulchin Unit 4 Cycle 9 represents the first dosimetry analyzed from the EVND design deployed in KSNP plants: Yonggwang Units 3 through 6 and Ulchin Units 3 through 6. KSNP's cavity configuration precludes a conventional installation from the cavity floor. The solution,more » requiring the installation crew to access the cavity at an elevation of the active core, places a premium on rapid installation due to high area dose rates. Numerous geometrical features warranted the use of a detailed design in true 3D mechanical design software to control interferences. A full-size training mockup maximized the crew ability to correctly install the instrument in minimum time. The analysis of the first dosimetry set shows good agreements between measurement and calculation within the associated uncertainties. A complete EVND system has been successfully designed, installed, and analyzed for a KNSP plant. Current and future EVND analyses will continue supporting the successful operation of PWR units in South Korea. (authors)« less

  20. A comparison of two methods of in vivo dosimetry for a high energy neutron beam.

    PubMed

    Blake, S W; Bonnett, D E; Finch, J

    1990-06-01

    Two methods of in vivo dosimetry have been compared in a high energy neutron beam. These were activation dosimetry and thermoluminescence dosimetry (TLD). Their suitability was determined by comparison with estimates of total dose, obtained using a tissue equivalent ionization chamber. Measurements were made on the central axis and a profile of a 10 x 10 cm square field and also behind a shielding block in order to simulate conditions of clinical use. The TLD system was found to provide the best estimate of total dose.

  1. Thermoluminescence characteristics of Israeli household salts for retrospective dosimetry in radiological events

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Druzhyna, S.; Datz, H.; Horowitz, Y. S.; Oster, L.; Orion, I.

    2016-06-01

    Following a nuclear accident or terror attack involving the dispersal of radioactive substances, radiation dose assessment to first responders and the members of the public is essential. The need for a retrospective assessment of the radiation dose to those possibly affected is, therefore, obligatory. The present study examines the potential use of Israeli household salt as a retrospective dosimeter (RD). The experiments were carried out on Israeli salt samples (NaCl) following a Nielsen market track survey based on scanning data representing the barcoded market, including organized and independent retail chains and a sample of private minimarkets and supermarkets. The technique used was thermoluminescence (TL) dosimetry. Salt samples were exposed to levels of dose from 0.5 mGy to 300 Gy at the Israeli Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratory of the Soreq Nuclear Research Center using a calibrated 137Cs source. Our emphasis has been on a detailed investigation of the basic dosimetric characteristics of the salts including: (i) glow curve analysis (ii) individual glow peak dose response (iii) reproducibility (iv) estimation of minimal measurable dose (v) effect of nitrogen readout, (vi) influence of humidity during pre-irradiation storage and (vii) light induced fading. The results are sufficiently favorable to lead to the conclusion that the Israeli household salts can serve as a pragmatic potential candidate for RD under certain restricted conditions. Occasional pre-calibration of the major salt brands in a dedicated laboratory may be essential depending on the required accuracy in the estimation of dose and consequent clinical evaluation.

  2. Ionization chamber-based reference dosimetry of intensity modulated radiation beams.

    PubMed

    Bouchard, Hugo; Seuntjens, Jan

    2004-09-01

    The present paper addresses reference dose measurements using thimble ionization chambers for quality assurance in IMRT fields. In these radiation fields, detector fluence perturbation effects invalidate the application of open-field dosimetry protocol data for the derivation of absorbed dose to water from ionization chamber measurements. We define a correction factor C(Q)IMRT to correct the absorbed dose to water calibration coefficient N(D, w)Q for fluence perturbation effects in individual segments of an IMRT delivery and developed a calculation method to evaluate the factor. The method consists of precalculating, using accurate Monte Carlo techniques, ionization chamber, type-dependent cavity air dose, and in-phantom dose to water at the reference point for zero-width pencil beams as a function of position of the pencil beams impinging on the phantom surface. These precalculated kernels are convolved with the IMRT fluence distribution to arrive at the dose-to-water-dose-to-cavity air ratio [D(a)w (IMRT)] for IMRT fields and with a 10x10 cm2 open-field fluence to arrive at the same ratio D(a)w (Q) for the 10x10 cm2 reference field. The correction factor C(Q)IMRT is then calculated as the ratio of D(a)w (IMRT) and D(a)w (Q). The calculation method was experimentally validated and the magnitude of chamber correction factors in reference dose measurements in single static and dynamic IMRT fields was studied. The results show that, for thimble-type ionization chambers the correction factor in a single, realistic dynamic IMRT field can be of the order of 10% or more. We therefore propose that for accurate reference dosimetry of complete n-beam IMRT deliveries, ionization chamber fluence perturbation correction factors must explicitly be taken into account.

  3. Effectiveness evaluation of existing noise controls in a deep shaft underground mine.

    PubMed

    Lutz, Eric A; Reed, Rustin J; Turner, Dylan; Littau, Sally R; Lee, Vivien; Hu, Chengcheng

    2015-01-01

    Noise exposures and hearing loss in the mining industry continue to be a major problem, despite advances in noise control technologies. This study evaluated the effectiveness of engineering, administrative, and personal noise controls using both traditional and in-ear dosimetry by job task, work shift, and five types of earplug. The noise exposures of 22 miners performing deep shaft-sinking tasks were evaluated during 56 rotating shifts in an underground mine. Miners were earplug-insertion trained, earplug fit-tested, and monitored utilizing traditional and in-ear dosimetry. The mean TWA8 noise exposure via traditional dosimetry was 90.1 ± 8.2 dBA, while the mean in-ear TWA8 was 79.6 ± 13.8 dBA. The latter was significantly lower (p < 0.05) than the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) personal exposure limit (PEL) of 90 dBA. Dosimetry mean TWA8 noise exposures for bench blowing (103.5 ± 0.9 dBA), jumbo drill operation (103.0 ± 0.8 dBA), and mucking tasks (99.6 ± 4.7 dBA) were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than other tasks. For bench blowing, cable pulling, grinding, and jumbo drill operation tasks, the mean in-ear TWA8 was greater than 85 dBA. Those working swing shift had a significantly higher (p < 0.001) mean TWA8 noise exposure (95.4 ± 7.3 dBA) than those working day shift. For percent difference between traditional vs. in-ear dosimetry, there was no significant difference among types of earplug used. Reflective of occupational hearing loss rate trends across the mining industry, this study found that, despite existing engineering and administrative controls, noise exposure levels exceeded regulatory limits, while the addition of personal hearing protection limited excessive exposures.

  4. Application of a color scanner for 60Co high dose rate brachytherapy dosimetry with EBT radiochromic film

    PubMed Central

    Ghorbani, Mahdi; Toossi, Mohammad Taghi Bahreyni; Mowlavi, Ali Asghar; Roodi, Shahram Bayani; Meigooni, Ali Soleimani

    2012-01-01

    Background. The aim of this study is to evaluate the performance of a color scanner as a radiochromic film reader in two dimensional dosimetry around a high dose rate brachytherapy source. Materials and methods A Microtek ScanMaker 1000XL film scanner was utilized for the measurement of dose distribution around a high dose rate GZP6 60Co brachytherapy source with GafChromic® EBT radiochromic films. In these investigations, the non-uniformity of the film and scanner response, combined, as well as the films sensitivity to scanner’s light source was evaluated using multiple samples of films, prior to the source dosimetry. The results of these measurements were compared with the Monte Carlo simulated data using MCNPX code. In addition, isodose curves acquired by radiochromic films and Monte Carlo simulation were compared with those provided by the GZP6 treatment planning system. Results Scanning of samples of uniformly irradiated films demonstrated approximately 2.85% and 4.97% nonuniformity of the response, respectively in the longitudinal and transverse directions of the film. Our findings have also indicated that the film response is not affected by the exposure to the scanner’s light source, particularly in multiple scanning of film. The results of radiochromic film measurements are in good agreement with the Monte Carlo calculations (4%) and the corresponding dose values presented by the GZP6 treatment planning system (5%). Conclusions The results of these investigations indicate that the Microtek ScanMaker 1000XL color scanner in conjunction with GafChromic EBT film is a reliable system for dosimetric evaluation of a high dose rate brachytherapy source. PMID:23411947

  5. Dosimetry for Small Fields in Stereotactic Radiosurgery Using Gafchromic MD-V2-55 Film, TLD-100 and Alanine Dosimeters

    PubMed Central

    Massillon-JL, Guerda; Cueva-Prócel, Diego; Díaz-Aguirre, Porfirio; Rodríguez-Ponce, Miguel; Herrera-Martínez, Flor

    2013-01-01

    This work investigated the suitability of passive dosimeters for reference dosimetry in small fields with acceptable accuracy. Absorbed dose to water rate was determined in nine small radiation fields with diameters between 4 and 35 mm in a Leksell Gamma Knife (LGK) and a modified linear accelerator (linac) for stereotactic radiosurgery treatments. Measurements were made using Gafchromic film (MD-V2-55), alanine and thermoluminescent (TLD-100) dosimeters and compared with conventional dosimetry systems. Detectors were calibrated in terms of absorbed dose to water in 60Co gamma-ray and 6 MV x-ray reference (10×10 cm2) fields using an ionization chamber calibrated at a standards laboratory. Absorbed dose to water rate computed with MD-V2-55 was higher than that obtained with the others dosimeters, possibly due to a smaller volume averaging effect. Ratio between the dose-rates determined with each dosimeter and those obtained with the film was evaluated for both treatment modalities. For the LGK, the ratio decreased as the dosimeter size increased and remained constant for collimator diameters larger than 8 mm. The same behaviour was observed for the linac and the ratio increased with field size, independent of the dosimeter used. These behaviours could be explained as an averaging volume effect due to dose gradient and lack of electronic equilibrium. Evaluation of the output factors for the LGK collimators indicated that, even when agreement was observed between Monte Carlo simulation and measurements with different dosimeters, this does not warrant that the absorbed dose to water rate in the field was properly known and thus, investigation of the reference dosimetry should be an important issue. These results indicated that alanine dosimeter provides a high degree of accuracy but cannot be used in fields smaller than 20 mm diameter. Gafchromic film can be considered as a suitable methodology for reference dosimetry. TLD dosimeters are not appropriate in fields

  6. Comparison of intraoperative dosimetric implant representation with postimplant dosimetry in patients receiving prostate brachytherapy.

    PubMed

    Stone, Nelson N; Hong, Suzanne; Lo, Yeh-Chi; Howard, Victor; Stock, Richard G

    2003-01-01

    To compare the results of intraoperative dosimetry with those of CT-based postimplant dosimetry in patients undergoing prostate seed implantation. Seventy-seven patients with T1-T3 prostate cancer received an ultrasound-guided permanent seed implant (36 received (125)I, 7 (103)Pd, and 34 a partial (103)Pd implant plus external beam radiation therapy). The implantation was augmented with an intraoperative dosimetric planning system. After the peripheral needles were placed, 5-mm axial images were acquired into the treatment planning system. Soft tissue structures (prostate, urethra, and rectum) were contoured, and exact needle positions were registered. Seeds were placed with an applicator, and their positions were entered into the planning system. The dose distributions for the implant were calculated after interior needle and seed placement. Postimplant dosimetry was performed 1 month later on the basis of CT imaging. Prostate and urethral doses were compared, by using paired t tests, for the real-time dosimetry in the operating room (OR) and the postimplant dosimetry. The mean preimplant prostate volume was 39.8 cm(3), the postneedle planning volume was 41.5 cm(3) (p<0.001), and the 1-month CT volume was 43.6 cm(3) (p<0.001). The mean difference between the OR dose received by 90% of the prostate (D(90)) and the CT D(90) was 3.4% (95% confidence interval, 2.5-6.6%; p=0.034). The mean dose to 30% of the urethra was 120% of prescription in the OR and 138% on CT. The mean difference was 18% (95% confidence interval, 13-24%; p<0.001). Although small differences exist between the OR and CT dosimetry results, these data suggest that this intraoperative implant dosimetric representation system provides a close match to the actual delivered doses. These data support the use of this system to modify the implant during surgery to achieve more consistent dosimetry results.

  7. Overview of physical dosimetry methods for triage application integrated in the new European network RENEB.

    PubMed

    Trompier, François; Burbidge, Christopher; Bassinet, Céline; Baumann, Marion; Bortolin, Emanuela; De Angelis, Cinzia; Eakins, Jonathan; Della Monaca, Sara; Fattibene, Paola; Quattrini, Maria Cristina; Tanner, Rick; Wieser, Albrecht; Woda, Clemens

    2017-01-01

    In the EC-funded project RENEB (Realizing the European Network in Biodosimetry), physical methods applied to fortuitous dosimetric materials are used to complement biological dosimetry, to increase dose assessment capacity for large-scale radiation/nuclear accidents. This paper describes the work performed to implement Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) and Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) dosimetry techniques. OSL is applied to electronic components and EPR to touch-screen glass from mobile phones. To implement these new approaches, several blind tests and inter-laboratory comparisons (ILC) were organized for each assay. OSL systems have shown good performances. EPR systems also show good performance in controlled conditions, but ILC have also demonstrated that post-irradiation exposure to sunlight increases the complexity of the EPR signal analysis. Physically-based dosimetry techniques present high capacity, new possibilities for accident dosimetry, especially in the case of large-scale events. Some of the techniques applied can be considered as operational (e.g. OSL on Surface Mounting Devices [SMD]) and provide a large increase of measurement capacity for existing networks. Other techniques and devices currently undergoing validation or development in Europe could lead to considerable increases in the capacity of the RENEB accident dosimetry network.

  8. Time-resolved in vivo luminescence dosimetry for online error detection in pulsed dose-rate brachytherapy.

    PubMed

    Andersen, Claus E; Nielsen, Søren Kynde; Lindegaard, Jacob Christian; Tanderup, Kari

    2009-11-01

    The purpose of this study is to present and evaluate a dose-verification protocol for pulsed dose-rate (PDR) brachytherapy based on in vivo time-resolved (1 s time resolution) fiber-coupled luminescence dosimetry. Five cervix cancer patients undergoing PDR brachytherapy (Varian GammaMed Plus with 192Ir) were monitored. The treatments comprised from 10 to 50 pulses (1 pulse/h) delivered by intracavitary/interstitial applicators (tandem-ring systems and/or needles). For each patient, one or two dosimetry probes were placed directly in or close to the tumor region using stainless steel or titanium needles. Each dosimeter probe consisted of a small aluminum oxide crystal attached to an optical fiber cable (1 mm outer diameter) that could guide radioluminescence (RL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) from the crystal to special readout instrumentation. Positioning uncertainty and hypothetical dose-delivery errors (interchanged guide tubes or applicator movements from +/-5 to +/-15 mm) were simulated in software in order to assess the ability of the system to detect errors. For three of the patients, the authors found no significant differences (P>0.01) for comparisons between in vivo measurements and calculated reference values at the level of dose per dwell position, dose per applicator, or total dose per pulse. The standard deviations of the dose per pulse were less than 3%, indicating a stable dose delivery and a highly stable geometry of applicators and dosimeter probes during the treatments. For the two other patients, the authors noted significant deviations for three individual pulses and for one dosimeter probe. These deviations could have been due to applicator movement during the treatment and one incorrectly positioned dosimeter probe, respectively. Computer simulations showed that the likelihood of detecting a pair of interchanged guide tubes increased by a factor of 10 or more for the considered patients when going from integrating to time

  9. Patient dose analysis in total body irradiation through in vivo dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Ganapathy, K; Kurup, P G G; Murali, V; Muthukumaran, M; Bhuvaneshwari, N; Velmurugan, J

    2012-10-01

    Total body irradiation (TBI) is a special radiotherapy technique, administered prior to bone marrow transplantation. Due to the complex nature of the treatment setup, in vivo dosimetry for TBI is mandatory to ensure proper delivery of the intended radiation dose throughout the body. Lithium fluoride (LiF) TLD-100 chips are used for the TBI in vivo dosimetry. Results obtained from the in vivo dosimetry of 20 patients are analyzed. Results obtained from forehead, abdomen, pelvis, and mediastinum showed a similar pattern with the average measured dose from 96 to 97% of the prescription dose. Extremities and chest received a dose greater than the prescription dose in many instances (more than 20% of measurements). Homogeneous dose delivery to the whole body is checked by calculating the mean dose with standard deviation for each fraction. Reasons for the difference between prescription dose and measured dose for each site are discussed. Dose homogeneity within ±10% is achieved using our in-house TBI protocol.

  10. Patient dose analysis in total body irradiation through in vivo dosimetry

    PubMed Central

    Ganapathy, K.; Kurup, P. G. G.; Murali, V.; Muthukumaran, M.; Bhuvaneshwari, N.; Velmurugan, J.

    2012-01-01

    Total body irradiation (TBI) is a special radiotherapy technique, administered prior to bone marrow transplantation. Due to the complex nature of the treatment setup, in vivo dosimetry for TBI is mandatory to ensure proper delivery of the intended radiation dose throughout the body. Lithium fluoride (LiF) TLD-100 chips are used for the TBI in vivo dosimetry. Results obtained from the in vivo dosimetry of 20 patients are analyzed. Results obtained from forehead, abdomen, pelvis, and mediastinum showed a similar pattern with the average measured dose from 96 to 97% of the prescription dose. Extremities and chest received a dose greater than the prescription dose in many instances (more than 20% of measurements). Homogeneous dose delivery to the whole body is checked by calculating the mean dose with standard deviation for each fraction. Reasons for the difference between prescription dose and measured dose for each site are discussed. Dose homogeneity within ±10% is achieved using our in-house TBI protocol. PMID:23293453

  11. Hippocampal dosimetry correlates with the change in neurocognitive function after hippocampal sparing during whole brain radiotherapy: a prospective study.

    PubMed

    Tsai, Ping-Fang; Yang, Chi-Cheng; Chuang, Chi-Cheng; Huang, Ting-Yi; Wu, Yi-Ming; Pai, Ping-Ching; Tseng, Chen-Kan; Wu, Tung-Ho; Shen, Yi-Liang; Lin, Shinn-Yn

    2015-12-10

    Whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) has been the treatment of choice for patients with brain metastases. However, change/decline of neurocognitive functions (NCFs) resulting from impaired hippocampal neurogenesis might occur after WBRT. It is reported that conformal hippocampal sparing would provide the preservation of NCFs. Our study aims to investigate the hippocampal dosimetry and to demonstrate the correlation between hippocampal dosimetry and neurocognitive outcomes in patients receiving hippocampal sparing during WBRT (HS-WBRT). Forty prospectively recruited cancer patients underwent HS-WBRT for therapeutic or prophylactic purposes. Before receiving HS-WBRT, all participants received a battery of baseline neurocognitive assessment, including memory, executive functions and psychomotor speed. The follow-up neurocognitive assessment at 4 months after HS-WBRT was also performed. For the delivery of HS-WBRT, Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) with two full arcs and two non-coplanar partial arcs was employed. For each treatment planning, dose volume histograms were generated for left hippocampus, right hippocampus, and the composite hippocampal structure respectively. Biologically equivalent doses in 2-Gy fractions (EQD2) assuming an alpha/beta ratio of 2 Gy were computed. To perform analyses addressing the correlation between hippocampal dosimetry and the change in scores of NCFs, pre- and post-HS-WBRT neurocognitive assessments were available in 24 patients in this study. Scores of NCFs were quite stable before and after HS-WBRT in terms of hippocampus-dependent memory. Regarding verbal memory, the corresponding EQD2 values of 0, 10, 50, 80 % irradiating the composite hippocampal structure with <12.60 Gy, <8.81, <7.45 Gy and <5.83 Gy respectively were significantly associated with neurocognitive preservation indicated by the immediate recall of Word List Test of Wechsler Memory Scale-III. According to logistic regression analyses, it was noted that dosimetric

  12. Nanocrystalline materials for the dosimetry of heavy charged particles: A review

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Salah, Numan

    2011-01-01

    Thermally stimulated luminescence or better known as thermoluminescence (TL) is a powerful technique extensively used for dosimetry of ionizing radiations. TL dosimeter (TLD) materials presently in use are inorganic crystalline materials. They are in the form of chips, single crystals or microcrystalline size powder. The most popular are LiF:Mg,Ti, LiF:Mg,Cu,P, CaSO 4:Dy, CaF 2:Dy and Al 2O 3:C. However, these TLD materials are not capable of precisely detecting heavy charged particles (HCP) irradiations in their present forms. The saturation effect is the major problem, which occurs at relatively low fluences (doses). Moreover, there is a significant variation in the TL glow curves structure with increase in doses, which is undesirable for the use in dosimetry. However, with the use of very tiny particles such as nanoscale TLD materials, this problem is overcome to a major extent. The TL results of the recently reported nanomaterials have revealed very imperative characteristics such as high sensitivity and saturation at very high doses. Recent studies on different luminescent nanomaterials showed that they have a potential application in dosimetry of heavy charged particles using TL technique, where the conventional microcrystalline phosphors saturate. This paper is a review on the prepared TLD nanomaterials, studied for their TL response to HCP. These are CaSO 4:Dy, LiF:Mg,Cu,P, K 2Ca 2(SO 4) 3:Eu and Ba 0.97Ca 0.03SO 4:Eu nanomaterials. The important results obtained in these nanomaterials and the possibility of using them as HCP dosimeters are discussed.

  13. SU-E-T-310: Micro-Dosimetry Study of the Radiation Dose Enhancement at the Gold-Tissue Interface for Nanoparticle-Aided Radiation Therapy.

    PubMed

    Paudel, N; Shvydka, D; Parsai, E

    2012-06-01

    Gold nanoparticles (AuNP) have been proposed to be utilized for local dose enhancement in radiation therapy. Due to a very sharp spatial fall-off of the effect, the dosimetry associated with such an approach is difficult to implement in a direct measurement. This study is aimed at establishing a micro-dosimetry technique for experimental verification of dose enhancement in the vicinity of gold-tissue interface. The spatial distribution of the dose enhancement near the gold-tissue interface is modeled with Monte Carlo (MC) package MCNP5 in a 1-dimentional approach of a thin gold slab placed in an ICRU-4 component tissue phantom. The model is replicating the experiment, where the dose enhancement due to gold foils having thicknesses of 1, 10, and 100μm and areas of 12.5×25mm 2 are placed at a short distance from clinical HDR brachytherapy (Ir-192) source. The measurements are carried out with a thin-film CdTe-based photodetector, having thickness <10μm, allowing for high spatial resolution at progressively increasing distances from the foil. Our MC simulation results indicate that for Ir-192 energy spectrum the dose enhancement region extends over ∼1 mm distance from the foil, changing from several hundred at the interface to just a few percent. The trend in the measured dose enhancement closely follows the results obtained from MC simulations. AuNP's have been established as promising candidates for dose enhancement in nanoparticle-aided radiation therapy, particularly, in the energy range relevant to brachytherapy applications. Most researchers study the dose enhancement with MC simulations, or experimental approaches involving biological systems, where achievable dose enhancements are difficult to quantify. Successful development of micro-dosimetry approaches will pave a way for direct assessment of the dose in experiments on biological models, shedding some light on apparent discrepancy between physical dose enhancement and biological effect established in

  14. Changes in Occupational Radiation Exposures after Incorporation of a Real-time Dosimetry System in the Interventional Radiology Suite.

    PubMed

    Poudel, Sashi; Weir, Lori; Dowling, Dawn; Medich, David C

    2016-08-01

    A statistical pilot study was retrospectively performed to analyze potential changes in occupational radiation exposures to Interventional Radiology (IR) staff at Lawrence General Hospital after implementation of the i2 Active Radiation Dosimetry System (Unfors RaySafe Inc, 6045 Cochran Road Cleveland, OH 44139-3302). In this study, the monthly OSL dosimetry records obtained during the eight-month period prior to i2 implementation were normalized to the number of procedures performed during each month and statistically compared to the normalized dosimetry records obtained for the 8-mo period after i2 implementation. The resulting statistics included calculation of the mean and standard deviation of the dose equivalences per procedure and included appropriate hypothesis tests to assess for statistically valid differences between the pre and post i2 study periods. Hypothesis testing was performed on three groups of staff present during an IR procedure: The first group included all members of the IR staff, the second group consisted of the IR radiologists, and the third group consisted of the IR technician staff. After implementing the i2 active dosimetry system, participating members of the Lawrence General IR staff had a reduction in the average dose equivalence per procedure of 43.1% ± 16.7% (p = 0.04). Similarly, Lawrence General IR radiologists had a 65.8% ± 33.6% (p=0.01) reduction while the technologists had a 45.0% ± 14.4% (p=0.03) reduction.

  15. I-123 - FP-CIT pharmacokinetics and dosimetry show great potential for the evaluation of dopamine transporter system in clinical routine

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Costa, D.C.; Walker, S.; Waddington, W.

    1996-05-01

    FP-CIT is a N-fluoropropyl analogue of the [2{beta}-carbomethoxy-3{beta}-(4-iodophenyl)tropane] which has been labelled with I-123 and developed as a new marker of the pre-synaptic dopamine transporter system. Its selective uptake in the striatum of non-human primates and human volunteers has been reported with advantageous faster brain kinetics than {beta}-CIT. In this pilot work we studied the whole body imaging kinetics of FP-CIT in one normal volunteer - NV (5, 60, 100, 360 minutes and 24 hours post-injection for 20 minutes each) and a drug-free patient with well established Parkinson`s disease - PD (100 minutes) after intravenous injection of 111 MBq. Bothmore » subjects had high resolution brain SPECT at 35 minutes and 3.5 hours post-injection. Percent of whole body uptake (geometric mean of anterior and posterior projections) in different organs, including total brain and basal ganglia shows rapid clearance from blood during the first hour with no significant change from 100 minutes to 24 hours. The basal ganglia uptake is approximately 0.4% of total body from 100 minutes onwards. Striatal uptake (ratio to frontal cortex) is different between subjects, mainly at 3.5 hours and more marked in the putamen: Calculated dosimetry (mSv/MBq) showed E.D.E.-0.034, and total doses to whole body - 0.01, total brain - 0.017, basal ganglia - 0.155, small intestine - 0.06, urinary bladder - 0.05 and liver - 0.03. These data confirm that FP-CIT has acceptable dosimetry with good pharmacokinetics enabling the study of pre-synaptic dopamine transport system in nigrostriatal degeneration with clinical SPECT at 3-4 hrs p.i.« less

  16. Strengths and Weaknesses of a Planar Whole-Body Method of 153Sm Dosimetry for Patients with Metastatic Osteosarcoma and Comparison with Three-Dimensional Dosimetry

    PubMed Central

    Plyku, Donika; Loeb, David M.; Prideaux, Andrew R.; Baechler, Sébastien; Wahl, Richard L.; Sgouros, George

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Purpose: Dosimetric accuracy depends directly upon the accuracy of the activity measurements in tumors and organs. The authors present the methods and results of a retrospective tumor dosimetry analysis in 14 patients with a total of 28 tumors treated with high activities of 153Sm-ethylenediaminetetramethylenephosphonate (153Sm-EDTMP) for therapy of metastatic osteosarcoma using planar images and compare the results with three-dimensional dosimetry. Materials and Methods: Analysis of phantom data provided a complete set of parameters for dosimetric calculations, including buildup factor, attenuation coefficient, and camera dead-time compensation. The latter was obtained using a previously developed methodology that accounts for the relative motion of the camera and patient during whole-body (WB) imaging. Tumor activity values calculated from the anterior and posterior views of WB planar images of patients treated with 153Sm-EDTMP for pediatric osteosarcoma were compared with the geometric mean value. The mean activities were integrated over time and tumor-absorbed doses were calculated using the software package OLINDA/EXM. Results: The authors found that it was necessary to employ the dead-time correction algorithm to prevent measured tumor activity half-lives from often exceeding the physical decay half-life of 153Sm. Measured half-lives so long are unquestionably in error. Tumor-absorbed doses varied between 0.0022 and 0.27 cGy/MBq with an average of 0.065 cGy/MBq; however, a comparison with absorbed dose values derived from a three-dimensional analysis for the same tumors showed no correlation; moreover, the ratio of three-dimensional absorbed dose value to planar absorbed dose value was 2.19. From the anterior and posterior activity comparisons, the order of clinical uncertainty for activity and dose calculations from WB planar images, with the present methodology, is hypothesized to be about 70%. Conclusion: The dosimetric results from clinical

  17. An international dosimetry exchange for boron neutron capture therapy. Part I: Absorbed dose measurements.

    PubMed

    Binns, P J; Riley, K J; Harling, O K; Kiger, W S; Munck af Rosenschöld, P M; Giusti, V; Capala, J; Sköld, K; Auterinen, I; Serén, T; Kotiluoto, P; Uusi-Simola, J; Marek, M; Viererbl, L; Spurny, F

    2005-12-01

    An international collaboration was organized to undertake a dosimetry exchange to enable the future combination of clinical data from different centers conducting neutron capture therapy trials. As a first step (Part I) the dosimetry group from the Americas, represented by MIT, visited the clinical centers at Studsvik (Sweden), VTT Espoo (Finland), and the Nuclear Research Institute (NRI) at Rez (Czech Republic). A combined VTT/NRI group reciprocated with a visit to MIT. Each participant performed a series of dosimetry measurements under equivalent irradiation conditions using methods appropriate to their clinical protocols. This entailed in-air measurements and dose versus depth measurements in a large water phantom. Thermal neutron flux as well as fast neutron and photon absorbed dose rates were measured. Satisfactory agreement in determining absorbed dose within the experimental uncertainties was obtained between the different groups although the measurement uncertainties are large, ranging between 3% and 30% depending upon the dose component and the depth of measurement. To improve the precision in the specification of absorbed dose amongst the participants, the individually measured dose components were normalized to the results from a single method. Assuming a boron concentration of 15 microg g(-1) that is typical of concentrations realized clinically with the boron delivery compound boronophenylalanine-fructose, systematic discrepancies in the specification of the total biologically weighted dose of up to 10% were apparent between the different groups. The results from these measurements will be used in future to normalize treatment plan calculations between the different clinical dosimetry protocols as Part II of this study.

  18. Passive particle dosimetry. [silver halide crystal growth

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Childs, C. B.

    1977-01-01

    Present methods of dosimetry are reviewed with emphasis on the processes using silver chloride crystals for ionizing particle dosimetry. Differences between the ability of various crystals to record ionizing particle paths are directly related to impurities in the range of a few ppm (parts per million). To understand the roles of these impurities in the process, a method for consistent production of high purity silver chloride, and silver bromide was developed which yields silver halides with detectable impurity content less than 1 ppm. This high purity silver chloride was used in growing crystals with controlled doping. Crystals were grown by both the Czochalski method and the Bridgman method, and the Bridgman grown crystals were used for the experiments discussed. The distribution coefficients of ten divalent cations were determined for the Bridgman crystals. The best dosimeters were made with silver chloride crystals containing 5 to 10 ppm of lead; other impurities tested did not produce proper dosimeters.

  19. Germanium-doped optical fiber for real-time radiation dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mizanur Rahman, A. K. M.; Zubair, H. T.; Begum, Mahfuza; Abdul-Rashid, H. A.; Yusoff, Z.; Ung, N. M.; Mat-Sharif, K. A.; Wan Abdullah, W. S.; Amouzad Mahdiraji, Ghafour; Amin, Y. M.; Maah, M. J.; Bradley, D. A.

    2015-11-01

    Over the past three decades growing demand for individualized in vivo dosimetry and subsequent dose verification has led to the pursuit of newer, novel and economically feasible materials for dosimeters. These materials are to facilitate features such as real-time sensing and fast readouts. In this paper, purposely composed SiO2:Ge optical fiber is presented as a suitable candidate for dosimetry. The optical fiber is meant to take advantage of the RL/OSL technique, providing both online remote monitoring of dose rate, and fast readouts for absorbed dose. A laboratory-assembled OSL reader has been used to acquire the RL/OSL response to LINAC irradiations (6 MV photons). The notable RL characteristics observed include constant level of luminescence for the same dose rate (providing better consistency compared to TLD-500), and linearity of response in the radiotherapy range (1 Gy/min to 6 Gy/min). The OSL curve was found to conform to an exponential decay characteristic (illumination with low LED source). The Ge doping resulted in an effective atomic number, Zeff, of 13.5 (within the bone equivalent range). The SiO2:Ge optical fiber sensor, with efficient coupling, can be a viable solution for in vivo dosimetry, besides a broad range of applications.

  20. Development of a portable graphite calorimeter for radiation dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Sakama, Makoto; Kanai, Tatsuaki; Fukumura, Akifumi

    2008-01-01

    We developed and performance-tested a portable graphite calorimeter designed to measure the absolute dosimetry of various beams including heavy-ion beams, based on a flexible and convenient means of measurement. This measurement system is fully remote-controlled by the GPIB system. This system uses a digital PID (Proportional, Integral, Derivative) control method based on the LabVIEW software. It was possible to attain stable conditions in a shorter time by this system. The standard deviation of the measurements using the calorimeter was 0.79% at a dose rate of 0.8 Gy/min in 17 calorimeter runs for a (60)Co photon beam. The overall uncertainties for the absorbed dose to graphite and water of the (60)Co photon beam using the developed calorimeter were 0.89% and 1.35%, respectively. Estimations of the correction factors due to vacuum gaps, impurities in the core, the dose gradient and the radiation profile were included in the uncertainties. The absorbed doses to graphite and water irradiated by the (60)Co photon beam were compared with dosimetry measurements obtained using three ionization chambers. The absorbed doses to graphite and water estimated by the two dosimetry methods agreed within 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively.

  1. Human biodistribution and radiation dosimetry of 82Rb.

    PubMed

    Senthamizhchelvan, Srinivasan; Bravo, Paco E; Esaias, Caroline; Lodge, Martin A; Merrill, Jennifer; Hobbs, Robert F; Sgouros, George; Bengel, Frank M

    2010-10-01

    Prior estimates of radiation-absorbed doses from (82)Rb, a frequently used PET perfusion tracer, yielded discrepant results. We reevaluated (82)Rb dosimetry using human in vivo biokinetic measurements. Ten healthy volunteers underwent dynamic PET/CT (6 contiguous table positions, each with separate (82)Rb infusion). Source organ volumes of interest were delineated on the CT images and transferred to the PET images to obtain time-integrated activity coefficients. Radiation doses were estimated using OLINDA/EXM 1.0. The highest mean absorbed organ doses (μGy/MBq) were observed for the kidneys (5.81), heart wall (3.86), and lungs (2.96). Mean effective doses were 1.11 ± 0.22 and 1.26 ± 0.20 μSv/MBq using the tissue-weighting factors of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), publications 60 and 103, respectively. Our current (82)Rb dosimetry suggests reasonably low radiation exposure. On the basis of this study, a clinical (82)Rb injection of 2 × 1,480 MBq (80 mCi) would result in a mean effective dose of 3.7 mSv using the weighting factors of the ICRP 103-only slightly above the average annual natural background exposure in the United States (3.1 mSv).

  2. Image guided IMRT dosimetry using anatomy specific MOSFET configurations.

    PubMed

    Amin, Md Nurul; Norrlinger, Bern; Heaton, Robert; Islam, Mohammad

    2008-06-23

    We have investigated the feasibility of using a set of multiple MOSFETs in conjunction with the mobile MOSFET wireless dosimetry system, to perform a comprehensive and efficient quality assurance (QA) of IMRT plans. Anatomy specific MOSFET configurations incorporating 5 MOSFETs have been developed for a specially designed IMRT dosimetry phantom. Kilovoltage cone beam computed tomography (kV CBCT) imaging was used to increase the positional precision and accuracy of the detectors and phantom, and so minimize dosimetric uncertainties in high dose gradient regions. The effectiveness of the MOSFET based dose measurements was evaluated by comparing the corresponding doses measured by an ion chamber. For 20 head and neck IMRT plans the agreement between the MOSFET and ionization chamber dose measurements was found to be within -0.26 +/- 0.88% and 0.06 +/- 1.94% (1 sigma) for measurement points in the high dose and low dose respectively. A precision of 1 mm in detector positioning was achieved by using the X-Ray Volume Imaging (XVI) kV CBCT system available with the Elekta Synergy Linear Accelerator. Using the anatomy specific MOSFET configurations, simultaneous measurements were made at five strategically located points covering high dose and low dose regions. The agreement between measurements and calculated doses by the treatment planning system for head and neck and prostate IMRT plans was found to be within 0.47 +/- 2.45%. The results indicate that a cylindrical phantom incorporating multiple MOSFET detectors arranged in an anatomy specific configuration, in conjunction with image guidance, can be utilized to perform a comprehensive and efficient quality assurance of IMRT plans.

  3. PREFACE: 7th International Conference on 3D Radiation Dosimetry (IC3DDose)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thwaites, David; Baldock, Clive

    2013-06-01

    IC3DDose 2013, the 7th International Conference on 3D Radiation Dosimetry held in Sydney, Australia from 4-8 November 2012, grew out of the DosGel series, which began as DosGel99, the 1st International Workshop on Radiation Therapy Gel Dosimetry in Lexington, Kentucky. Since 1999 subsequent DoSGel conferences were held in Brisbane, Australia (2001), Ghent, Belgium (2004), Sherbrooke, Canada (2006) and Crete, Greece (2008). In 2010 the conference was held on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina and underwent a name-change to IC3DDose. The aim of the first workshop was to bring together individuals, both researchers and users, with an interest in 3D radiation dosimetry techniques, with a mix of presentations from basic science to clinical applications, which has remained an objective for all of the meetings. One rationale of DosGel99 was stated as supporting the increasing clinical implementation of gel dosimetry, as the technique appeared, at that time, to be leaving the laboratories of gel dosimetry enthusiasts and entering clinical practice. Clearly by labelling the first workshop as the 1st, there was a vision of a continuing series, which has been fulfilled. On the other hand, the expectation of widespread clinical use of gel dosimetry has perhaps not been what was hoped for and anticipated. Nevertheless the rapidly increasing demand for advanced high-precision 3D radiotherapy technology and techniques has continued apace. The need for practical and accurate 3D dosimetry methods for development and quality assurance has only increased. By the 6th meeting, held in South Carolina in 2010, the Conference Scientific Committee recognised the wider developments in 3D systems and methods and decided to widen the scope, whilst keeping the same span from basic science to applications. This was signalled by a change of name from 'Dosgel' to 'IC3DDose', a name that has continued to this latest conference. The conference objectives were: to enhance the quality and accuracy of

  4. Dosimetry in MARS spectral CT: TOPAS Monte Carlo simulations and ion chamber measurements.

    PubMed

    Lu, Gray; Marsh, Steven; Damet, Jerome; Carbonez, Pierre; Laban, John; Bateman, Christopher; Butler, Anthony; Butler, Phil

    2017-06-01

    Spectral computed tomography (CT) is an up and coming imaging modality which shows great promise in revealing unique diagnostic information. Because this imaging modality is based on X-ray CT, it is of utmost importance to study the radiation dose aspects of its use. This study reports on the implementation and evaluation of a Monte Carlo simulation tool using TOPAS for estimating dose in a pre-clinical spectral CT scanner known as the MARS scanner. Simulated estimates were compared with measurements from an ionization chamber. For a typical MARS scan, TOPAS estimated for a 30 mm diameter cylindrical phantom a CT dose index (CTDI) of 29.7 mGy; CTDI was measured by ion chamber to within 3% of TOPAS estimates. Although further development is required, our investigation of TOPAS for estimating MARS scan dosimetry has shown its potential for further study of spectral scanning protocols and dose to scanned objects.

  5. Beam quality corrections for parallel-plate ion chambers in electron reference dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zink, K.; Wulff, J.

    2012-04-01

    Current dosimetry protocols (AAPM, IAEA, IPEM, DIN) recommend parallel-plate ionization chambers for dose measurements in clinical electron beams. This study presents detailed Monte Carlo simulations of beam quality correction factors for four different types of parallel-plate chambers: NACP-02, Markus, Advanced Markus and Roos. These chambers differ in constructive details which should have notable impact on the resulting perturbation corrections, hence on the beam quality corrections. The results reveal deviations to the recommended beam quality corrections given in the IAEA TRS-398 protocol in the range of 0%-2% depending on energy and chamber type. For well-guarded chambers, these deviations could be traced back to a non-unity and energy-dependent wall perturbation correction. In the case of the guardless Markus chamber, a nearly energy-independent beam quality correction is resulting as the effects of wall and cavity perturbation compensate each other. For this chamber, the deviations to the recommended values are the largest and may exceed 2%. From calculations of type-B uncertainties including effects due to uncertainties of the underlying cross-sectional data as well as uncertainties due to the chamber material composition and chamber geometry, the overall uncertainty of calculated beam quality correction factors was estimated to be <0.7%. Due to different chamber positioning recommendations given in the national and international dosimetry protocols, an additional uncertainty in the range of 0.2%-0.6% is present. According to the IAEA TRS-398 protocol, the uncertainty in clinical electron dosimetry using parallel-plate ion chambers is 1.7%. This study may help to reduce this uncertainty significantly.

  6. SU-E-J-110: TG 51 Dosimetry : With Or Without Lead

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Shah, M

    TG-51 Dosimetry: With or Without Lead. Purpose: In this project, an analytical method has been introduced for adjustment of the TG-51 recommended KQ in order to produce accurate dosimetric data for high energy photons without the lead foil. Methods: These investigations were performed using a 30 cm × 30 cm × 30 cm CIVCO water tank, A12 EXRADIN Water proof Farmer Chamber, a Standard Imaging MAX 4000 electrometer, and 1 mm thick lead foil from Standard Imaging. Complete TG-51 was performed every month with and without lead. The results were analyzed and an analytical model has been developed for comparingmore » the values of KQ. TG-51 Table I was used to obtain KQ values. Results: The dosimetric evaluations were obtained for Varian Linear accelerators Model 21ix and 21ex. These results indicates that the measured data with lead foil in place as recommended by TG-51 is in excellent agreement (within 0.1%) with the calculated data obtained by the new model, from our dosimetry data without-lead. If equation 15 of the TG-51 report is used without any adjustments, it will lead to differences of about 1.6 % (on the average) in relative data which will Resultin differences of about 0.3 % (on the average) in the KQ Values. The KQ value for 18 MV obtained consistently with the equation of TG-51 “with lead” and “without lead” were 0.971 and 0.974, respectively. The 0.3 % higher results for KQ without lead eventually will lead to 0.3% larger output. However, by considering this model the KQ value was found to be 0.971 for dosimetry without lead. Conclusion: The analytical model that was introduced in this project was able to reproduce the dosimetric data of the high energy linear accelerators to within 0.1% without the use of the lead foil.« less

  7. Micrometer-resolved film dosimetry using a microscope in microbeam radiation therapy

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bartzsch, Stefan, E-mail: stefan.bartzsch@icr.ac.uk; Oelfke, Uwe; Lott, Johanna

    2015-07-15

    Purpose: Microbeam radiation therapy (MRT) is a still preclinical tumor therapy approach that uses arrays of a few tens of micrometer wide parallel beams separated by a few 100 μm. The production, measurement, and planning of such radiation fields are a challenge up to now. Here, the authors investigate the feasibility of radiochromic film dosimetry in combination with a microscopic readout as a tool to validate peak and valley doses in MRT, which is an important requirement for a future clinical application of the therapy. Methods: Gafchromic{sup ®} HD-810 and HD-V2 films are exposed to MRT fields at the biomedicalmore » beamline ID17 of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) and are afterward scanned with a microscope. The measured dose is compared with Monte Carlo calculations. Image analysis tools and film handling protocols are developed that allow accurate and reproducible dosimetry. The performance of HD-810 and HD-V2 films is compared and a detailed analysis of the resolution, noise, and energy dependence is carried out. Measurement uncertainties are identified and analyzed. Results: The dose was measured with a resolution of 5 × 1000 μm{sup 2} and an accuracy of 5% in the peak and between 10% and 15% in the valley region. As main causes for dosimetry uncertainties, statistical noise, film inhomogeneities, and calibration errors were identified. Calibration errors strongly increase at low doses and exceeded 3% for doses below 50 and 70 Gy for HD-V2 and HD-810 films, respectively. While the grain size of both film types is approximately 2 μm, the statistical noise in HD-V2 is much higher than in HD-810 films. However, HD-810 films show a higher energy dependence at low photon energies. Conclusions: Both film types are appropriate for dosimetry in MRT and the microscope is superior to the microdensitometer used before at the ESRF with respect to resolution and reproducibility. However, a very careful analysis of the image data is required

  8. The MCART radiation physics core: the quest for radiation dosimetry standardization.

    PubMed

    Kazi, Abdul M; MacVittie, Thomas J; Lasio, Giovanni; Lu, Wei; Prado, Karl L

    2014-01-01

    Dose-related radiobiological research results can only be compared meaningfully when radiation dosimetry is standardized. To this purpose, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)-sponsored Medical Countermeasures Against Radiological Threats (MCART) consortium recently created a Radiation Physics Core (RPC) as an entity to assume responsibility of standardizing radiation dosimetry practices among its member laboratories. The animal research activities in these laboratories use a variety of ionizing photon beams from several irradiators such as 250-320 kVp x-ray generators, Cs irradiators, Co teletherapy machines, and medical linear accelerators (LINACs). In addition to this variety of sources, these centers use a range of irradiation techniques and make use of different dose calculation schemes to conduct their experiments. An extremely important objective in these research activities is to obtain a Dose Response Relationship (DRR) appropriate to their respective organ-specific models of acute and delayed radiation effects. A clear and unambiguous definition of the DRR is essential for the development of medical countermeasures. It is imperative that these DRRs are transparent between centers. The MCART RPC has initiated the establishment of standard dosimetry practices among member centers and is introducing a Remote Dosimetry Monitoring Service (RDMS) to ascertain ongoing quality assurance. This paper will describe the initial activities of the MCART RPC toward implementing these standardization goals. It is appropriate to report a summary of initial activities with the intent of reporting the full implementation at a later date.

  9. [The application of non-annealing thermoluminescent dosimetry (TLD)].

    PubMed

    Wu, J M; Chen, C S; Lan, R H

    1993-06-01

    Conventional use of Thermoluminescence (TL) in radiation dosimetry is very time-consuming. It requires repeating the procedures of preheating and annealing. In an attempt to simplify these procedures, we conducted an experiment of non-annealing TL dosimetry. This article reports the experiment's results. We adopted Lithium Fluoride (LiF) chip (TLD-100) in polystyrene under the exposure of Co-60, and the result was taken by HAR-SHAW-4000 TL reading system. The TL response was analyzed, including linearity, reproducibility and fading test. Because non-annealing TL response was greatly influenced by residual electron, TLD calibration curves were separated into two parts: (1) high dose region (HDR, 50-1500 cGy); (2) low dose region (LDR, 0-50 cGy). When TL dosimeters were exposed to a single high does (about 500 cGy), the HDR could be reproduced within 3% and fit a good linearity. For LDR, we had to give up the tail of glow curve in the high temperature region. We could then get good linearity and reproducibility. Furthermore, fading of non-annealing was apparently larger than annealing. We could control the fading of non-annealing was apparently larger than annealing. We could control the fading influence within 1% by taking the TL reading one hour after exposure. On the other hand, a combination of photon and electron exposure was also performed by non-annealing TL dosimetry. The results were compatible with Co-60 exposure in the same system.

  10. Dosimetry Formalism and Implementation of a Homogenous Irradiation Protocol to Improve the Accuracy of Small Animal Whole-Body Irradiation Using a Cesium-137 Irradiator

    PubMed Central

    Brodin, N. Patrik; Chen, Yong; Yaparpalvi, Ravindra; Guha, Chandan; Tomé, Wolfgang A.

    2015-01-01

    Shielded 137Cs irradiators are routinely used in pre-clinical radiation research to perform in vitro or in vivo investigations. Without appropriate dosimetry and irradiation protocols in place, there can be large uncertainty in the delivered dose of radiation between irradiated subjects that could lead to inaccurate and possibly misleading results. Here, a dosimetric evaluation of the JL Shepard Mark I-68A 137Cs irradiator and an irradiation technique for whole-body irradiation of small animals that allows one to limit the between subject variation in delivered dose to ±3% are provided. Mathematical simulation techniques and Gafchromic EBT film were used to describe the region within the irradiation cavity with homogeneous dose distribution (100% ±5%), the dosimetric impact of varying source-to-subject distance, and the variation in attenuation thickness due to turntable rotation. Furthermore, an irradiation protocol and dosimetry formalism that allows calculation of irradiation time for whole-body irradiation of small animals is proposed, that is designed to ensure a more consistent dose delivery between irradiated subjects. To compare this protocol with the conventional irradiation protocol suggested by the vendor, high-resolution film dosimetry measurements evaluating the dose difference between irradiation subjects and the dose distribution throughout subjects was performed, using phantoms resembling small animals. Based on these results, there can be considerable variation in the delivered dose of > ±5% using the conventional irradiation protocol for whole-body irradiation doses below 5 Gy. Using the proposed irradiation protocol this variability can be reduced to within ±3% and the dosimetry formalism allows for more accurate calculation of the irradiation time in relation to the intended prescription dose. PMID:26710162

  11. Investigation of a pulsed current annealing method in reusing MOSFET dosimeters for in vivo IMRT dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Luo, Guang-Wen; Qi, Zhen-Yu; Deng, Xiao-Wu; Rosenfeld, Anatoly

    2014-05-01

    To explore the feasibility of pulsed current annealing in reusing metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) dosimeters for in vivo intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) dosimetry. Several MOSFETs were irradiated at d(max) using a 6 MV x-ray beam with 5 V on the gate and annealed with zero bias at room temperature. The percentage recovery of threshold voltage shift during multiple irradiation-annealing cycles was evaluated. Key dosimetry characteristics of the annealed MOSFET such as the dosimeter's sensitivity, reproducibility, dose linearity, and linearity of response within the dynamic range were investigated. The initial results of using the annealed MOSFETs for IMRT dosimetry practice were also presented. More than 95% of threshold voltage shift can be recovered after 24-pulse current continuous annealing in 16 min. The mean sensitivity degradation was found to be 1.28%, ranging from 1.17% to 1.52%, during multiple annealing procedures. Other important characteristics of the annealed MOSFET remained nearly consistent before and after annealing. Our results showed there was no statistically significant difference between the annealed MOSFETs and their control samples in absolute dose measurements for IMRT QA (p = 0.99). The MOSFET measurements agreed with the ion chamber results on an average of 0.16% ± 0.64%. Pulsed current annealing provides a practical option for reusing MOSFETs to extend their operational lifetime. The current annealing circuit can be integrated into the reader, making the annealing procedure fully automatic.

  12. Proton beam dosimetry: a comparison between a plastic scintillator, ionization chamber and Faraday cup.

    PubMed

    Ghergherehchi, Mitra; Afarideh, Hossein; Ghannadi, Mohammad; Mohammadzadeh, Ahmad; Aslani, Golam Reza; Boghrati, Behzad

    2010-01-01

    In this study, a comparison was made between a plastic scintillator (BC400), a Faraday Cup (FC) and an ionization chamber (IC) used for routine proton dosimetry. Thin scintillators can be applied to proton dosimetry and consequently to proton therapy as relative dosimeters because of their water-equivalent nature, high energy-light conversion efficiency, low dimensions and good proportionality to the absorbed dose at low stopping powers. To employ such scintillators as relative dosimeters in proton therapy, the corrective factors must be applied to correct the quenching luminescence at the Bragg peak. A fine linear proportionality between the luminescence light yield Y and the proton flux in a thin (0.5 mm) scintillator for the 20 and 30 MeV proton beams were observed. The experimental peak/plateau ratios of Bragg Curve for 2, 1 and 0.5 mm scintillators with an accuracy of 0.5% were obtained to be 1.87, 1.91 and 2.30, respectively. With combination of the Markus chamber and the CR-39 detector, the peak/plateau ratio was improved to 3.26. The obtained data of the luminescence yield as a function of the specific energy loss is in agreement with the Craun-Birk's theory. Results show that the FC and Markus ionization chamber are in agreement within 4%, while the FC gives a lower dose evaluation. For a defined beam, the data for the fluence measurements are reproducible within a good accuracy.

  13. Evaluation of a real-time BeO ceramic fiber-coupled luminescence dosimetry system for dose verification of high dose rate brachytherapy

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Santos, Alexandre M. Caraça, E-mail: alexandre.santos@adelaide.edu.au; Mohammadi, Mohammad; Shahraam, Afshar V.

    Purpose: The authors evaluate the capability of a beryllium oxide (BeO) ceramic fiber-coupled luminescence dosimeter, named radioluminescence/optically stimulated luminescence (RL/OSL) BeO FOD, for dosimetric verification of high dose rate (HDR) treatments. The RL/OSL BeO FOD is capable of RL and OSL measurements. Methods: The RL/OSL BeO FOD is able to be inserted in 6F proguide needles, used in interstitial HDR treatments. Using a custom built Perspex phantom, 6F proguide needles could be submerged in a water tank at 1 cm separations from each other. A second background fiber was required to correct for the stem effect. The stem effect, dosemore » linearity, reproducibility, depth-dose curves, and angular and temperature dependency of the RL/OSL BeO FOD were characterised using an Ir-192 source. The RL/OSL BeO FOD was also applied to the commissioning of a 10 mm horizontal Leipzig applicator. Results: Both the RL and OSL were found to be reproducible and their percentage depth-dose curves to be in good agreement with those predicted via TG-43. A combined uncertainty of 7.9% and 10.1% (k = 1) was estimated for the RL and OSL, respectively. For the 10 mm horizontal Leipzig applicator, measured percentage depth doses were within 5% agreement of the published reference calculations. The output at the 3 mm prescription depth for a 1 Gy delivery was verified to be 0.99 ± 0.08 Gy and 1.01 ± 0.10 Gy by the RL and OSL, respectively. Conclusions: The use of the second background fiber under the current setup means that the two fibers cannot fit into a single 6F needle. Hence, use of the RL is currently not adequate for the purpose of in vivo brachytherapy dosimetry. While not real-time, the OSL is shown to be adequate for in vivo brachytherapy dosimetry.« less

  14. First-in-Human Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2-Targeted Imaging Using 89Zr-Pertuzumab PET/CT: Dosimetry and Clinical Application in Patients with Breast Cancer.

    PubMed

    Ulaner, Gary A; Lyashchenko, Serge K; Riedl, Christopher; Ruan, Shutian; Zanzonico, Pat B; Lake, Diana; Jhaveri, Komal; Zeglis, Brian; Lewis, Jason S; O'Donoghue, Joseph A

    2018-06-01

    In what we believe to be a first-in-human study, we evaluated the safety and dosimetry of 89 Zr-pertuzumab PET/CT for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-targeted imaging in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer. Methods: Patients with HER2-positive breast cancer and evidence of distant metastases were enrolled in an institutional review board-approved prospective clinical trial. Pertuzumab was conjugated with deferoxamine and radiolabeled with 89 Zr. Patients underwent PET/CT with 74 MBq of 89 Zr-pertuzumab in a total antibody mass of 20-50 mg of pertuzumab. PET/CT, whole-body probe counts, and blood drawing were performed over 8 d to assess pharmacokinetics, biodistribution, and dosimetry. PET/CT images were evaluated for the ability to visualize HER2-positive metastases. Results: Six patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer were enrolled and administered 89 Zr-pertuzumab. No toxicities occurred. Dosimetry estimates from OLINDA demonstrated that the organs receiving the highest doses (mean ± SD) were the liver (1.75 ± 0.21 mGy/MBq), the kidneys (1.27 ± 0.28 mGy/MBq), and the heart wall (1.22 ± 0.16 mGy/MBq), with an average effective dose of 0.54 ± 0.07 mSv/MBq. PET/CT demonstrated optimal imaging 5-8 d after administration. 89 Zr-pertuzumab was able to image multiple sites of malignancy and suggested that they were HER2-positive. In 2 patients with both known HER2-positive and HER2-negative primary breast cancers and brain metastases, 89 Zr-pertuzumab PET/CT suggested that the brain metastases were HER2-positive. In 1 of the 2 patients, subsequent resection of a brain metastasis proved HER2-positive disease, confirming that the 89 Zr-pertuzumab avidity was a true-positive result for HER2-positive malignancy. Conclusion: This first-in-human study demonstrated safety, dosimetry, biodistribution, and successful HER2-targeted imaging with 89 Zr-pertuzumab PET/CT. Potential clinical applications include assessment of the HER2 status

  15. Safety, Biodistribution, and Radiation Dosimetry of 68Ga-OPS202 in Patients with Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors: A Prospective Phase I Imaging Study.

    PubMed

    Nicolas, Guillaume P; Beykan, Seval; Bouterfa, Hakim; Kaufmann, Jens; Bauman, Andreas; Lassmann, Michael; Reubi, Jean Claude; Rivier, Jean E F; Maecke, Helmut R; Fani, Melpomeni; Wild, Damian

    2018-06-01

    Preclinical and preliminary clinical evidence indicates that radiolabeled somatostatin (sst) receptor antagonists perform better than agonists in detecting neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). We performed a prospective phase I/II study to evaluate the sst receptor antagonist 68 Ga-OPS202 ( 68 Ga-NODAGA-JR11; NODAGA = 1,4,7-triazacyclononane,1-glutaric acid-4,7-acetic acid and JR11 = Cpa-c(dCys-Aph(Hor)-dAph(Cbm)-Lys-Thr-Cys)-dTyr-NH 2 )) for PET imaging. Here, we report the results of phase I of the study. Methods: Patients received 2 single 150-MBq intravenous injections of 68 Ga-OPS202 3-4 wk apart (15 μg of peptide at visit 1 and 50 μg at visit 2). At visit 1, a dynamic PET/CT scan over the kidney was obtained during the first 30 min after injection, and static whole-body scans were obtained at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 h after injection; at visit 2, a static whole-body scan was obtained at 1 h. Blood samples and urine were collected at regular intervals to determine 68 Ga-OPS202 pharmacokinetics. Safety, biodistribution, radiation dosimetry, and the most appropriate imaging time point for 68 Ga-OPS202 were assessed. Results: Twelve patients with well-differentiated gastroenteropancreatic (GEP) NETs took part in the study. 68 Ga-OPS202 cleared rapidly from the blood, with a mean residence time of 2.4 ± 1.1 min/L. The organs with the highest mean dose coefficients were the urinary bladder wall, kidneys, and spleen. The calculated effective dose was 2.4E-02 ± 0.2E-02 mSv/MBq, corresponding to 3.6 mSv, for a reference activity of 150 MBq. Based on total numbers of detected malignant lesions, the optimal time window for the scan was between 1 and 2 h. For malignant liver lesions, the time point at which most patients had the highest mean tumor contrast was 1 h. 68 Ga-OPS202 was well tolerated; adverse events were grade 1 or 2, and there were no signals of concern from laboratory blood or urinalysis tests. Conclusion: 68 Ga-OPS202 showed favorable biodistribution and imaging

  16. PREFACE: 8th International Conference on 3D Radiation Dosimetry (IC3DDose)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Olsson, Lars E.; Bäck, S.; Ceberg, Sofie

    2015-01-01

    IC3DDose 2014, the 8th International Conference on 3D Radiation Dosimetry was held in Ystad, Sweden, from 4-7 September 2014. This grew out of the DosGel series, which began as DosGel99, the 1st International Workshop on Radiation Therapy Gel Dosimetry in Lexington, Kentucky. Since 1999 subsequent DoSGel conferences were held in Brisbane, Australia (2001), Ghent, Belgium (2004), Sherbrooke, Canada (2006) and Crete, Greece (2008). In 2010 the conference was held on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina and underwent a name-change to IC3DDose. The 7th and last meeting was held in Sydney, Australia from 4-8 November 2012. It is worth remembering that the conference series started at the very beginning of the intensity modulated radiotherapy era and that the dosimeters being developed then were, to some extent, ahead of the clinical need of radiotherapy. However, since then the technical developments in radiation therapy have been dramatic, with dynamic treatments, including tracking, gating and volumetric modulated arc therapy, widely introduced in the clinic with the need for 3D dosimetry thus endless. This was also reflected by the contributions at the meeting in Ystad. Accordingly the scope of the meeting has also broadened to IC3DDOSE - I See Three-Dimensional Dose. A multitude of dosimetry techniques and radiation detectors are now represented, all with the common denominator: three-dimensional or 3D. Additionally, quality assurance (QA) procedures and other aspects of clinical dosimetry are represented. The implementation of new dosimetric techniques in radiotherapy is a process that needs every kind of caution, carefulness and thorough validation. Therefore, the clinical needs, reformulated as the aims for IC3DDOSE - I See Three-Dimensional Dose, are: • Enhance the quality and accuracy of radiation therapy treatments through improved clinical dosimetry. • Investigate and understand the dosimetric challenges of modern radiation treatment techniques. • Provide

  17. SU-F-T-294: The Analysis of Gamma Criteria for Delta4 Dosimetry Using Statistical Process Control

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Cho, S; Ahn, S; Kim, J

    Purpose: To evaluate the sensitivity of gamma criteria for patient-specific volumetric modulated arc therapy(VMAT) quality assurance of the Delta{sup 4} dosimetry program using the statistical process control(SPC) methodology. Methods: The authors selected 20 patient-specific VMAT QA cases which were undertaken MapCHECK and ArcCHECK with gamma pass rate better than 97%. The QAs data were collected Delta4 Phantom+ and Elekta Agility six megavolts without using an angle incrementer. The gamma index(GI) were calculated in 2D planes with normalizing deviation to local dose(local gamma). The sensitivity of the GI methodology using criterion of 3%/3mm, 3%/2mm and 2%/3mm was analyzed with using processmore » acceptability indices. We used local confidence(LC) level, the upper control limit(UCL) and lower control limit(LCL) of I-MR chart for process capability index(Cp) and a process acceptability index (Cpk). Results: The lower local confidence levels of 3%/3mm, 3%/2mm and 2%/3mm were 92.0%, 83.6% and 78.8% respectively. All of the calculated Cp and Cpk values that used LC level were under 1.0 in this study. The calculated LCLs of I-MR charts were 89.5%, 79.0% and 70.5% respectively. These values were higher than 1.0 which means good quality of QA. For the generally used lower limit of 90%, we acquired over 1.3 of Cp value for the gamma index of 3%/3mm and lower than 1.0 in the rest of GI. Conclusion: We applied SPC methodology to evaluate the sensitivity of gamma criteria and could see the lower control limits of VMAT QA for the Delta 4 dosimetry and could see that Delta 4 phantom+ dosimetry more affected by the position error and the I-MR chart derived values are more suitable for establishing lower limits. Acknowledgement: This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (No. 2015R1D1A1A01060463)« less

  18. Concerted Uranium Research in Europe (CURE): toward a collaborative project integrating dosimetry, epidemiology and radiobiology to study the effects of occupational uranium exposure.

    PubMed

    Laurent, Olivier; Gomolka, Maria; Haylock, Richard; Blanchardon, Eric; Giussani, Augusto; Atkinson, Will; Baatout, Sarah; Bingham, Derek; Cardis, Elisabeth; Hall, Janet; Tomasek, Ladislav; Ancelet, Sophie; Badie, Christophe; Bethel, Gary; Bertho, Jean-Marc; Bouet, Ségolène; Bull, Richard; Challeton-de Vathaire, Cécile; Cockerill, Rupert; Davesne, Estelle; Ebrahimian, Teni; Engels, Hilde; Gillies, Michael; Grellier, James; Grison, Stephane; Gueguen, Yann; Hornhardt, Sabine; Ibanez, Chrystelle; Kabacik, Sylwia; Kotik, Lukas; Kreuzer, Michaela; Lebacq, Anne Laure; Marsh, James; Nosske, Dietmar; O'Hagan, Jackie; Pernot, Eileen; Puncher, Matthew; Rage, Estelle; Riddell, Tony; Roy, Laurence; Samson, Eric; Souidi, Maamar; Turner, Michelle C; Zhivin, Sergey; Laurier, Dominique

    2016-06-01

    The potential health impacts of chronic exposures to uranium, as they occur in occupational settings, are not well characterized. Most epidemiological studies have been limited by small sample sizes, and a lack of harmonization of methods used to quantify radiation doses resulting from uranium exposure. Experimental studies have shown that uranium has biological effects, but their implications for human health are not clear. New studies that would combine the strengths of large, well-designed epidemiological datasets with those of state-of-the-art biological methods would help improve the characterization of the biological and health effects of occupational uranium exposure. The aim of the European Commission concerted action CURE (Concerted Uranium Research in Europe) was to develop protocols for such a future collaborative research project, in which dosimetry, epidemiology and biology would be integrated to better characterize the effects of occupational uranium exposure. These protocols were developed from existing European cohorts of workers exposed to uranium together with expertise in epidemiology, biology and dosimetry of CURE partner institutions. The preparatory work of CURE should allow a large scale collaborative project to be launched, in order to better characterize the effects of uranium exposure and more generally of alpha particles and low doses of ionizing radiation.

  19. Thermoluminescence dosimetry and its applications in medicine--Part 2: History and applications.

    PubMed

    Kron, T

    1995-03-01

    Thermoluminescence dosimetry (TLD) has been available for dosimetry of ionising radiation for nearly 100 years. The variety of materials and their different physical forms allow the determination of different radiation qualities over a wide range of absorbed dose. This makes TL dosimeters useful in radiation protection where dose levels of microGy are monitored as well as in radiotherapy where doses up to several Gray are to be measured. The major advantages of TL detectors are their small physical size and that no cables or auxiliary equipment is required during the dose assessment. Therefore TLD is a good method for point dose measurements in phantoms as well as for in vivo dosimetry on patients during radiotherapy treatment. As an integrative dosimetric technique, it can be applied to personal dosimetry and it lends itself to the determination of dose distributions due to multiple or moving radiation sources (e.g. conformal and dynamic radiotherapy, computed tomography). In addition, TL dosimeters are easy to transport, and they can be mailed. This makes them well suited for intercomparison of doses delivered in different institutions. The present article aims at describing the various applications TLD has found in medicine by taking into consideration the physics and practice of TLD measurements which have been discussed in the first part of this review (Australas. Phys. Eng. Sci. Med. 17: 175-199, 1994).

  20. On the use of new generation mobile phone (smart phone) for retrospective accident dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, J. I.; Chang, I.; Pradhan, A. S.; Kim, J. L.; Kim, B. H.; Chung, K. S.

    2015-11-01

    Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) characteristics of resistors, inductors and integrated-circuit (IC) chips, extracted from new generation smart phones, were investigated for the purpose of retrospective accident dosimetry. Inductor samples were found to exhibit OSL sensitivity about 5 times and 40 times higher than that of the resistors and the IC chips, respectively. On post-irradiation storage, the resistors exhibited a much higher OSL fading (about 80 % in 36 h as compared to the value 3 min after irradiation) than IC chips (about 20 % after 36 h) and inductors (about 50 % in 36 h). Higher OSL sensitivity, linear dose response (from 8.7 mGy up to 8.9 Gy) and acceptable fading make inductors more attractive for accident dosimetry than widely studied resistors.

  1. SU-E-T-606: Performance of MR-Based 3D FXG Dosimetry for Preclinical Irradiation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Welch, M; Jaffray, D; Radiation Medicine Program, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, ON

    Purpose: Technological advances have revolutionized preclinical radiation research to enable precise radiation delivery in preclinical models. Kilovoltage x-rays and complex geometries in preclinical radiation studies challenge conventional dosimetry methods. Previously developed gel-based dosimetry provides a viable means of accommodating complex geometries and accurately reporting dose at kV energies. This paper will describe the development and evaluation of gel-based ferrous xylenol-orange (FXG) dosimetry using a 7T preclinical imaging system. Methods: To confirm water equivalence, Zeff values were calculated for the FXG material, water and ICRU defined soft tissue. Proton T1 relaxivity response in FXG was measured using a preclinical 7T MRmore » and a small animal irradiator for a dose range of 1–22 Gy. FXG was contained in 50 ml centrifuge tubes and irradiated with a 225 kVp x-ray beam at a nominal dose rate of 2.3 Gy/min. Pre and post irradiation maps of the T1 relaxivity were collected using variable TR spin-echo imaging (TE 6.65 ms; TR 500, 750, 1000, 1500, 2000, 3000 and 5000 ms) with 2 mm thick slices, 0.325 mm/pixel, 3 averages and an acquisition time of 26 minutes. A linear fit to the change in relaxation rate (1/T1) for the delivered doses reported the gel sensitivity in units of ms{sup -1}Gy{sup -1}. Irradiation and imaging studies were repeated using three batches of gel over 72 hrs. Results: FXG has a Zeff of 3.8 for the 225 kVp spectrum used; differing from water and ICRU defined soft tissue by 0.5% and 2.5%, respectively. The average sensitivity for the FXG dosimeter was 31.5 ± 0.7 ms{sup -1}Gy{sup -1} (R{sup 2} = 0.9957) with a y-intercept of −29.4 ± 9.0 ms{sup -1}. Conclusion: Preliminary results for the FXG dosimeter properties, sensitivity, and dose linearity at preclinical energies is promising. Future work will explore anatomically relevant tissue inclusions to test MR performance. Student funding provided by The Terry Fox

  2. Fundamentals of Materials, Techniques, and Instrumentation for OSL and FNTD Dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Akselrod, M. S.

    2011-05-01

    The optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) technique has already become a successful commercial tool in personal radiation dosimetry, medical dosimetry, diagnostic imaging, geological and archeological dating. This review briefly describes the history and fundamental principles of OSL materials, methods and instrumentation. The advantages of OSL technology and instrumentation in comparison with thermoluminescent technique are analyzed. Progress in material and detector engineering has allowed new and promising developments regarding OSL applications in the medical field. Special attention is dedicated to Al2O3:C as a material of choice for many dosimetric applications. Different aspects of OSL theory, materials optical and dosimetric properties, instrumentation, and data processing algorithms are described. The next technological breakthrough was done with Fluorescent Nuclear Track Detectors (FNTD) that have some important advantages in measuring fast neutron and high energy heavy charge particles that have become the latest tool in radiation therapy. New Mg-doped aluminum oxide crystals and novel type of imaging instrumentation for FNTD technology are discussed with regard to application in mixed neutron-gamma fields, medical dosimetry and radiobiological research.

  3. Protocol for emergency EPR dosimetry in fingernails

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    There is an increased need for after-the fact dosimetry because of the high risk of radiation exposures due to terrorism or accidents. In case of such an event, a method is needed to make measurements of dose in a large number of individuals rapidly and with sufficient accuracy to facilitate effect...

  4. Dosimetry in Thermal Neutron Irradiation Facility at BMRR

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hu, J. P.; Holden, N. E.; Reciniello, R. N.

    Radiation dosimetry for Neutron Capture Therapy (NCT) has been performed since 1959 at Thermal Neutron Irradiation Facility (TNIF) of the three-megawatt light-water cooled Brookhaven Medical Research Reactor (BMRR). In the early 1990s when more effective drug carriers were developed for NCT, in which the eye melanoma and brain tumors in rats were irradiated in situ, extensive clinical trials of small animals began using a focused thermal neutron beam. To improve the dosimetry at irradiation facility, a series of innovative designs and major modifications made to enhance the beam intensity and to ease the experimental sampling at BMRR were performed; includingmore » (1) in-core fuel addition to increase source strength and balance flux of neutrons towards two ports, (2) out of core moderator remodeling, done by replacing thicker D 2O tanks at graphite-shutter interfacial areas, to expedite neutron thermalization, (3) beam shutter upgrade to reduce strayed neutrons and gamma dose, (4) beam collimator redesign to optimize the beam flux versus dose for animal treatment, (5) beam port shielding installation around the shutter opening area (lithium-6 enriched polyester-resin in boxes, attached with polyethylene plates) to reduce prompt gamma and fast neutron doses, (6) sample holder repositioning to optimize angle versus distance for a single organ or whole body irradiation, and (7) holder wall buildup with neutron reflector materials to increase dose and dose rate from scattered thermal neutrons. During the facility upgrade, reactor dosimetry was conducted using thermoluminescent dosimeters TLD for gamma dose estimate, using ion chambers to confirm fast neutron and gamma dose rate, and by the activation of gold-foils with and without cadmium-covers, for fast and thermal neutron flux determination. Based on the combined effect from the size and depth of tumor cells and the location and geometry of dosimeters, the measured flux from cadmium-difference method was 4 - 7

  5. Effect of respiratory motion on internal radiation dosimetry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Xie, Tianwu; Zaidi, Habib, E-mail: habib.zaidi@hcuge.ch; Geneva Neuroscience Center, Geneva University, Geneva CH-1205

    Purpose: Estimation of the radiation dose to internal organs is essential for the assessment of radiation risks and benefits to patients undergoing diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine procedures including PET. Respiratory motion induces notable internal organ displacement, which influences the absorbed dose for external exposure to radiation. However, to their knowledge, the effect of respiratory motion on internal radiation dosimetry has never been reported before. Methods: Thirteen computational models representing the adult male at different respiratory phases corresponding to the normal respiratory cycle were generated from the 4D dynamic XCAT phantom. Monte Carlo calculations were performed using the MCNP transportmore » code to estimate the specific absorbed fractions (SAFs) of monoenergetic photons/electrons, the S-values of common positron-emitting radionuclides (C-11, N-13, O-15, F-18, Cu-64, Ga-68, Rb-82, Y-86, and I-124), and the absorbed dose of {sup 18}F-fluorodeoxyglucose ({sup 18}F-FDG) in 28 target regions for both the static (average of dynamic frames) and dynamic phantoms. Results: The self-absorbed dose for most organs/tissues is only slightly influenced by respiratory motion. However, for the lung, the self-absorbed SAF is about 11.5% higher at the peak exhale phase than the peak inhale phase for photon energies above 50 keV. The cross-absorbed dose is obviously affected by respiratory motion for many combinations of source-target pairs. The cross-absorbed S-values for the heart contents irradiating the lung are about 7.5% higher in the peak exhale phase than the peak inhale phase for different positron-emitting radionuclides. For {sup 18}F-FDG, organ absorbed doses are less influenced by respiratory motion. Conclusions: Respiration-induced volume variations of the lungs and the repositioning of internal organs affect the self-absorbed dose of the lungs and cross-absorbed dose between organs in internal radiation dosimetry. The dynamic

  6. Dosimetry in Thermal Neutron Irradiation Facility at BMRR

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hu, J.-P.; Holden, N. E.; Reciniello, R. N.

    2016-02-01

    Radiation dosimetry for Neutron Capture Therapy (NCT) has been performed since 1959 at Thermal Neutron Irradiation Facility (TNIF) of the three-megawatt light-water cooled Brookhaven Medical Research Reactor (BMRR). In the early 1990s when more effective drug carriers were developed for NCT, in which the eye melanoma and brain tumors in rats were irradiated in situ, extensive clinical trials of small animals began using a focused thermal neutron beam. To improve the dosimetry at irradiation facility, a series of innovative designs and major modifications made to enhance the beam intensity and to ease the experimental sampling at BMRR were performed; including (1) in-core fuel addition to increase source strength and balance flux of neutrons towards two ports, (2) out of core moderator remodeling, done by replacing thicker D2O tanks at graphite-shutter interfacial areas, to expedite neutron thermalization, (3) beam shutter upgrade to reduce strayed neutrons and gamma dose, (4) beam collimator redesign to optimize the beam flux versus dose for animal treatment, (5) beam port shielding installation around the shutter opening area (lithium-6 enriched polyester-resin in boxes, attached with polyethylene plates) to reduce prompt gamma and fast neutron doses, (6) sample holder repositioning to optimize angle versus distance for a single organ or whole body irradiation, and (7) holder wall buildup with neutron reflector materials to increase dose and dose rate from scattered thermal neutrons. During the facility upgrade, reactor dosimetry was conducted using thermoluminescent dosimeters TLD for gamma dose estimate, using ion chambers to confirm fast neutron and gamma dose rate, and by the activation of gold-foils with and without cadmium-covers, for fast and thermal neutron flux determination. Based on the combined effect from the size and depth of tumor cells and the location and geometry of dosimeters, the measured flux from cadmium-difference method was 4-7% lower than

  7. Effects of water on fingernail electron paramagnetic resonance dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Tengda; Zhao, Zhixin; Zhang, Haiying; Zhai, Hezheng; Ruan, Shuzhou; Jiao, Ling; Zhang, Wenyi

    2016-09-01

    Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) is a promising biodosimetric method, and fingernails are sensitive biomaterials to ionizing radiation. Therefore, kinetic energy released per unit mass (kerma) can be estimated by measuring the level of free radicals within fingernails, using EPR. However, to date this dosimetry has been deficient and insufficiently accurate. In the sampling processes and measurements, water plays a significant role. This paper discusses many effects of water on fingernail EPR dosimetry, including disturbance to EPR measurements and two different effects on the production of free radicals. Water that is unable to contact free radicals can promote the production of free radicals due to indirect ionizing effects. Therefore, varying water content within fingernails can lead to varying growth rates in the free radical concentration after irradiation-these two variables have a linear relationship, with a slope of 1.8143. Thus, EPR dosimetry needs to be adjusted according to the water content of the fingernails of an individual. When the free radicals are exposed to water, the eliminating effect will appear. Therefore, soaking fingernail pieces in water before irradiation, as many researchers have previously done, can cause estimation errors. In addition, nails need to be dehydrated before making accurately quantitative EPR measurements. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Japan Radiation Research Society and Japanese Society for Radiation Oncology.

  8. Performance of an improved first generation optical CT scanner for 3D dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Qian, Xin; Adamovics, John; Wuu, Cheng-Shie

    2013-12-01

    Performance analysis of a modified 3D dosimetry optical scanner based on the first generation optical CT scanner OCTOPUS is presented. The system consists of PRESAGE™ dosimeters, the modified 3D scanner, and a new developed in-house user control panel written in Labview program which provides more flexibility to optimize mechanical control and data acquisition technique. The total scanning time has been significantly reduced from initial 8 h to ∼2 h by using the modified scanner. The functional performance of the modified scanner has been evaluated in terms of the mechanical integrity uncertainty of the data acquisition process. Optical density distribution comparison between the modified scanner, OCTOPUS and the treatment plan system has been studied. It has been demonstrated that the agreement between the modified scanner and treatment plans is comparable with that between the OCTOPUS and treatment plans.

  9. Dosimetry study of East Kazakhstan residents by tooth enamel EPR spectroscopy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhumadilov, Kassym; Ivannikov, Alexander; Skvortsov, Valeriy; Stepanenko, Valeriy; Rakhypbekov, Tolebay; Hoshi, Masaharu

    2017-11-01

    The tooth enamel electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) dosimetry method was used to determine accidental doses of population of settlements in the vicinity of the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site (SNTS), Kazakhstan. The influence of four explosions to the populations was included into this report. The distances between investigated settlements and Ground Zero (SNTS) are in the range of 70-200 km from SNTS. Most of settlements (Dolon, Mostik, Bodene, Cheremushki, Kanonerka) are located near the central axis of radioactive fallout trace from the most contaminating surface nuclear test, which was conducted in 29, August 1949. The other settlements located close to radioactive fallout trace result in a surface nuclear tests in 24, August 1956 (Ust-Kamenogorsk, Znamenka, Shemonaikha, Glubokoe, Tavriya, Gagarino), in 12 august 1953 (Sarzhal) and in 7, August 1962 (Akzhar, Kurchatov, Begen, Semenovka, Buras, Grachi). Tooth samples were extracted according to medical recommendations in a course of ordinary dental treatment.

  10. External audits of electron beams using mailed TLD dosimetry: preliminary results.

    PubMed

    Gomola, I; Van Dam, J; Isern-Verdum, J; Verstraete, J; Reymen, R; Dutreix, A; Davis, B; Huyskens, D

    2001-02-01

    A feasibility study has been performed to investigate the possibility of using mailed thermoluminescence dosimetry (TLD) for external audits of clinical electron beams in Europe. In the frame of the EC Network Project for Quality Assurance in Radiotherapy, instruction sheets and mailing procedures have been defined for mailed TLD dosimetry using the dedicated holder developed by a panel of experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Three hundred and thirty electron beam set-ups have been checked in the reference centres and some local centres of the EC Network Project and in addition through the centres participating to the EORTC Radiotherapy Group trial 22922. The mean ratio of measured dose to stated dose is 0.2% and the standard deviation of measured dose to stated dose is 3.2%. In seven beam set-ups, deviations greater than 10% were observed (max. 66%), showing the usefulness of these checks. The results of this feasibility study (instruction sheets, mailing procedures, holder) are presently endorsed by the EQUAL-ESTRO structure in order to offer in the future to all ESTRO members the possibility to request external audits of clinical electron beams.

  11. An image-based skeletal dosimetry model for the ICRP reference adult female—internal electron sources

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    O'Reilly, Shannon E.; DeWeese, Lindsay S.; Maynard, Matthew R.; Rajon, Didier A.; Wayson, Michael B.; Marshall, Emily L.; Bolch, Wesley E.

    2016-12-01

    An image-based skeletal dosimetry model for internal electron sources was created for the ICRP-defined reference adult female. Many previous skeletal dosimetry models, which are still employed in commonly used internal dosimetry software, do not properly account for electron escape from trabecular spongiosa, electron cross-fire from cortical bone, and the impact of marrow cellularity on active marrow self-irradiation. Furthermore, these existing models do not employ the current ICRP definition of a 50 µm bone endosteum (or shallow marrow). Each of these limitations was addressed in the present study. Electron transport was completed to determine specific absorbed fractions to both active and shallow marrow of the skeletal regions of the University of Florida reference adult female. The skeletal macrostructure and microstructure were modeled separately. The bone macrostructure was based on the whole-body hybrid computational phantom of the UF series of reference models, while the bone microstructure was derived from microCT images of skeletal region samples taken from a 45 years-old female cadaver. The active and shallow marrow are typically adopted as surrogate tissue regions for the hematopoietic stem cells and osteoprogenitor cells, respectively. Source tissues included active marrow, inactive marrow, trabecular bone volume, trabecular bone surfaces, cortical bone volume, and cortical bone surfaces. Marrow cellularity was varied from 10 to 100 percent for active marrow self-irradiation. All other sources were run at the defined ICRP Publication 70 cellularity for each bone site. A total of 33 discrete electron energies, ranging from 1 keV to 10 MeV, were either simulated or analytically modeled. The method of combining skeletal macrostructure and microstructure absorbed fractions assessed using MCNPX electron transport was found to yield results similar to those determined with the PIRT model applied to the UF adult male skeletal dosimetry model. Calculated

  12. Criticality accident dosimetry systems: an international intercomparison at the SILENE reactor in 2002.

    PubMed

    Médioni, R; Asselineau, B; Verrey, B; Trompier, F; Itié, C; Texier, C; Muller, H; Pelcot, G; Clairand, I; Jacquet, X; Pochat, J L

    2004-01-01

    In criticality accident dosimetry and more generally for high dose measurements, special techniques are used to measure separately the gamma ray and neutron components of the dose. To improve these techniques and to check their dosimetry systems (physical and/or biological), a total of 60 laboratories from 29 countries (America, Europe, Asia) participated in an international intercomparaison, which took place in France from 9 to 21 June 2002, at the SILENE reactor in Valduc and at a pure gamma source in Fontenay-aux-Roses. This intercomparison was jointly organised by the IRSN and the CEA with the help of the NEA/OCDE and was partly supported by the European Communities. This paper describes the aim of this intercomparison, the techniques used by the participants and the two radiation sources and their characteristics. The experimental arrangements of the dosemeters for the irradiations in free air or on phantoms are given. Then the dosimetric quantities measured and reported by the participants are summarised, analysed and compared with the reference values. The present paper concerns only the physical dosimetry and essentially experiments performed on the SILENE facility. The results obtained with the biological dosimetry are published in two other papers of this issue.

  13. A broad-group cross-section library based on ENDF/B-VII.0 for fast neutron dosimetry Applications

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Alpan, F.A.

    2011-07-01

    A new ENDF/B-VII.0-based coupled 44-neutron, 20-gamma-ray-group cross-section library was developed to investigate the latest evaluated nuclear data file (ENDF) ,in comparison to ENDF/B-VI.3 used in BUGLE-96, as well as to generate an objective-specific library. The objectives selected for this work consisted of dosimetry calculations for in-vessel and ex-vessel reactor locations, iron atom displacement calculations for reactor internals and pressure vessel, and {sup 58}Ni(n,{gamma}) calculation that is important for gas generation in the baffle plate. The new library was generated based on the contribution and point-wise cross-section-driven (CPXSD) methodology and was applied to one of the most widely used benchmarks, themore » Oak Ridge National Laboratory Pool Critical Assembly benchmark problem. In addition to the new library, BUGLE-96 and an ENDF/B-VII.0-based coupled 47-neutron, 20-gamma-ray-group cross-section library was generated and used with both SNLRML and IRDF dosimetry cross sections to compute reaction rates. All reaction rates computed by the multigroup libraries are within {+-} 20 % of measurement data and meet the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission acceptance criterion for reactor vessel neutron exposure evaluations specified in Regulatory Guide 1.190. (authors)« less

  14. Image guided IMRT dosimetry using anatomy specific MOSFET configurations

    PubMed Central

    Norrlinger, Bern; Heaton, Robert; Islam, Mohammad

    2008-01-01

    We have investigated the feasibility of using a set of multiple MOSFETs in conjunction with the mobileMOSFET wireless dosimetry system, to perform a comprehensive and efficient quality assurance (QA) of IMRT plans. Anatomy specific MOSFET configurations incorporating 5 MOSFETs have been developed for a specially designed IMRT dosimetry phantom. Kilovoltage cone beam computed tomography (kV CBCT) imaging was used to increase the positional precision and accuracy of the detectors and phantom, and so minimize dosimetric uncertainties in high dose gradient regions. The effectiveness of the MOSFET based dose measurements was evaluated by comparing the corresponding doses measured by an ion chamber. For 20 head and neck IMRT plans the agreement between the MOSFET and ionization chamber dose measurements was found to be within −0.26±0.88% and 0.06±1.94% (1σ) for measurement points in the high dose and low dose respectively. A precision of 1 mm in detector positioning was achieved by using the X‐Ray Volume Imaging (XVI) kV CBCT system available with the Elekta Synergy Linear Accelerator. Using the anatomy specific MOSFET configurations, simultaneous measurements were made at five strategically located points covering high dose and low dose regions. The agreement between measurements and calculated doses by the treatment planning system for head and neck and prostate IMRT plans was found to be within 0.47±2.45%. The results indicate that a cylindrical phantom incorporating multiple MOSFET detectors arranged in an anatomy specific configuration, in conjunction with image guidance, can be utilized to perform a comprehensive and efficient quality assurance of IMRT plans. PACS number: 87.55.Qr

  15. A quantification of the effectiveness of EPID dosimetry and software-based plan verification systems in detecting incidents in radiotherapy

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bojechko, Casey; Phillps, Mark; Kalet, Alan

    Purpose: Complex treatments in radiation therapy require robust verification in order to prevent errors that can adversely affect the patient. For this purpose, the authors estimate the effectiveness of detecting errors with a “defense in depth” system composed of electronic portal imaging device (EPID) based dosimetry and a software-based system composed of rules-based and Bayesian network verifications. Methods: The authors analyzed incidents with a high potential severity score, scored as a 3 or 4 on a 4 point scale, recorded in an in-house voluntary incident reporting system, collected from February 2012 to August 2014. The incidents were categorized into differentmore » failure modes. The detectability, defined as the number of incidents that are detectable divided total number of incidents, was calculated for each failure mode. Results: In total, 343 incidents were used in this study. Of the incidents 67% were related to photon external beam therapy (EBRT). The majority of the EBRT incidents were related to patient positioning and only a small number of these could be detected by EPID dosimetry when performed prior to treatment (6%). A large fraction could be detected by in vivo dosimetry performed during the first fraction (74%). Rules-based and Bayesian network verifications were found to be complimentary to EPID dosimetry, able to detect errors related to patient prescriptions and documentation, and errors unrelated to photon EBRT. Combining all of the verification steps together, 91% of all EBRT incidents could be detected. Conclusions: This study shows that the defense in depth system is potentially able to detect a large majority of incidents. The most effective EPID-based dosimetry verification is in vivo measurements during the first fraction and is complemented by rules-based and Bayesian network plan checking.« less

  16. Preliminary study of MAGAT polymer gel dosimetry for boron-neutron capture therapy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hayashi, Shin-ichiro; Sakurai, Yoshinori; Uchida, Ryohei; Suzuki, Minoru; Usui, Shuji; Tominaga, Takahiro

    2015-01-01

    MAGAT gel dosimeter with boron is irradiated in Heavy Water Neutron Irradiation Facility (HWNIF) of Kyoto University Research Reactor (KUR). The cylindrical gel phantoms are exposed to neutron beams of three different energy spectra (thermal neutron rich, epithermal and fast neutron rich and the mixed modes) in air. Preliminary results corresponding to depth-dose responses are obtained as the transverse relaxation rate (R2=1/T2) from magnetic resonance imaging data. As the results MAGAT gel dosimeter has the higher sensitivity on thermal neutron than on epi-thermal and fast neutron, and the gel with boron showed an enhancement and a change in the depth-R2 response explicitly. From these results, it is suggested that MAGAT gel dosimeter can be an effective tool in BNCT dosimetry.

  17. Prenatal exposure estimation of BPA and DEHP using integrated external and internal dosimetry: A case study.

    PubMed

    Martínez, M A; Rovira, J; Sharma, R Prasad; Nadal, M; Schuhmacher, M; Kumar, V

    2017-10-01

    Prenatal exposure to Endocrine disruptors (EDs), such as Bisphenol A (BPA) and di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), has been associated with obesity and diabetes diseases in childhood, as well as reproductive, behavioral and neurodevelopment problems. The aim of this study was to estimate the prenatal exposure to BPA and DEHP through food consumption for pregnant women living in Tarragona County (Spain). Probabilistic calculations of prenatal exposure were estimated by integrated external and internal dosimetry modelling, physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model, using a Monte-Carlo simulation. Physical characteristic data from the cohort, along with food intake information from the questionnaires (concentrations of BPA and DEHP in different food categories and the range of the different food ratios), were used to estimate the value of the total dietary intake for the Tarragona pregnancy cohort. The major contributors to the total dietary intake of BPA were canned fruits and vegetables, followed by canned meat and meat products. In turn, milk and dairy products, followed by ready to eat food (including canned dinners), were the most important contributors to the total dietary intake of DEHP. Despite the dietary variations among the participants, the intakes of both chemicals were considerably lower than their respective current tolerable daily intake (TDI) values established by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Internal dosimetry estimates suggest that the plasma concentrations of free BPA and the most important DEHP metabolite, mono (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP), in pregnant women were characterized by transient peaks (associated with meals) and short half-lives (< 2h). In contrast, fetal exposure was characterized by a low and sustained basal BPA and MEHP concentration due to a lack of metabolic activity in the fetus. Therefore, EDs may have a greater effect on developing organs in young children or in the unborn child. Copyright © 2017

  18. Radiation Dosimetry of Whole-Body Dual-Tracer 18F-FDG and 11C-Acetate PET/CT for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

    PubMed

    Liu, Dan; Khong, Pek-Lan; Gao, Yiming; Mahmood, Usman; Quinn, Brian; St Germain, Jean; Xu, X George; Dauer, Lawrence T

    2016-06-01

    Combined whole-body dual-tracer ((18)F-FDG and (11)C-acetate) PET/CT is increasingly used for staging hepatocellular carcinoma, with only limited studies investigating the radiation dosimetry data of these scans. The aim of the study was to characterize the radiation dosimetry of combined whole-body dual-tracer PET/CT protocols. Consecutive adult patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent whole-body dual-tracer PET/CT scans were retrospectively reviewed with institutional review board approval. OLINDA/EXM 1.1 was used to estimate patient-specific internal dose exposure in each organ. Biokinetic models for (18)F-FDG and (11)C-acetate as provided by ICRP (International Commission on Radiological Protection) publication 106 were used. Standard reference phantoms were modified to more closely represent patient-specific organ mass. With patient-specific parameters, organ equivalent doses from each CT series were estimated using VirtualDose. Dosimetry capabilities for tube current modulation protocols were applied by integrating with the latest anatomic realistic models. Effective dose was calculated using ICRP publication 103 tissue-weighting coefficients for adult male and female, respectively. Fourteen scans were evaluated (12 men, 2 women; mean age ± SD, 60 ± 19.48 y). The patient-specific effective dose from (18)F-FDG and (11)C-acetate was 6.08 ± 1.49 and 1.56 ± 0.47 mSv, respectively, for male patients and 6.62 ± 1.38 and 1.79 ± 0.12 mSV, respectively, for female patients. The patient-specific effective dose of the CT component, which comprised 2 noncontrast whole-body scans, to male and female patients was 21.20 ± 8.94 and 14.79 ± 3.35 mSv, respectively. Thus, the total effective doses of the combined whole-body dual-tracer PET/CT studies for male and female patients were 28.84 ± 10.18 and 23.19 ± 4.61 mSv, respectively. Patient-specific parameters allow for more accurate estimation of organ equivalent doses. Considering the substantial

  19. Modelling of a holographic interferometry based calorimeter for radiation dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Beigzadeh, A. M.; Vaziri, M. R. Rashidian; Ziaie, F.

    2017-08-01

    In this research work, a model for predicting the behaviour of holographic interferometry based calorimeters for radiation dosimetry is introduced. Using this technique for radiation dosimetry via measuring the variations of refractive index due to energy deposition of radiation has several considerable advantages such as extreme sensitivity and ability of working without normally used temperature sensors that disturb the radiation field. We have shown that the results of our model are in good agreement with the experiments performed by other researchers under the same conditions. This model also reveals that these types of calorimeters have the additional and considerable merits of transforming the dose distribution to a set of discernible interference fringes.

  20. Probabilistic Reverse dOsimetry Estimating Exposure Distribution (PROcEED)

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    PROcEED is a web-based application used to conduct probabilistic reverse dosimetry calculations.The tool is used for estimating a distribution of exposure concentrations likely to have produced biomarker concentrations measured in a population.

  1. Energy absorption buildup factors, exposure buildup factors and Kerma for optically stimulated luminescence materials and their tissue equivalence for radiation dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Singh, Vishwanath P.; Badiger, N. M.

    2014-11-01

    Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) materials are sensitive dosimetric materials used for precise and accurate dose measurement for low-energy ionizing radiation. Low dose measurement capability with improved sensitivity makes these dosimeters very useful for diagnostic imaging, personnel monitoring and environmental radiation dosimetry. Gamma ray energy absorption buildup factors and exposure build factors were computed for OSL materials using the five-parameter Geometric Progression (G-P) fitting method in the energy range 0.015-15 MeV for penetration depths up to 40 mean free path. The computed energy absorption buildup factor and exposure buildup factor values were studied as a function of penetration depth and incident photon energy. Effective atomic numbers and Kerma relative to air of the selected OSL materials and tissue equivalence were computed and compared with that of water, PMMA and ICRU standard tissues. The buildup factors and kerma relative to air were found dependent upon effective atomic numbers. Buildup factors determined in the present work should be useful in radiation dosimetry, medical diagnostics and therapy, space dosimetry, accident dosimetry and personnel monitoring.

  2. Long-term epidemiological studies of atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki: study populations, dosimetry and summary of health effects.

    PubMed

    Okubo, Toshiteru

    2012-10-01

    The Radiation Effects Research Foundation succeeded 28 years' worth of activities of the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission on long-term epidemiological studies in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It has three major cohorts of atomic bomb survivors, i.e. the Life Span Study (LSS) of 120,000 people, the In Utero Cohort of 3600 and the Second Generation Study (F(1)) of 77,000. The LSS and F(1) studies include a periodic health examination for each sub-cohort, i.e. the Adult Health Study and the F(1) Clinical Study, respectively. An extensive individual dose estimation was conducted and the system was published as the Dosimetry System established in 2002 (DS02). As results of these studies, increases of cancers in relation to dose were clearly shown. Increases of other mortality causes were also observed, including heart and respiratory diseases. There has been no evidence of genetic effects in the survivors' children, including cancer and other multi-factorial diseases. The increase in the expected mortality number in the next 10 y would allow the analyses of further details of the observed effects related to atomic bomb exposures.

  3. Lithium formate EPR dosimetry for verifications of planned dose distributions prior to intensity-modulated radiation therapy.

    PubMed

    Gustafsson, H; Lund, E; Olsson, S

    2008-09-07

    The objective of the present investigation was to evaluate lithium formate electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) dosimetry for measurement of dose distributions in phantoms prior to intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Lithium formate monohydrate tablets were carefully prepared, and blind tests were performed in clinically relevant situations in order to determine the precision and accuracy of the method. Further experiments confirmed that within the accuracy of the current method, the dosimeter response was independent of beam energies and dose rates used for IMRT treatments. The method was applied to IMRT treatment plans, and the dose determinations were compared to ionization chamber measurements. The experiments showed that absorbed doses above 3 Gy could be measured with an uncertainty of less than 2.5% of the dose (coverage factor kappa = 1.96). Measurement time was about 15 min using a well-calibrated dosimeter batch. The conclusion drawn from the investigation was that lithium formate EPR dosimetry is a promising new tool for absorbed dose measurements in external beam radiation therapy, especially for doses above 3 Gy.

  4. Lithium formate EPR dosimetry for verifications of planned dose distributions prior to intensity-modulated radiation therapy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gustafsson, H.; Lund, E.; Olsson, S.

    2008-09-01

    The objective of the present investigation was to evaluate lithium formate electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) dosimetry for measurement of dose distributions in phantoms prior to intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Lithium formate monohydrate tablets were carefully prepared, and blind tests were performed in clinically relevant situations in order to determine the precision and accuracy of the method. Further experiments confirmed that within the accuracy of the current method, the dosimeter response was independent of beam energies and dose rates used for IMRT treatments. The method was applied to IMRT treatment plans, and the dose determinations were compared to ionization chamber measurements. The experiments showed that absorbed doses above 3 Gy could be measured with an uncertainty of less than 2.5% of the dose (coverage factor k = 1.96). Measurement time was about 15 min using a well-calibrated dosimeter batch. The conclusion drawn from the investigation was that lithium formate EPR dosimetry is a promising new tool for absorbed dose measurements in external beam radiation therapy, especially for doses above 3 Gy.

  5. Determination of the active volumes of solid-state photon-beam dosimetry detectors using the PTB proton microbeam.

    PubMed

    Poppinga, Daniela; Delfs, Bjoern; Meyners, Jutta; Langner, Frank; Giesen, Ulrich; Harder, Dietrich; Poppe, Bjoern; Looe, Hui K

    2018-05-04

    This study aims at the experimental determination of the diameters and thicknesses of the active volumes of solid-state photon-beam detectors for clinical dosimetry. The 10 MeV proton microbeam of the PTB (Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig) was used to examine two synthetic diamond detectors, type microDiamond (PTW Freiburg, Germany), and the silicon detectors Diode E (PTW Freiburg, Germany) and Razor Diode (Iba Dosimetry, Germany). The knowledge of the dimensions of their active volumes is essential for their Monte Carlo simulation and their applications in small-field photon-beam dosimetry. The diameter of the active detector volume was determined from the detector current profile recorded by radially scanning the proton microbeam across the detector. The thickness of the active detector volume was determined from the detector's electrical current, the number of protons incident per time interval and their mean stopping power in the active volume. The mean energy of the protons entering this volume was assessed by comparing the measured and the simulated influence of the thickness of a stack of aluminum preabsorber foils on the detector signal. For all detector types investigated, the diameters measured for the active volume closely agreed with the manufacturers' data. For the silicon Diode E detector, the thickness determined for the active volume agreed with the manufacturer's data, while for the microDiamond detectors and the Razor Diode, the thicknesses measured slightly exceeded those stated by the manufacturers. The PTB microbeam facility was used to analyze the diameters and thicknesses of the active volumes of photon dosimetry detectors for the first time. A new method of determining the thickness values with an uncertainty of ±10% was applied. The results appear useful for further consolidating detailed geometrical knowledge of the solid-state detectors investigated, which are used in clinical small-field photon-beam dosimetry.

  6. An application of artificial neural intelligence for personal dose assessment using a multi-area OSL dosimetry system.

    PubMed

    Lee, S Y; Kim, B H; Lee, K J

    2001-06-01

    Significant advances have been made in recent years to improve measurement technology and performance of phosphor materials in the fields of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dosimetry. Pulsed and continuous wave OSL studies recently carried out on alpha-Al2O3:C have shown that the material seems to be the most promising for routine application of OSL for dosimetric purposes. The main objective of the study is to propose a new personal dosimetry system using alpha-Al2O3:C by taking advantage of its optical properties and energy dependencies. In the process of the study, a new dose assessment algorithm was developed using artificial neural networks in hopes of achieving a higher degree of accuracy and precision in personal OSL dosimetry system. The original hypothesis of this work is that the spectral information of X- and gamma-ray fields may be obtained by the analysis of the response of a multi-element system. In this study, a feedforward neural network using the error back-propagation method with Bayesian optimization was applied for the response unfolding procedure. The validation of the proposed algorithm was investigated by unfolding the 10 measured responses of alpha-Al2O3:C for arbitrarily mixed photon fields which range from 20 to 662 keV. c2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Evaluation of film and thermoluminescent dosimetry of high-energy electron beams in heterogeneous phantoms.

    PubMed

    el-Khatib, E; Antolak, J; Scrimger, J

    1992-01-01

    Film and thermoluminescent dosimetry (TLD) are investigated in heterogeneous phantoms irradiated by high-energy electron beams. Both film and TLD are practical dosimeters for multiple and moving beam radiotherapy. The accuracy and precision of these dosimeters for radiation dose measurements in homogeneous water-equivalent phantoms has been discussed in the literature. However, film and TLD are often used for dose measurements in heterogeneous phantoms. In those situations perturbations are produced which are related to the density and atomic number of the phantom material and the physical size and orientation of the dosimeter. In our experiments the relative dose measurements in homogeneous phantoms were the same regardless of dosimeter or dosimeter orientation. However, significant differences were observed between the dose measurements within the inhomogeneity. These differences were influenced by the type and orientation of the dosimeter in addition to the properties of the heterogeneity. These differences could be reproduced with Monte Carlo calculations and modeling of the experimental conditions.

  8. 3D dosimetry estimation for selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT) using SPECT/CT images: a phantom study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Debebe, Senait A.; Franquiz, Juan; McGoron, Anthony J.

    2015-03-01

    Selective Internal Radiation Therapy (SIRT) is a common way to treat liver cancer that cannot be treated surgically. SIRT involves administration of Yttrium - 90 (90Y) microspheres via the hepatic artery after a diagnostic procedure using 99mTechnetium (Tc)-macroaggregated albumin (MAA) to detect extrahepatic shunting to the lung or the gastrointestinal tract. Accurate quantification of radionuclide administered to patients and radiation dose absorbed by different organs is of importance in SIRT. Accurate dosimetry for SIRT allows optimization of dose delivery to the target tumor and may allow for the ability to assess the efficacy of the treatment. In this study, we proposed a method that can efficiently estimate radiation absorbed dose from 90Y bremsstrahlung SPECT/CT images of liver and the surrounding organs. Bremsstrahlung radiation from 90Y was simulated using the Compton window of 99mTc (78keV at 57%). 99mTc images acquired at the photopeak energy window were used as a standard to examine the accuracy of dosimetry prediction by the simulated bremsstrahlung images. A Liqui-Phil abdominal phantom with liver, stomach and two tumor inserts was imaged using a Philips SPECT/CT scanner. The Dose Point Kernel convolution method was used to find the radiation absorbed dose at a voxel level for a three dimensional dose distribution. This method will allow for a complete estimate of the distribution of radiation absorbed dose by tumors, liver, stomach and other surrounding organs at the voxel level. The method provides a quantitative predictive method for SIRT treatment outcome and administered dose response for patients who undergo the treatment.

  9. DOSE RECONSTRUCTION FOR THE MILLION WORKER STUDY: STATUS AND GUIDELINES

    PubMed Central

    Bouville, André; Toohey, Richard E.; Boice, John D.; Beck, Harold L.; Dauer, Larry T.; Eckerman, Keith F.; Hagemeyer, Derek; Leggett, Richard W.; Mumma, Michael T.; Napier, Bruce; Pryor, Kathy H.; Rosenstein, Marvin; Schauer, David A.; Sherbini, Sami; Stram, Daniel O.; Thompson, James L.; Till, John E.; Yoder, Craig; Zeitlin, Cary

    2016-01-01

    The primary aim of the epidemiologic study of one million U.S. radiation workers and veterans [the Million Worker Study (MWS)] is to provide scientifically valid information on the level of radiation risk when exposures are received gradually over time, and not within seconds as was the case for Japanese atomic-bomb survivors. The primary outcome of the epidemiologic study is cancer mortality but other causes of death such as cardiovascular disease and cerebrovascular disease will be evaluated. The success of the study is tied to the validity of the dose reconstruction approaches to provide realistic estimates of organ-specific radiation absorbed doses that are as accurate and precise as possible and to properly evaluate their accompanying uncertainties. The dosimetry aspects for the MWS are challenging in that they address diverse exposure scenarios for diverse occupational groups being studied over a period of up to 70 y. The dosimetric issues differ among the varied exposed populations that are considered: atomic veterans, U.S. Department of Energy workers exposed to both penetrating radiation and intakes of radionuclides, nuclear power plant workers, medical radiation workers, and industrial radiographers. While a major source of radiation exposure to the study population comes from external gamma- or x-ray sources, for some of the study groups there is a meaningful component of radionuclide intakes that require internal radiation dosimetry assessments. Scientific Committee 6–9 has been established by the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) to produce a report on the comprehensive organ dose assessment (including uncertainty analysis) for the MWS. The NCRP dosimetry report will cover the specifics of practical dose reconstruction for the ongoing epidemiologic studies with uncertainty analysis discussions and will be a specific application of the guidance provided in NCRP Report Nos. 158, 163, 164, and 171. The main role of the

  10. SU-F-T-461: Dosimetric Evaluation of Indigenous Farmer Type Chamber FAR65- GB for Reference Dosimetry of FFF MV Photon Beam

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Patwe, P; Mhatre, V; Dandekar, P

    Purpose: Indigenous Farmer type chamber FAR 65 GB is a reference class 0.6 cc ion chamber. It can be used for dosimetric evaluation of photon and high energy electron beams. We studied dosimetric characteristics of the chamber for 6MV and 10MV Flattening filter free FFF photon beams available on trueBEAM STx Linac. Methods: The study was carried out on trueBEAM STx Linac having 6 and 10 MV FFF photon beam with maximum dose rate 1400 and 2400 MU per min respectively. The dosimetric device to be evaluated is Rosalina Instruments FAR 65-GB Ion Chamber with active volume 0.65 cc, totalmore » active length 23.1cm, inner diameter of cylinder 6.2mm, wall thickness 0.4mm, inner electrode diameter 1mm. Inner and outer electrodes are made from Aluminium 2.7 gm per cc and graphite 1.82 gm per cc respectively. The ion chamber was placed along central axis of beam at 10cm depth and irradiated for 10cm × 10cm field size at SAD of 100 cm in plastic phantom. We studied Precision, Dose Linearity, Dose Rate dependence, directional dependence, Recombination effect. Recombination effect was determined using standard two-voltage method. Results: 1. Measurements were reproducible std deviation of 0.0105 and type A uncertainty 0.003265 under same set of reference conditions 2. Chamber exhibit dose linearity over a wider dose range. 3. Chamber shows dose rate independence for all available dose rate range. 4. Response of chamber with the angle of incidence of radiation is constant. 5. Recombination correction factors were 1.01848 and 1.02537 for dose rate 1400 and 2400 MU per min resp. Conclusion: Our study reveals that the chamber is prone to saturation effect at dose rate of 2400 MU per min. FAR 65-GB can be used for reference dosimetry of FFF MV photon beam with proper calculation of recombination effect.« less

  11. Radiation accident dosimetry on plastics by EPR spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Trompier, F; Bassinet, C; Clairand, I

    2010-02-01

    In case of acute exposure to ionizing radiation, the dose absorbed by the victims has to be rapidly and accurately assessed in order to choose an appropriate medical treatment. Tooth enamel and bone biopsies measured by EPR spectrometry are often used as dose indicators, due to the good radiation sensitivity and the stability of EPR radiation-sensitive signals. Nevertheless, the invasive sampling of teeth and bones limits the application of this technique to retrospective dosimetry. Therefore, we have investigated an alternative non-invasive methodology. We have surveyed with EPR spectrometry the dosimetric properties of the plastics that can be found in personal effects such as glasses (CR-39, polycarbonate), mobile phones (PMMA, polycarbonate), watches and buttons. Dose response, signal stability and effects of storage conditions were investigated. Significant signal fading limits the use for radiation accident dosimetry. Few plastics present the required characteristics to be used in case of a radiation accident.

  12. Reviewing three dimensional dosimetry: basics and utilization as presented over 17 Years of DosGel and IC3Ddose

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schreiner, L. J.

    2017-05-01

    For seventeen years a community of basic and clinical scientists and researchers has been meeting bi-annually to promote the clinical advance of techniques to measure radiation dose in three dimensions. The interest in this dosimetry was motivated by its promise as an effective methodology for 3D measurement of the complex conformal dose distributions achieved by modern techniques such as Intensity Modulated and Volumetric Arc Radiation Therapy. Each of the International Conferences on 3D Radiation Dosimetry resulted in the publication of informative proceedings [1-8], the majority openly available on the internet. The proceedings included papers that: i) reviewed the basic science of the radiation sensitive materials used to accumulate the dose information, ii) introduced the science and engineering of the imaging systems required to read the information out, iii) described the work flows and systems required for efficient dosimetry, iv) reported the protocols required for reproducible dosimetry, and v) showed examples of clinical use illustrating advantage and limitations of the dosimetry. This paper is intended to use the framework provided by these proceedings to review the current 3D chemical dosimeters available and to discuss the requirements for their use. The paper describes how 3D dosimetry can complement other dose delivery validation approaches available in the clinic. It closes with some personal reflections of how the motivation for, and practice of, 3D dosimetry have changed (or not) over the years.

  13. Commentary: exciting new developments in fast neutron cross sections and dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bielajew, A. F.; Chadwick, M. B.

    1998-12-01

    particularly exciting: The quality of the measurements on oxygen appears to have taken a significant leap forward in comparison with the only other experimental studies (Subramanian et al 1983, 1986). In particular, a comprehensive angular range is covered, allowing a more accurate angle-integration of the data, and good statistics are obtained. Much of the cross section experimental data appears to either support or contradict the relatively recent theoretical calculations of Brenner and Prael (1989) and Chadwick and Young (1996). In a few cases the discrepancies between measurement and theory are so large as to motivate more theoretical development in this area. The agreement between the measured kerma factors and theoretical values is excellent. The second paper by Binns, DeLuca Jr, Maughan and Kota (1998) entitled `Direct determination of kerma for a d(48.5)+Be therapy beam' describes a direct measurement of the kerma ratio, , of muscle tissue to A-150 plastic for the fast neutron therapy facility of Harper Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. The measured value of was found to be - a significant departure from that determined using the currently accepted dosimetry protocol (ICRU 1989) (a value of 0.95). This measurement can also be used to test the accuracy of theoretical predictions, since the kerma ratio can be calculated by averaging the theoretical kerma factor ratios over the neutron spectrum at Harper Hospital, which can be estimated from radiation transport simulations of the Be+ d neutron source. Deviations between theory and experiment will stimulate future studies to better understand the cross sections, kerma factors, and neutron spectra. These new measurements described in this issue of Physics in Medicine and Biology raise the standard in fast neutron dosimetry and also make fundamental contributions to the understanding of nuclear structure and reaction mechanisms. It is indeed remarkable and satisfying that the demands of a very practical field like medical

  14. In vitro dosimetry of agglomerates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hirsch, V.; Kinnear, C.; Rodriguez-Lorenzo, L.; Monnier, C. A.; Rothen-Rutishauser, B.; Balog, S.; Petri-Fink, A.

    2014-06-01

    Agglomeration of nanoparticles in biological fluids is a pervasive phenomenon that leads to difficulty in the interpretation of results from in vitro exposure, primarily due to differing particokinetics of agglomerates to nanoparticles. Therefore, well-defined small agglomerates were designed that possessed different particokinetic profiles, and their cellular uptake was compared to a computational model of dosimetry. The approach used here paves the way for a better understanding of the impact of agglomeration on the nanoparticle-cell interaction.Agglomeration of nanoparticles in biological fluids is a pervasive phenomenon that leads to difficulty in the interpretation of results from in vitro exposure, primarily due to differing particokinetics of agglomerates to nanoparticles. Therefore, well-defined small agglomerates were designed that possessed different particokinetic profiles, and their cellular uptake was compared to a computational model of dosimetry. The approach used here paves the way for a better understanding of the impact of agglomeration on the nanoparticle-cell interaction. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: ITC data for tiopronin/Au-NP interactions, agglomeration kinetics at different pHs for tiopronin-coated Au-NPs, UV-Vis spectra in water, PBS and DMEM and temporal correlation functions for single Au-NPs and corresponding agglomerates, calculation of diffusion and sedimentation parameters, modelling of relative cell uptake based on the ISDD model and cytotoxicity of single Au-NPs and their agglomerates, and synthesis and cell uptake of large spherical Au-NPs. See DOI: 10.1039/c4nr00460d

  15. Retrospective dosimetry: dose evaluation using unheated and heated quartz from a radioactive waste storage building.

    PubMed

    Jain, M; Bøtter-Jensen, L; Murray, A S; Jungner, H

    2002-01-01

    In the assessment of dose received from a nuclear accident, considerable attention has been paid to retrospective dosimetry using heated materials such as household ceramics and bricks. However, unheated materials such as mortar and concrete are more commonly found in industrial sites and particularly in nuclear installations. These materials contain natural dosemeters such as quartz, which usually is less sensitive than its heated counterpart. The potential of quartz extracted from mortar in a wall of a low-level radioactive-waste storage facility containing distributed sources of 60Co and 137Cs has been investigated. Dose-depth proliles based on small aliquots and single grains from the quartz extracted from the mortar samples are reported here. These are compared with results from heated quartz and polymineral fine grains extracted from an adjacent brick, and the integrated dose recorded by environmental TLDs.

  16. Fundamentals of Materials, Techniques, and Instrumentation for OSL and FNTD Dosimetry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Akselrod, M. S.

    The optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) technique has already become a successful commercial tool in personal radiation dosimetry, medical dosimetry, diagnostic imaging, geological and archeological dating. This review briefly describes the history and fundamental principles of OSL materials, methods and instrumentation. The advantages of OSL technology and instrumentation in comparison with thermoluminescent technique are analyzed. Progress in material and detector engineering has allowed new and promising developments regarding OSL applications in the medical field. Special attention is dedicated to Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}:C as a material of choice for many dosimetric applications. Different aspects of OSL theory, materials optical and dosimetric properties,more » instrumentation, and data processing algorithms are described. The next technological breakthrough was done with Fluorescent Nuclear Track Detectors (FNTD) that have some important advantages in measuring fast neutron and high energy heavy charge particles that have become the latest tool in radiation therapy. New Mg-doped aluminum oxide crystals and novel type of imaging instrumentation for FNTD technology are discussed with regard to application in mixed neutron-gamma fields, medical dosimetry and radiobiological research.« less

  17. Gamma-ray dosimetry measurements of the Little Boy replica

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Plassmann, E.A.; Pederson, R.A.

    1984-01-01

    We present the current status of our gamma-ray dosimetry results for the Little Boy replica. Both Geiger-Mueller and thermoluminescent detectors were used in the measurements. Future work is needed to test assumptions made in data analysis.

  18. The use of new GAFCHROMIC EBT film for 125I seed dosimetry in Solid Water phantom.

    PubMed

    Chiu-Tsao, Sou-Tung; Medich, David; Munro, John

    2008-08-01

    Radiochromic film dosimetry has been extensively used for intravascular brachytherapy applications for near field within 1 cm from the sources. With the recent introduction of new model of radiochromic films, GAFCHROMIC EBT, with higher sensitivity than earlier models, it is promising to extend the distances out to 5 cm for low dose rate (LDR) source dosimetry. In this study, the use of new model GAFCHROMIC EBT film for 125I seed dosimetry in Solid Water was evaluated for radial distances from 0.06 cm out to 5 cm. A multiple film technique was employed for four 125I seeds (Implant Sciences model 3500) with NIST traceable air kerma strengths. Each experimental film was positioned in contact with a 125I seed in a Solid Water phantom. The products of the air kerma strength and exposure time ranged from 8 to 3158 U-h, with the initial air kerma strength of 6 U in a series of 25 experiments. A set of 25 calibration films each was sequentially exposed to one 125I seed at about 0.58 cm distance for doses from 0.1 to 33 Gy. A CCD camera based microdensitometer, with interchangeable green (520 nm) and red (665 nm) light boxes, was used to scan all the films with 0.2 mm pixel resolution. The dose to each 125I calibration film center was calculated using the air kerma strength of the seed (incorporating decay), exposure time, distance from seed center to film center, and TG43U1S1 recommended dosimetric parameters. Based on the established calibration curve, dose conversion from net optical density was achieved for each light source. The dose rate constant was determined as 0.991 cGy U(-1)h(-1) (+/-6.9%) and 1.014 cGy U(-1)h(-1) (+/-6.8%) from films scanned using green and red light sources, respectively. The difference between these two values was within the uncertainty of the measurement. Radial dose function and 2D anisotropy function were also determined. The results obtained using the two light sources corroborated each other. We found good agreement with the TG43U1S1

  19. Dosimetry Evolution in Teletherapy: Polimer Gel

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hamann, J. H.; Peixoto, J. G. P.

    2018-03-01

    Polymer gels evolution and chemical composition used in dosimetry. Type Composition First gels Folin’s Phenol or Gallic Acid Polymer Gel Agarose and N,N’-methylene-bis-acrylamide BANANA Bis, acrylamide, nitrous oxide and agarose BANG-1TM Bis, acrylamide, nitrogen and gelatin BANG-2TM Bis, acrylic acid, sodium hydroxide, nitrogen and gelatin BANG-3TM Bis, methacrylate acid, sodium hydroxide, nitrogen and gelatin MAGIC Methacrylate acid, ascorbic acid, gelatin and copper sulphate

  20. Optically stimulated luminescence in vivo dosimetry for radiotherapy: physical characterization and clinical measurements in (60)Co beams.

    PubMed

    Mrčela, I; Bokulić, T; Izewska, J; Budanec, M; Fröbe, A; Kusić, Z

    2011-09-21

    A commercial optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dosimetry system was investigated for in vivo dosimetry in radiation therapy. Dosimetric characteristics of InLight dot dosimeters and a microStar reader (Landauer Inc.) were tested in (60)Co beams. The reading uncertainty of a single dosimeter was 0.6%. The reproducibility of a set of dosimeters after a single irradiation was 1.6%, while in repeated irradiations of the same dosimeters it was found to be 3.5%. When OSL dosimeters were optically bleached between exposures, the reproducibility of repeated measurements improved to 1.0%. Dosimeters were calibrated for the entrance dose measurements and a full set of correction factors was determined. A pilot patient study that followed phantom validation testing included more than 100 measured fields with a mean relative difference of the measured entrance dose from the expected dose of 0.8% and the standard deviation of 2.5%. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that OSL dot dosimeters represent a valid alternative to already established in vivo dosimetry systems.

  1. Optically stimulated luminescence in vivo dosimetry for radiotherapy: physical characterization and clinical measurements in 60Co beams

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mrčela, I.; Bokulić, T.; Izewska, J.; Budanec, M.; Fröbe, A.; Kusić, Z.

    2011-09-01

    A commercial optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dosimetry system was investigated for in vivo dosimetry in radiation therapy. Dosimetric characteristics of InLight dot dosimeters and a microStar reader (Landauer Inc.) were tested in 60Co beams. The reading uncertainty of a single dosimeter was 0.6%. The reproducibility of a set of dosimeters after a single irradiation was 1.6%, while in repeated irradiations of the same dosimeters it was found to be 3.5%. When OSL dosimeters were optically bleached between exposures, the reproducibility of repeated measurements improved to 1.0%. Dosimeters were calibrated for the entrance dose measurements and a full set of correction factors was determined. A pilot patient study that followed phantom validation testing included more than 100 measured fields with a mean relative difference of the measured entrance dose from the expected dose of 0.8% and the standard deviation of 2.5%. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that OSL dot dosimeters represent a valid alternative to already established in vivo dosimetry systems.

  2. Evaluation of Gafchromic EBT-XD film, with comparison to EBT3 film, and application in high dose radiotherapy verification.

    PubMed

    Palmer, Antony L; Dimitriadis, Alexis; Nisbet, Andrew; Clark, Catharine H

    2015-11-21

    There is renewed interest in film dosimetry for the verification of dose delivery of complex treatments, particularly small fields, compared to treatment planning system calculations. A new radiochromic film, Gafchromic EBT-XD, is available for high-dose treatment verification and we present the first published evaluation of its use. We evaluate the new film for MV photon dosimetry, including calibration curves, performance with single- and triple-channel dosimetry, and comparison to existing EBT3 film. In the verification of a typical 25 Gy stereotactic radiotherapy (SRS) treatment, compared to TPS planned dose distribution, excellent agreement was seen with EBT-XD using triple-channel dosimetry, in isodose overlay, maximum 1.0 mm difference over 200-2400 cGy, and gamma evaluation, mean passing rate 97% at 3% locally-normalised, 1.5 mm criteria. In comparison to EBT3, EBT-XD gave improved evaluation results for the SRS-plan, had improved calibration curve gradients at high doses, and had reduced lateral scanner effect. The dimensions of the two films are identical. The optical density of EBT-XD is lower than EBT3 for the same dose. The effective atomic number for both may be considered water-equivalent in MV radiotherapy. We have validated the use of EBT-XD for high-dose, small-field radiotherapy, for routine QC and a forthcoming multi-centre SRS dosimetry intercomparison.

  3. Evaluation of Gafchromic EBT-XD film, with comparison to EBT3 film, and application in high dose radiotherapy verification

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Palmer, Antony L.; Dimitriadis, Alexis; Nisbet, Andrew; Clark, Catharine H.

    2015-11-01

    There is renewed interest in film dosimetry for the verification of dose delivery of complex treatments, particularly small fields, compared to treatment planning system calculations. A new radiochromic film, Gafchromic EBT-XD, is available for high-dose treatment verification and we present the first published evaluation of its use. We evaluate the new film for MV photon dosimetry, including calibration curves, performance with single- and triple-channel dosimetry, and comparison to existing EBT3 film. In the verification of a typical 25 Gy stereotactic radiotherapy (SRS) treatment, compared to TPS planned dose distribution, excellent agreement was seen with EBT-XD using triple-channel dosimetry, in isodose overlay, maximum 1.0 mm difference over 200-2400 cGy, and gamma evaluation, mean passing rate 97% at 3% locally-normalised, 1.5 mm criteria. In comparison to EBT3, EBT-XD gave improved evaluation results for the SRS-plan, had improved calibration curve gradients at high doses, and had reduced lateral scanner effect. The dimensions of the two films are identical. The optical density of EBT-XD is lower than EBT3 for the same dose. The effective atomic number for both may be considered water-equivalent in MV radiotherapy. We have validated the use of EBT-XD for high-dose, small-field radiotherapy, for routine QC and a forthcoming multi-centre SRS dosimetry intercomparison.

  4. A Monte Carlo model for the internal dosimetry of choroid plexuses in nuclear medicine procedures.

    PubMed

    Amato, Ernesto; Cicone, Francesco; Auditore, Lucrezia; Baldari, Sergio; Prior, John O; Gnesin, Silvano

    2018-05-01

    Choroid plexuses are vascular structures located in the brain ventricles, showing specific uptake of some diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals currently under clinical investigation, such as integrin-binding arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) peptides. No specific geometry for choroid plexuses has been implemented in commercially available software for internal dosimetry. The aims of the present study were to assess the dependence of absorbed dose to the choroid plexuses on the organ geometry implemented in Monte Carlo simulations, and to propose an analytical model for the internal dosimetry of these structures for 18 F, 64 Cu, 67 Cu, 68 Ga, 90 Y, 131 I and 177 Lu nuclides. A GAMOS Monte Carlo simulation based on direct organ segmentation was taken as the gold standard to validate a second simulation based on a simplified geometrical model of the choroid plexuses. Both simulations were compared with the OLINDA/EXM sphere model. The gold standard and the simplified geometrical model gave similar dosimetry results (dose difference < 3.5%), indicating that the latter can be considered as a satisfactory approximation of the real geometry. In contrast, the sphere model systematically overestimated the absorbed dose compared to both Monte Carlo models (range: 4-50% dose difference), depending on the isotope energy and organ mass. Therefore, the simplified geometric model was adopted to introduce an analytical approach for choroid plexuses dosimetry in the mass range 2-16 g. The proposed model enables the estimation of the choroid plexuses dose by a simple bi-parametric function, once the organ mass and the residence time of the radiopharmaceutical under investigation are provided. Copyright © 2018 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Biological dosimetry by interphase chromosome painting.

    PubMed

    Durante, M; George, K; Yang, T C

    1996-01-01

    Both fluorescence in situ hybridization of metaphase spreads with whole-chromosome probes and premature chromosome condensation in interphase nuclei have been used in the past to estimate the radiation dose to lymphocytes. We combined these techniques to evaluate the feasibility of using painted interphase chromosomes for biodosimetry. Human peripheral lymphocytes were exposed to gamma rays and fused to mitotic Chinese hamster cells either immediately after irradiation or after 8 h incubation at 37 degrees C. Interphase or metaphase human chromosomes were hybridized with a composite probe specific for human chromosomes 3 and 4. The dose-response curve for fragment induction immediately after irradiation was linear; these results reflected breakage frequency in the total genome in terms of DNA content per chromosome. At 8 h after irradiation, the dose-response curve for chromosome interchanges, the prevalent aberration in interphase chromosomes, was linear-quadratic and similar to that observed for metaphase chromosomes. These results suggest that painting prematurely condensed chromosomes can be useful for biological dosimetry when blood samples are available shortly after the exposure, or when interphase cells are to be scored instead of mitotic cells.

  6. Biological dosimetry by interphase chromosome painting

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Durante, M.; George, K.; Yang, T. C.

    1996-01-01

    Both fluorescence in situ hybridization of metaphase spreads with whole-chromosome probes and premature chromosome condensation in interphase nuclei have been used in the past to estimate the radiation dose to lymphocytes. We combined these techniques to evaluate the feasibility of using painted interphase chromosomes for biodosimetry. Human peripheral lymphocytes were exposed to gamma rays and fused to mitotic Chinese hamster cells either immediately after irradiation or after 8 h incubation at 37 degrees C. Interphase or metaphase human chromosomes were hybridized with a composite probe specific for human chromosomes 3 and 4. The dose-response curve for fragment induction immediately after irradiation was linear; these results reflected breakage frequency in the total genome in terms of DNA content per chromosome. At 8 h after irradiation, the dose-response curve for chromosome interchanges, the prevalent aberration in interphase chromosomes, was linear-quadratic and similar to that observed for metaphase chromosomes. These results suggest that painting prematurely condensed chromosomes can be useful for biological dosimetry when blood samples are available shortly after the exposure, or when interphase cells are to be scored instead of mitotic cells.

  7. Dosimetry and field matching for radiotherapy to the breast and superclavicular fossa

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Winfield, Elizabeth

    Radiotherapy for early breast cancer aims to achieve local disease control and decrease loco-regional recurrence rates. Treatment may be directed to breast or chest wall alone or, include regional lymph nodes. When using tangential fields to treat the breast a separate anterior field directed to the axilla and supraclavicular fossa (SCF) is needed to treat nodal areas. The complex geometry of this region necessitates matching of adjacent radiation fields in three dimensions. The potential exists for zones of overdosage or underdosage along the match line. Cosmetic results may be compromised if treatment fields are not accurately aligned. Techniques for field matching vary between centres in the UK. A study of dosimetry across the match line region using different techniques, as reported in the multi-centre START Trial Quality Assurance (QA) programme, was undertaken. A custom-made anthropomorphic phantom was designed to assess dose distribution in three dimensions using film dosimetry. Methods with varying degrees of complexity were employed to match tangential and SCF beams. Various techniques combined half beam blocking and machine rotations to achieve geometric alignment. Matching of asymmetric beams allowed a single isocentre technique to be used. Where field matching was not undertaken a gap between tangential and SCF fields was employed. Results demonstrated differences between techniques in addition to variations within the same technique between different centres. Geometric alignment techniques produced more homogenous dose distributions in the match region than gap techniques or those techniques not correcting for field divergence. For this multi-centre assessment of match plane techniques film dosimetry used in conjunction with a breast shaped phantom provided relative dose information. This study has highlighted the difficulties of matching treatment fields to achieve homogenous dose distribution through the region of the match plane and the degree of

  8. Verification of an on line in vivo semiconductor dosimetry system for TBI with two TLD procedures.

    PubMed

    Sánchez-Doblado, F; Terrón, J A; Sánchez-Nieto, B; Arráns, R; Errazquin, L; Biggs, D; Lee, C; Núñez, L; Delgado, A; Muñiz, J L

    1995-01-01

    This work presents the verification of an on line in vivo dosimetry system based on semiconductors. Software and hardware has been designed to convert the diode signal into absorbed dose. Final verification was made in the form of an intercomparison with two independent thermoluminiscent (TLD) dosimetry systems, under TBI conditions.

  9. Food irradiation dosimetry by opti-chromic technique

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhan-Jun, Liu; Radak, B. B.; McLaughlin, W. L.

    The measurement of gamma-radiation quantities, e.g., absorbed dose in materials such as water, plastics, foodstuffs, is a convenient means of quality assurance in radiation processing. A new dosimetry system, called the "Opti-Chromic" dosimeter, is commercially available in large batches for use as a routine measurement system in the absorbed dose range 10 to 2x10 4 Gy. This dose range covers most food irradiation applications. A statistical evaluation was made of the reproducibility of this dosimeter for measuring doses appropriate for the disinfestation and shelf-life extension of many foods, namely 10 to 2x10 3 Gy. In addition, the small dosimeters were used to map absorbed dose distributions in boxes of foods having four different bulk densities (grapefruit, lemons, peanuts, and wheat bran). It is demonstrated that the dosimeters are rugged and stable enough to be used over a wide temperature and humidity range, and, in fact, can be placed in such environments as the inside of citrus fruits without adverse effects on their ability to give satisfactory dose assessment.

  10. SU-G-BRB-06: Commissioning and Evaluation of EPID-Based in Vivo Dosimetry Software Using a Tissue-Maximum Ratio Approach

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Held, M; Cheung, J; Morin, O

    Purpose: To commission and evaluate an in vivo EPID-based transit dosimetry software (EPIgray, DOSIsoft, Cachan, France) using simple fields and TG119-based IMRT treatment plans. Methods: EPIgray was commissioned on a Truebeam based on finite tissue-maximum ratio (fTMR) measurements with solid water blocks of thicknesses between 0 and 37 cm. Field sizes varied from 2×2 to 20×20 cm{sup 2}. Subsequently, treatment plans of single and opposed beams with field sizes between 4×4 and 15×15 cm{sup 2} as well as IMRT plans were measured to evaluate the dose reconstruction accuracy. Single field dose predictions were made for anterior-posterior and lateral beams. IMRTmore » plans were created based on TG119 recommendations. The reconstructed dose was compared to the planned dose for selected points at isocenter and away from isocenter. Results: For single square fields, the dose in EPIgray was reconstructed within 3% accuracy at isocenter relative to the planned dose. Similarly, the relative deviation of the total dose was accurately reconstructed within 3% for all IMRT plans with points placed inside a high dose region near the isocenter. Predictions became less accurate than 5% when the evaluation point was outside the majority of IMRT beam segments. Additionally, points 5 cm or more away from the isocenter or within an avoidance structure were predicted less reliably. Conclusion: EPIgray formalism accuracy is adequate for an efficient error detection system. It provides immediate intra-fractional feedback on the delivery of treatment plans without affecting the treatment beam. Besides the EPID, no additional hardware is required, which makes it accessible to all clinics. The software evaluates point dose measurements to verify treatment plan delivery and patient positioning within 5% accuracy, depending on the placement of evaluation points. EPIgray is not intended to replace patient-specific quality assurance but should be utilized as an additional layer of safety

  11. Detection of anatomical changes in lung cancer patients with 2D time-integrated, 2D time-resolved and 3D time-integrated portal dosimetry: a simulation study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wolfs, Cecile J. A.; Brás, Mariana G.; Schyns, Lotte E. J. R.; Nijsten, Sebastiaan M. J. J. G.; van Elmpt, Wouter; Scheib, Stefan G.; Baltes, Christof; Podesta, Mark; Verhaegen, Frank

    2017-08-01

    The aim of this work is to assess the performance of 2D time-integrated (2D-TI), 2D time-resolved (2D-TR) and 3D time-integrated (3D-TI) portal dosimetry in detecting dose discrepancies between the planned and (simulated) delivered dose caused by simulated changes in the anatomy of lung cancer patients. For six lung cancer patients, tumor shift, tumor regression and pleural effusion are simulated by modifying their CT images. Based on the modified CT images, time-integrated (TI) and time-resolved (TR) portal dose images (PDIs) are simulated and 3D-TI doses are calculated. The modified and original PDIs and 3D doses are compared by a gamma analysis with various gamma criteria. Furthermore, the difference in the D 95% (ΔD 95%) of the GTV is calculated and used as a gold standard. The correlation between the gamma fail rate and the ΔD 95% is investigated, as well the sensitivity and specificity of all combinations of portal dosimetry method, gamma criteria and gamma fail rate threshold. On the individual patient level, there is a correlation between the gamma fail rate and the ΔD 95%, which cannot be found at the group level. The sensitivity and specificity analysis showed that there is not one combination of portal dosimetry method, gamma criteria and gamma fail rate threshold that can detect all simulated anatomical changes. This work shows that it will be more beneficial to relate portal dosimetry and DVH analysis on the patient level, rather than trying to quantify a relationship for a group of patients. With regards to optimizing sensitivity and specificity, different combinations of portal dosimetry method, gamma criteria and gamma fail rate should be used to optimally detect certain types of anatomical changes.

  12. Detection of anatomical changes in lung cancer patients with 2D time-integrated, 2D time-resolved and 3D time-integrated portal dosimetry: a simulation study.

    PubMed

    Wolfs, Cecile J A; Brás, Mariana G; Schyns, Lotte E J R; Nijsten, Sebastiaan M J J G; van Elmpt, Wouter; Scheib, Stefan G; Baltes, Christof; Podesta, Mark; Verhaegen, Frank

    2017-07-12

    The aim of this work is to assess the performance of 2D time-integrated (2D-TI), 2D time-resolved (2D-TR) and 3D time-integrated (3D-TI) portal dosimetry in detecting dose discrepancies between the planned and (simulated) delivered dose caused by simulated changes in the anatomy of lung cancer patients. For six lung cancer patients, tumor shift, tumor regression and pleural effusion are simulated by modifying their CT images. Based on the modified CT images, time-integrated (TI) and time-resolved (TR) portal dose images (PDIs) are simulated and 3D-TI doses are calculated. The modified and original PDIs and 3D doses are compared by a gamma analysis with various gamma criteria. Furthermore, the difference in the D 95% (ΔD 95% ) of the GTV is calculated and used as a gold standard. The correlation between the gamma fail rate and the ΔD 95% is investigated, as well the sensitivity and specificity of all combinations of portal dosimetry method, gamma criteria and gamma fail rate threshold. On the individual patient level, there is a correlation between the gamma fail rate and the ΔD 95% , which cannot be found at the group level. The sensitivity and specificity analysis showed that there is not one combination of portal dosimetry method, gamma criteria and gamma fail rate threshold that can detect all simulated anatomical changes. This work shows that it will be more beneficial to relate portal dosimetry and DVH analysis on the patient level, rather than trying to quantify a relationship for a group of patients. With regards to optimizing sensitivity and specificity, different combinations of portal dosimetry method, gamma criteria and gamma fail rate should be used to optimally detect certain types of anatomical changes.

  13. International Intercomparison Exercise for Nuclear Accident Dosimetry at the DAF Using GODIVA-IV

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hickman, David; Hudson, Becka

    The Nuclear Criticality Safety Program operated under the direction of Dr. Jerry McKamy completed the first NNSA Nuclear Accident Dosimetry exercise on May 27, 2016. Participants in the exercise were from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Sandia National Laboratory (SNL), Savanah River Site (SRS), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), US Navy, the Atomic Weapons Establishment (United Kingdom) under the auspices of JOWOG 30, and the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (France) by special invitation and NCSP memorandum of understanding. This exercise was the culmination of a series of Integral Experiment Requests (IER) thatmore » included the establishment of the Nuclear Criticality Experimental Research Center, (NCERC) the startup of the Godiva Reactor (IER-194), the establishment of a the Nuclear Accident Dosimetry Laboratory (NAD LAB) in Mercury, NV, and the determination of reference dosimetry values for the mixed neutron and photon radiation field of Godiva within NCERC.« less

  14. An assessment of a 3D EPID-based dosimetry system using conventional two- and three-dimensional detectors for VMAT.

    PubMed

    Stevens, S; Dvorak, P; Spevacek, V; Pilarova, K; Bray-Parry, M; Gesner, J; Richmond, A

    2018-01-01

    To provide a 3D dosimetric evaluation of a commercial portal dosimetry system using 2D/3D detectors under ideal conditions using VMAT. A 2D ion chamber array, radiochromic film and gel dosimeter were utilised to provide a dosimetric evaluation of transit phantom and pre-treatment 'fluence' EPID back-projected dose distributions for a standard VMAT plan. In-house 2D and 3D gamma methods compared pass statistics relative to each dosimeter and TPS dose distributions. Fluence mode and transit EPID dose distributions back-projected onto phantom geometry produced 2D gamma pass rates in excess of 97% relative to other tested detectors and exported TPS dose planes when a 3%, 3 mm global gamma criterion was applied. Use of a gel dosimeter within a glass vial allowed comparison of measured 3D dose distributions versus EPID 3D dose and TPS calculated distributions. 3D gamma comparisons between modalities at 3%, 3 mm gave pass rates in excess of 92%. Use of fluence mode was indicative of transit results under ideal conditions with slightly reduced dose definition. 3D EPID back projected dose distributions were validated against detectors in both 2D and 3D. Cross validation of transit dose delivered to a patient is limited due to reasons of practicality and the tests presented are recommended as a guideline for 3D EPID dosimetry commissioning; allowing direct comparison between detector, TPS, fluence and transit modes. The results indicate achievable gamma scores for a complex VMAT plan in a homogenous phantom geometry and contributes to growing experience of 3D EPID dosimetry. Copyright © 2017 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Canadian Cytogenetic Emergency network (CEN) for biological dosimetry following radiological/nuclear accidents.

    PubMed

    Miller, Susan M; Ferrarotto, Catherine L; Vlahovich, Slavica; Wilkins, Ruth C; Boreham, Douglas R; Dolling, Jo-Anna

    2007-07-01

    To test the ability of the cytogenetic emergency network (CEN) of laboratories, currently under development across Canada, to provide rapid biological dosimetry using the dicentric assay for triage assessment, that could be implemented in the event of a large-scale radiation/nuclear emergency. A workshop was held in May 2004 in Toronto, Canada, to introduce the concept of CEN and recruit clinical cytogenetic laboratories at hospitals across the country. Slides were prepared for dicentric assay analysis following in vitro irradiation of blood to a range of gamma-ray doses. A minimum of 50 metaphases per slide were analyzed by 41 people at 22 different laboratories to estimate the exposure level. Dose estimates were calculated based on a dose response curve generated at Health Canada. There were a total of 104 dose estimates and 96 (92.3%) of them fell within the expected range using triage scoring criteria. Half of the laboratories analyzed 50 metaphases in dosimetry. When this network is fully operational, it will be the first of its kind in Canada able to respond to radiological/nuclear emergencies by providing triage quality biological dosimetry for a large number of samples. This network represents an alternate expansion of existing international emergency biological dosimetry cytogenetic networks.

  16. Design of the free-air ionization chamber, FAC-IR-150, for X-ray dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mohammadi, Seyed Mostafa; Tavakoli-Anbaran, Hossein

    2018-03-01

    The primary standard for X-ray dosimetry is based on the free-air ionization chamber (FAC). Therefore, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) designed the free-air ionization chamber, FAC-IR-150, for low and medium energy X-ray dosimetry. The purpose of this work is the study of the free-air ionization chamber characteristics and the design of the FAC-IR-150. The FAC-IR-150 dosimeter has two parallel plates, a high voltage plate and a collector plate. A guard electrode surrounds the collector and is separated by an air gap. A group of guard strips is used between up and down electrodes to produce a uniform electric field in all the ion chamber volume. This design involves introducing the correction factors and determining the exact dimensions of the ionization chamber by using Monte Carlo simulation.

  17. A national dosimetry audit for stereotactic ablative radiotherapy in lung.

    PubMed

    Distefano, Gail; Lee, Jonny; Jafari, Shakardokht; Gouldstone, Clare; Baker, Colin; Mayles, Helen; Clark, Catharine H

    2017-03-01

    A UK national dosimetry audit was carried out to assess the accuracy of Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiotherapy (SABR) lung treatment delivery. This mail-based audit used an anthropomorphic thorax phantom containing nine alanine pellets positioned in the lung region for dosimetry, as well as EBT3 film in the axial plane for isodose comparison. Centres used their local planning protocol/technique, creating 27 SABR plans. A range of delivery techniques including conformal, volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) and Cyberknife (CK) were used with six different calculation algorithms (collapsed cone, superposition, pencil-beam (PB), AAA, Acuros and Monte Carlo). The mean difference between measured and calculated dose (excluding PB results) was 0.4±1.4% for alanine and 1.4±3.4% for film. PB differences were -6.1% and -12.9% respectively. The median of the absolute maximum isodose-to-isodose distances was 3mm (-6mm to 7mm) and 5mm (-10mm to +19mm) for the 100% and 50% isodose lines respectively. Alanine and film is an effective combination for verifying dosimetric and geometric accuracy. There were some differences across dose algorithms, and geometric accuracy was better for VMAT and CK compared with conformal techniques. The alanine dosimetry results showed that planned and delivered doses were within ±3.0% for 25/27 SABR plans. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Dosimetry study of PHOTOFRIN-mediated photodynamic therapy in a mouse tumor model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Qiu, Haixia; Kim, Michele M.; Penjweini, Rozhin; Zhu, Timothy C.

    2016-03-01

    It is well known in photodynamic therapy (PDT) that there is a large variability between PDT light dose and therapeutic outcomes. An explicit dosimetry model using apparent reacted 1O2 concentration [1O2]rx has been developed as a PDT dosimetric quantity to improve the accuracy of the predicted ability of therapeutic efficacy. In this study, this explicit macroscopic singlet oxygen model was adopted to establish the correlation between calculated reacted [1O2]rx and the tumor growth using Photofrin-mediated PDT in a mouse tumor model. Mice with radiation-induced fibrosarcoma (RIF) tumors were injected with Photofrin at a dose of 5 mg/kg. PDT was performed 24h later with different fluence rates (50, 75 and 150 mW/cm2) and different fluences (50 and 135 J/cm2) using a collimated light applicator coupled to a 630nm laser. The tumor volume was monitored daily after PDT and correlated with the total light fluence and [1O2]rx. Photophysical parameters as well as the singlet oxygen threshold dose for this sensitizer and the RIF tumor model were determined previously. The result showed that tumor growth rate varied greatly with light fluence for different fluence rates while [1O2]rx had a good correlation with the PDT-induced tumor growth rate. This preliminary study indicated that [1O2]rx could serve as a better dosimetric predictor for predicting PDT outcome than PDT light dose.

  19. Improving the accuracy of ionization chamber dosimetry in small megavoltage x-ray fields

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McNiven, Andrea L.

    The dosimetry of small x-ray fields is difficult, but important, in many radiation therapy delivery methods. The accuracy of ion chambers for small field applications, however, is limited due to the relatively large size of the chamber with respect to the field size, leading to partial volume effects, lateral electronic disequilibrium and calibration difficulties. The goal of this dissertation was to investigate the use of ionization chambers for the purpose of dosimetry in small megavoltage photon beams with the aim of improving clinical dose measurements in stereotactic radiotherapy and helical tomotherapy. A new method for the direct determination of the sensitive volume of small-volume ion chambers using micro computed tomography (muCT) was investigated using four nominally identical small-volume (0.56 cm3) cylindrical ion chambers. Agreement between their measured relative volume and ionization measurements (within 2%) demonstrated the feasibility of volume determination through muCT. Cavity-gas calibration coefficients were also determined, demonstrating the promise for accurate ion chamber calibration based partially on muCT. The accuracy of relative dose factor measurements in 6MV stereotactic x-ray fields (5 to 40mm diameter) was investigated using a set of prototype plane-parallel ionization chambers (diameters of 2, 4, 10 and 20mm). Chamber and field size specific correction factors ( CSFQ ), that account for perturbation of the secondary electron fluence, were calculated using Monte Carlo simulation methods (BEAM/EGSnrc simulations). These correction factors (e.g. CSFQ = 1.76 (2mm chamber, 5mm field) allow for accurate relative dose factor (RDF) measurement when applied to ionization readings, under conditions of electronic disequilibrium. With respect to the dosimetry of helical tomotherapy, a novel application of the ion chambers was developed to characterize the fan beam size and effective dose rate. Characterization was based on an adaptation of the

  20. High throughput film dosimetry in homogeneous and heterogeneous media for a small animal irradiator

    PubMed Central

    Wack, L.; Ngwa, W.; Tryggestad, E.; Tsiamas, P.; Berbeco, R.; Ng, S.K.; Hesser, J.

    2013-01-01

    Purpose We have established a high-throughput Gafchromic film dosimetry protocol for narrow kilo-voltage beams in homogeneous and heterogeneous media for small-animal radiotherapy applications. The kV beam characterization is based on extensive Gafchromic film dosimetry data acquired in homogeneous and heterogeneous media. An empirical model is used for parameterization of depth and off-axis dependence of measured data. Methods We have modified previously published methods of film dosimetry to suit the specific tasks of the study. Unlike film protocols used in previous studies, our protocol employs simultaneous multichannel scanning and analysis of up to nine Gafchromic films per scan. A scanner and background correction were implemented to improve accuracy of the measurements. Measurements were taken in homogeneous and inhomogeneous phantoms at 220 kVp and a field size of 5 × 5 mm2. The results were compared against Monte Carlo simulations. Results Dose differences caused by variations in background signal were effectively removed by the corrections applied. Measurements in homogeneous phantoms were used to empirically characterize beam data in homogeneous and heterogeneous media. Film measurements in inhomogeneous phantoms and their empirical parameterization differed by about 2%–3%. The model differed from MC by about 1% (water, lung) to 7% (bone). Good agreement was found for measured and modelled off-axis ratios. Conclusions EBT2 films are a valuable tool for characterization of narrow kV beams, though care must be taken to eliminate disturbances caused by varying background signals. The usefulness of the empirical beam model in interpretation and parameterization of film data was demonstrated. PMID:23510532

  1. Whole-remnant and maximum-voxel SPECT/CT dosimetry in {sup 131}I-NaI treatments of differentiated thyroid cancer

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mínguez, Pablo, E-mail: pablo.minguezgabina@osakid

    Purpose: To investigate the possible differences between SPECT/CT based whole-remnant and maximum-voxel dosimetry in patients receiving radio-iodine ablation treatment of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). Methods: Eighteen DTC patients were administered 1.11 GBq of {sup 131}I-NaI after near-total thyroidectomy and rhTSH stimulation. Two patients had two remnants, so in total dosimetry was performed for 20 sites. Three SPECT/CT scans were performed for each patient at 1, 2, and 3–7 days after administration. The activity, the remnant mass, and the maximum-voxel activity were determined from these images and from a recovery-coefficient curve derived from experimental phantom measurements. The cumulated activity was estimatedmore » using trapezoidal-exponential integration. Finally, the absorbed dose was calculated using S-values for unit-density spheres in whole-remnant dosimetry and S-values for voxels in maximum-voxel dosimetry. Results: The mean absorbed dose obtained from whole-remnant dosimetry was 40 Gy (range 2–176 Gy) and from maximum-voxel dosimetry 34 Gy (range 2–145 Gy). For any given patient, the activity concentrations for each of the three time-points were approximately the same for the two methods. The effective half-lives varied (R = 0.865), mainly due to discrepancies in estimation of the longer effective half-lives. On average, absorbed doses obtained from whole-remnant dosimetry were 1.2 ± 0.2 (1 SD) higher than for maximum-voxel dosimetry, mainly due to differences in the S-values. The method-related differences were however small in comparison to the wide range of absorbed doses obtained in patients. Conclusions: Simple and consistent procedures for SPECT/CT based whole-volume and maximum-voxel dosimetry have been described, both based on experimentally determined recovery coefficients. Generally the results from the two approaches are consistent, although there is a small, systematic difference in the absorbed dose due to differences

  2. Monte Carlo study of a 60Co calibration field of the Dosimetry Laboratory Seibersdorf.

    PubMed

    Hranitzky, C; Stadtmann, H

    2007-01-01

    The gamma radiation fields of the reference irradiation facility of the Dosimetry Laboratory Seibersdorf with collimated beam geometry are used for calibrating radiation protection dosemeters. A close-to-reality simulation model of the facility including the complex geometry of a 60Co source was set up using the Monte Carlo code MCNP. The goal of this study is to characterise the radionuclide gamma calibration field and resulting air-kerma distributions inside the measurement hall with a total of 20 m in length. For the whole range of source-detector-distances (SDD) along the central beam axis, simulated and measured relative air-kerma values are within +/-0.6%. Influences on the accuracy of the simulation results are investigated, including e.g., source mass density effects or detector volume dependencies. A constant scatter contribution from the lead ring-collimator of approximately 1% and an increasing scatter contribution from the concrete floor for distances above 7 m are identified, resulting in a total air-kerma scatter contribution below 5%, which is in accordance to the ISO 4037-1 recommendations.

  3. Items Supporting the Hanford Internal Dosimetry Program Implementation of the IMBA Computer Code

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Carbaugh, Eugene H.; Bihl, Donald E.

    2008-01-07

    The Hanford Internal Dosimetry Program has adopted the computer code IMBA (Integrated Modules for Bioassay Analysis) as its primary code for bioassay data evaluation and dose assessment using methodologies of ICRP Publications 60, 66, 67, 68, and 78. The adoption of this code was part of the implementation plan for the June 8, 2007 amendments to 10 CFR 835. This information release includes action items unique to IMBA that were required by PNNL quality assurance standards for implementation of safety software. Copie of the IMBA software verification test plan and the outline of the briefing given to new users aremore » also included.« less

  4. Implementation of alanine/EPR as transfer dosimetry system in a radiotherapy audit programme in Belgium.

    PubMed

    Schaeken, B; Cuypers, R; Lelie, S; Schroeyers, W; Schreurs, S; Janssens, H; Verellen, D

    2011-04-01

    A measurement procedure based on alanine/electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) dosimetry was implemented successfully providing simple, stable, and accurate dose-to-water (D(w)) measurements. The correspondence between alanine and ionization chamber measurements in reference conditions was excellent. Alanine/EMR dosimetry might be a valuable alternative to thermoluminescent (TLD) and ionization chamber based measuring procedures in radiotherapy audits. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Technical Note: A novel interdigital transparent thin-film detector for medical dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Brivio, Davide; Sajo, Erno; Zygmanski, Piotr

    2017-05-01

    A new type of thin-film interdigital detector (TFID) for medical dosimetry is investigated. The focus of this study was to characterize the detector response as a function of detector geometry in an attempt to optimize it and to understand the underlying radio-electrical effects leading to signal formation. We characterize the detector response to kilovoltage x-ray beams used in fluoroscopy and computed tomography. Each element (pixel) of the detector is composed of conductive intercombing digits deposited on a thin-film dielectric substrate by nanofabrication or using a printing process. The detector is practically transparent to x-ray radiation, yet it generates sufficient signal for many types of medical dosimetry and quality assurance tasks. The thin-film detector has negligible surface mass density (about 2.5 mg/cm 2 for a 1-μm-thick Cu TFID on 12.5-μm-thick Kapton substrate) and it is conformable to curved geometries found in the medical x-ray equipment or on patient skin surface. The prototype detectors were made using glass and Kapton substrates with copper-copper and copper-aluminum interdigits. Although in principle the detector can be operated without any external bias voltage when the digits are made of disparate materials (e.g., Cu-Al), we also characterized the detector properties under small electric fields via its current-voltage curve (IV curve). Using 120 kVp, 25 mA x-ray beam with 10V external bias, the Cu-Cu detector response was about 0.2 nA/cm 2 . We also measured a one-dimensional transmitted dose profile for a phantom under fluoroscopic x-rays and found relatively good agreement with a commercial photodiode (XR R12-0191, IBA Dosimetry). We demonstrated the potential of TFID detectors for kilovoltage dosimetry and we defined its optimal geometry. For digits made of the same material and for digit width equal to the separation between them, we found that the thin-film detector has optimal performance when the distance between the digit

  6. Development and demonstration of 2D dosimetry using optically stimulated luminescence from new Al2O3 films for radiotherapy applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ahmed, Md Foiez

    Scope and Method of Study: The goal of this work was to develop and demonstrate a 2D dosimetry system based on the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) from new Al2O3 films for radiotherapy applications. A 2D laser-scanning system was developed for the readout and two OSL films (Al2O3:C and Al2O3:C,Mg) were tested. A dose reconstruction algorithm addressing corrections required for the characteristic material properties and the properties related to the system design was developed. The dosimetric properties of the system were tested using clinical X-ray (6 MV) beam. The feasibility of small field dosimetry was tested using heavy ion beams (221 MeV proton and 430 MeV 12C beam). For comparison, clinical tests were performed with ionization chamber, diode arrays and the commercial radiochromic films (Gafchromic EBT3) when applicable. Findings and Conclusions: The results demonstrate that the developed image reconstruction algorithm enabled > 300x faster laser-scanning readout of the Al2O3 films, eliminating the restriction imposed by its slow luminescence decay. The algorithm facilitates submillimeter spatial resolution, reduces the scanner position dependence (of light collection efficiency) and removes the inherent galvo geometric distortion, among other corrections. The system has a background signal < 1 mGy, linearity correction factor of < 10% up to ˜4.0 Gy and < 2% dose uncertainty over the clinically relevant dose range of 0.1 - 30 Gy. The system has a dynamic range of 4 - 5 orders, only limited by PMT linearity. The absolute response from Al2O2:C films is higher than Al2O 2:C,Mg films, but with lower image signal-to-noise ratio due to lower concentration of fast F+-center emission. As a result, Al2O2:C,Mg films are better suited than Al2O3:C films for small field dosimetry, which requires precise dosimetry with sub-millimeter spatial resolution. The dose uncertainty associated with OSL film dosimetry is lower than that associated with EBT3 film dosimetry

  7. Evaluation of radiotherapy techniques for radical treatment of lateralised oropharyngeal cancers : Dosimetry and NTCP.

    PubMed

    McQuaid, D; Dunlop, A; Nill, S; Franzese, C; Nutting, C M; Harrington, K J; Newbold, K L; Bhide, S A

    2016-08-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate potential advantages and disadvantages of three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT), multiple fixed-field intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) in terms of dose to the planning target volume (PTV), organs at risk (OARs) and normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) for delivering ipsilateral radiotherapy. 3DCRT, IMRT and VMAT were compared in patients with well-lateralised primary tonsillar cancers who underwent primary radical ipsilateral radiotherapy. The following parameters were compared: conformity index (CI); homogeneity index (HI); dose-volume histograms (DVHs) of PTVs and OARs; NTCP, risk of radiation-induced cancer and dose accumulation during treatment. IMRT and VMAT were superior to 3DCRT in terms of CI, HI and dose to the target volumes, as well as mandible and dose accumulation robustness. The techniques were equivalent in terms of dose and NTCP for the contralateral oral cavity, contralateral submandibular gland and mandible, when specific dose constraint objectives were used on the oral cavity volume. Although the volume of normal tissue exposed to low-dose radiation was significantly higher with IMRT and VMAT, the risk of radiation-induced secondary malignancy was dependant on the mathematical model used. This study demonstrates the superiority of IMRT/VMAT techniques over 3DCRT in terms of dose homogeneity, conformity and consistent dose delivery to the PTV throughout the course of treatment in patients with lateralised oropharyngeal cancers. Dosimetry and NTCP calculations show that these techniques are equivalent to 3DCRT with regard to the risk of acute mucositis when specific dose constraint objectives were used on the contralateral oral cavity OAR.

  8. SU-F-T-17: A Feasibility Study for the Transit Dosimetry with a Glass Dosimeter in Brachytherapy

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Moon, S; Yoon, M; Chung, W

    Purpose: Confirming the dose delivered to a patient is important to make sure the treatment quality and safety of the radiotherapy. Measuring a transit dose of the patient during the radiotherapy could be an interesting way to confirm the patient dose. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of the transit dosimetry with a glass dosimeter in brachytherapy. Methods: We made a phantom that inserted the glass dosimeters and placed under patient lying on a couch for cervix cancer brachytherapy. The 18 glass dosimeters were placed in the phantom arranged 6 per row. A point putting 1cm vertically from themore » source was prescribed as 500.00 cGy. Solid phantoms of 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 cm were placed between the source and the glass dosimeter. The transit dose was measured each thickness using the glass dosimeters and compared with a treatment planning system (TPS). Results: When the transit dose was smaller than 10 cGy, the average of the differences between measured values and calculated values by TPS was 0.50 cGy and the standard deviation was 0.69 cGy. If the transit dose was smaller than 100 cGy, the average of the error was 1.67 ± 4.01 cGy. The error to a point near the prescription point was −14.02 cGy per 500.00 cGy of the prescription dose. Conclusion: The distances from the sources to skin of the patient generally are within 10 cm for cervix cancer cases in brachytherapy. The results of this preliminary study showed the probability of the glass dosimeter as the transit dosimeter in brachytherapy.« less

  9. Application of spherical diodes for megavoltage photon beams dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Barbés, Benigno; Azcona, Juan D; Burguete, Javier; Martí-Climent, Josep M

    2014-01-01

    External beam radiation therapy (EBRT) usually uses heterogeneous dose distributions in a given volume. Designing detectors for quality control of these treatments is still a developing subject. The size of the detectors should be small to enhance spatial resolution and ensure low perturbation of the beam. A high uniformity in angular response is also a very important feature in a detector, because it has to measure radiation coming from all the directions of the space. It is also convenient that detectors are inexpensive and robust, especially to perform in vivo measurements. The purpose of this work is to introduce a new detector for measuring megavoltage photon beams and to assess its performance to measure relative dose in EBRT. The detector studied in this work was designed as a spherical photodiode (1.8 mm in diameter). The change in response of the spherical diodes is measured regarding the angle of incidence, cumulated irradiation, and instantaneous dose rate (or dose per pulse). Additionally, total scatter factors for large and small fields (between 1 × 1 cm(2) and 20 × 20 cm(2)) are evaluated and compared with the results obtained from some commercially available ionization chambers and planar diodes. Additionally, the over-response to low energy scattered photons in large fields is investigated using a shielding layer. The spherical diode studied in this work produces a high signal (150 nC/Gy for photons of nominal energy of 15 MV and 160 for 6 MV, after 12 kGy) and its angular dependence is lower than that of planar diodes: less than 5% between maximum and minimum in all directions, and 2% around one of the axis. It also has a moderated variation with accumulated dose (about 1.5%/kGy for 15 MV photons and 0.7%/kGy for 6 MV, after 12 kGy) and a low variation with dose per pulse (± 0.4%), and its behavior is similar to commercial diodes in total scatter factor measurements. The measurements of relative dose using the spherical diode described in this

  10. Thermoluminescence dosimetry applied to in vivo dose measurements for total body irradiation techniques.

    PubMed

    Duch, M A; Ginjaume, M; Chakkor, H; Ortega, X; Jornet, N; Ribas, M

    1998-06-01

    In total body irradiation (TBI) treatments in vivo dosimetry is recommended because it makes it possible to ensure the accuracy and quality control of dose delivery. The aim of this work is to set up an in vivo thermoluminescence dosimetry (TLD) system to measure the dose distribution during the TBI technique used prior to bone marrow transplant. Some technical problems due to the presence of lung shielding blocks are discussed. Irradiations were performed in the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau by means of a Varian Clinac-1800 linear accelerator with 18 MV X-ray beams. Different TLD calibration experiments were set up to optimize in vivo dose assessment and to analyze the influence on dose measurement of shielding blocks. An algorithm to estimate midplane doses from entrance and exit doses is proposed and the estimated dose in critical organs is compared to internal dose measurements performed in an Alderson anthropomorphic phantom. The predictions of the dose algorithm, even in heterogeneous zones of the body such as the lungs, are in good agreement with the experimental results obtained with and without shielding blocks. The differences between measured and predicted values are in all cases lower than 2%. The TLD system described in this work has been proven to be appropriate for in vivo dosimetry in TBI irradiations. The described calibration experiments point out the difficulty of calibrating an in vivo dosimetry system when lung shielding blocks are used.

  11. THE CHALLENGE OF CIEMAT INTERNAL DOSIMETRY SERVICE FOR ACCREDITATION ACCORDING TO ISO/IEC 17025 STANDARD, FOR IN VIVO AND IN VITRO MONITORING AND DOSE ASSESSMENT OF INTERNAL EXPOSURES.

    PubMed

    Lopez, M A; Martin, R; Hernandez, C; Navarro, J F; Navarro, T; Perez, B; Sierra, I

    2016-09-01

    The accreditation of an Internal Dosimetry Service (IDS) according to ISO/IEC 17025 Standard is a challenge. The aim of this process is to guarantee the technical competence for the monitoring of radionuclides incorporated in the body and for the evaluation of the associated committed effective dose E(50). This publication describes the main accreditation issues addressed by CIEMAT IDS regarding all the procedures involving good practice in internal dosimetry, focussing in the difficulties to ensure the traceability in the whole process, the appropriate calculation of detection limit of measurement techniques, the validation of methods (monitoring and dose assessments), the description of all the uncertainty sources and the interpretation of monitoring data to evaluate the intake and the committed effective dose. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  12. The visible signal responsible for proton therapy dosimetry using bare optical fibers is not Čerenkov radiation.

    PubMed

    Darafsheh, Arash; Taleei, Reza; Kassaee, Alireza; Finlay, Jarod C

    2016-11-01

    Proton beam dosimetry using bare plastic optical fibers has emerged as a simple approach to proton beam dosimetry. The source of the signal in this method has been attributed to Čerenkov radiation. The aim of this work was a phenomenological study of the nature of the visible light responsible for the signal in bare fiber optic dosimetry of proton therapy beams. Plastic fiber optic probes embedded in solid water phantoms were irradiated with proton beams of energies 100, 180, and 225 MeV produced by a proton therapy cyclotron. Luminescence spectroscopy was performed by a CCD-coupled spectrometer. The spectra were acquired at various depths in phantom to measure the percentage depth dose (PDD) for each beam energy. For comparison, the PDD curves were acquired using a standard multilayer ion chamber device. In order to further analyze the contribution of the Čerenkov radiation in the spectra, Monte Carlo simulation was performed using fluka Monte Carlo code to stochastically simulate radiation transport, ionizing radiation dose deposition, and optical emission of Čerenkov radiation. The measured depth doses using the bare fiber are in agreement with measurements performed by the multilayer ion chamber device, indicating the feasibility of using bare fiber probes for proton beam dosimetry. The spectroscopic study of proton-irradiated fibers showed a continuous spectrum with a shape different from that of Čerenkov radiation. The Monte Carlo simulations confirmed that the amount of the generated Čerenkov light does not follow the radiation absorbed dose in a medium. The source of the optical signal responsible for the proton dose measurement using bare optical fibers is not Čerenkov radiation. It is fluorescence of the plastic material of the fiber.

  13. Evaluation of a semiautomated lung mass calculation technique for internal dosimetry applications

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Busse, Nathan; Erwin, William; Pan, Tinsu

    2013-12-15

    Purpose: The authors sought to evaluate a simple, semiautomated lung mass estimation method using computed tomography (CT) scans obtained using a variety of acquisition techniques and reconstruction parameters for mass correction of medical internal radiation dose-based internal radionuclide radiation absorbed dose estimates.Methods: CT scans of 27 patients with lung cancer undergoing stereotactic body radiation therapy treatment planning with PET/CT were analyzed retrospectively. For each patient, free-breathing (FB) and respiratory-gated 4DCT scans were acquired. The 4DCT scans were sorted into ten respiratory phases, representing one complete respiratory cycle. An average CT reconstruction was derived from the ten-phase reconstructions. Mid expiration breath-holdmore » CT scans were acquired in the same session for many patients. Deep inspiration breath-hold diagnostic CT scans of many of the patients were obtained from different scanning sessions at similar time points to evaluate the effect of contrast administration and maximum inspiration breath-hold. Lung mass estimates were obtained using all CT scan types, and intercomparisons made to assess lung mass variation according to scan type. Lung mass estimates using the FB CT scans from PET/CT examinations of another group of ten male and ten female patients who were 21–30 years old and did not have lung disease were calculated and compared with reference lung mass values. To evaluate the effect of varying CT acquisition and reconstruction parameters on lung mass estimation, an anthropomorphic chest phantom was scanned and reconstructed with different CT parameters. CT images of the lungs were segmented using the OsiriX MD software program with a seed point of about −850 HU and an interval of 1000. Lung volume, and mean lung, tissue, and air HUs were recorded for each scan. Lung mass was calculated by assuming each voxel was a linear combination of only air and tissue. The specific gravity of lung volume

  14. Polybutadiene and Styrene-Butadiene rubbers for high-dose dosimetry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Oliveira, Lucas N.; Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares -IPEN, Sao Paulo-SP; Vieira, Silvio L.

    2015-07-01

    Polybutadiene and Styrene-Butadiene are synthetical rubbers used widely for pneumatic tires manufacturing. In this research, the dosimeter characteristics of those rubbers were studied for application in high-dose dosimetry. The rubber samples were irradiated with doses of 10 Gy up to 10 kGy, using a {sup 60}Co Gamma Cell-220 system (dose rate of 1.089 kGy/h) and their readings were taken on a Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy-FTIR system (model Frontier/Perkin Elmer). The ratios of two absorbance peaks were taken for each kind of rubber spectrum, Polybutadiene (1306/1130 cm{sup -1}) and Styrene-Butadiene (1449/1306 cm{sup -1}). The ratio calculated was used as the responsemore » to the irradiation, and is not uniform across the sample. From the results, it can be concluded for both rubbers: a) the dose-response curves may be useful for high-dose dosimetry (greater than 250 Gy); b) their response for reproducibility presented standard deviations lower than 2.5%; c) the relative sensitivity was higher for Styrene-Butadiene (1.86 kGy{sup -1}) than for Polybutadiene (1.81 kGy{sup -1}), d) for doses of 10 kGy to 200 kGy, there was no variation in the dosimetric response. Both types of rubber samples showed usefulness as high-dose dosimeters. (authors)« less

  15. Sci-Thur PM: YIS - 07: Monte Carlo simulations to obtain several parameters required for electron beam dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Muir, B; Rogers, D; McEwen, M

    2012-07-01

    When current dosimetry protocols were written, electron beam data were limited and had uncertainties that were unacceptable for reference dosimetry. Protocols for high-energy reference dosimetry are currently being updated leading to considerable interest in accurate electron beam data. To this end, Monte Carlo simulations using the EGSnrc user-code egs_chamber are performed to extract relevant data for reference beam dosimetry. Calculations of the absorbed dose to water and the absorbed dose to the gas in realistic ion chamber models are performed as a function of depth in water for cobalt-60 and high-energy electron beams between 4 and 22 MeV. These calculations are used to extract several of the parameters required for electron beam dosimetry - the beam quality specifier, R 50 , beam quality conversion factors, k Q and k R50 , the electron quality conversion factor, k' R50 , the photon-electron conversion factor, k ecal , and ion chamber perturbation factors, P Q . The method used has the advantage that many important parameters can be extracted as a function of depth instead of determination at only the reference depth as has typically been done. Results obtained here are in good agreement with measured and other calculated results. The photon-electron conversion factors obtained for a Farmer-type NE2571 and plane-parallel PTW Roos, IBA NACP-02 and Exradin A11 chambers are 0.903, 0.896, 0.894 and 0.906, respectively. These typically differ by less than 0.7% from the contentious TG-51 values but have much smaller systematic uncertainties. These results are valuable for reference dosimetry of high-energy electron beams. © 2012 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

  16. Factors influencing the dosimetry for high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation of uterine fibroids: a retrospective study.

    PubMed

    Peng, Song; Zhang, Lian; Hu, Liang; Chen, Jinyun; Ju, Jin; Wang, Xi; Zhang, Rong; Wang, Zhibiao; Chen, Wenzhi

    2015-04-01

    The aim of this article is to analyze factors affecting sonication dose and build a dosimetry model of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) ablation for uterine fibroids. Four hundred and three patients with symptomatic uterine fibroids who underwent HIFU were retrospectively analyzed. The energy efficiency factor (EEF) was set as dependent variable, and the factors possibly affecting sonication dose included age, body mass index, size of uterine fibroid, abdominal wall thickness, the distance from uterine fibroid dorsal side to sacrum, the distance from uterine fibroid ventral side to skin, location of uterus, location of uterine fibroids, type of uterine fibroids, abdominal wall scar, signal intensity on T2-weighted imaging (T2WI), and enhancement type on T1-weighted imaging (T1WI) were set as predictors to build a multiple regression model. The size of uterine fibroid, distance from fibroid ventral side to skin, location of uterus, location of uterine fibroids, type of uterine fibroids, signal intensity on T2WI, and enhancement type on T1WI had a linear correlation with EEF. The distance from fibroid ventral side to skin, enhancement type on T1WI, size of uterine fibroid, and signal intensity on T2WI were eventually incorporated into the dosimetry model. The distance from fibroid ventral side to skin, enhancement type on T1WI, size of uterine fibroid, and signal intensity on T2WI can be used as dosimetric predictors for HIFU for uterine fibroids.

  17. The internal dosimetry code PLEIADES.

    PubMed

    Fell, T P; Phipps, A W; Smith, T J

    2007-01-01

    The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) has published dose coefficients for the ingestion or inhalation of radionuclides in a series of reports covering intakes by workers and members of the public, including children and pregnant or lactating women. The calculation of these coefficients divides naturally into two distinct parts-the biokinetic and dosimetric. This paper describes in detail the methods used to solve the biokinetic problem in the generation of dose coefficients on behalf of the ICRP, as implemented in the Health Protection Agency's internal dosimetry code PLEIADES. A summary of the dosimetric treatment is included.

  18. MECHANISTIC DOSIMETRY MODELS OF NANOMATERIAL DEPOSITION IN THE RESPIRATORY TRACT

    EPA Science Inventory

    Accurate health risk assessments of inhalation exposure to nanomaterials will require dosimetry models that account for interspecies differences in dose delivered to the respiratory tract. Mechanistic models offer the advantage to interspecies extrapolation that physicochemica...

  19. Neutron Exposure Parameters for the Dosimetry Capsule in the Heavy-Section Steel Irradiation Program Tenth Irradiation Series

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    C.A. Baldwin; F.B.K. Kam; I. Remec

    1998-10-01

    This report describes the computational methodology for the least-squares adjustment of the dosimetry data from the HSSI 10.OD dosimetry capsule with neutronics calculations. It presents exposure rates at each dosimetry location for the neutron fluence greater than 1.0 MeV, fluence greater than 0.1 MeV, and displacements per atom. Exposure parameter distributions are also described in terms of three- dimensional fitting functions. When fitting functions are used it is suggested that an uncertainty of 6% (1 o) should be associated with the exposure rate values. The specific activity of each dosimeter at the end of irradiation is listed in the Appendix.

  20. Visible photoluminescence of color centers in LiF crystals for absorbed dose evaluation in clinical dosimetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Villarreal-Barajas, J. E.; Piccinini, M.; Vincenti, M. A.; Bonfigli, F.; Khan, R. F.; Montereali, R. M.

    2015-04-01

    Among insulating materials, lithium fluoride (LiF) has been successfully used as ionizing radiation dosemeter for more than 60 years. Thermoluminescence (TL) has been the most commonly used reading technique to evaluate the absorbed dose. Lately, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) of visible emitting color centers (CCs) has also been explored in pure and doped LiF. This work focuses on the experimental behaviour of nominally pure LiF crystals dosemeters for 6 MV x rays at low doses based on photoluminescence (PL) of radiation induced CCs. Polished LiF crystals were irradiated using 6 MV x rays produced by a clinical linear accelerator. The doses (absorbed dose to water) covered the 1-100 Gy range. Optical absorption spectra show stable formation of primary F defects up to a maximum concentration of 2×1016 cm-3, while no significant M absorption band at around 450 nm was detected. On the other hand, under Argon laser excitation at 458 nm, PL spectra of the irradiated LiF crystals clearly exhibited the characteristic F2 and F+3 visible broad emission bands. Their sum intensity is linearly proportional to the absorbed dose in the investigated range. PL integrated intensity was also measured using a conventional fluorescence optical microscope under blue lamp illumination. The relationship between the absorbed dose and the integrated F2 and F+3 PL intensities, represented by the net average pixel number in the optical fluorescence images, is also fairly linear. Even at the low point defect densities obtained at the investigated doses, these preliminary experimental results are encouraging for further investigation of CCs PL in LiF crystals for clinical dosimetry.