Engineering topics

Beaulieu, Luc

Publications and source records attributed to Beaulieu, Luc.

24 records · Page 2

DOE OSTI2011

Spectral method for the correction of the Cerenkov light effect in plastic scintillation detectors: A comparison study of calibration procedures and validation in Cerenkov light-dominated situations

Purpose: The purposes of this work were: (1) To determine if a spectral method can accurately correct the Cerenkov light effect in plastic scintillation detectors (PSDs) for situations where the Cerenkov light is dominant over the scintillation light and (2) to develop a procedural guideline for accurately determining the calibration factors of PSDs. Methods: The authors demonstrate, by using the equations of the spectral method, that the condition for accurately correcting the effect of Cerenkov light is that the ratio of the two calibration factors must be equal to the ratio of the Cerenkov light measured within the two different spectral regions used for analysis. Based on this proof, the authors propose two new procedures to determine the calibration factors of PSDs, which were designed to respect this condition. A PSD that consists of a cylindrical polystyrene scintillating fiber (1.6 mm{sup 3}) coupled to a plastic optical fiber was calibrated by using these new procedures and the two reference procedures described in the literature. To validate the extracted calibration factors, relative dose profiles and output factors for a 6 MV photon beam from a medical linac were measured with the PSD and an ionization chamber. Emphasis was placed on situations where the Cerenkov light is dominant over the scintillation light and on situations dissimilar to the calibration conditions. Results: The authors found that the accuracy of the spectral method depends on the procedure used to determine the calibration factors of the PSD and on the attenuation properties of the optical fiber used. The results from the relative dose profile measurements showed that the spectral method can correct the Cerenkov light effect with an accuracy level of 1%. The results obtained also indicate that PSDs measure output factors that are lower than those measured with ionization chambers for square field sizes larger than 25x25 cm{sup 2}, in general agreement with previously published Monte Carlo results. Conclusions: The authors conclude that the spectral method can be used to accurately correct the Cerenkov light effect in PSDs. The authors confirmed the importance of maximizing the difference of Cerenkov light production between calibration measurements. The authors also found that the attenuation of the optical fiber, which is assumed to be constant in the original formulation of the spectral method, may cause a variation of the calibration factors in some experimental setups.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2011

Technical Note: Removing the stem effect when performing Ir-192 HDR brachytherapy in vivo dosimetry using plastic scintillation detectors: A relevant and necessary step

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether or not a stem effect removal technique is necessary when performing Ir-192 HDR brachytherapy in vivo dosimetry using a scintillation detector. Methods: A red-green-blue photodiode connected to a multichannel electrometer was used to detect the light emitted from a plastic scintillation detector (PSD) during irradiation with an Ir-192 HDR brachytherapy source. Accuracy in dose measurement was compared with and without the use of stem effect removal techniques. Monochromatic and polychromatic filtration techniques were studied. An in-house template was built for accurate positioning of catheters in which the source and the PSD were inserted. Dose distribution was measured up to 5 cm from source to detector in the radial and longitudinal directions. Results: The authors found the stem effect to be particularly important when the source was close to the optical fiber guide and far from the scintillation component of the detector. It can account for up to (72{+-}3)% of the signal under clinically relevant conditions. The polychromatic filtration outperformed the monochromatic filtration as well as the absence of filtration in regard to dose measurement accuracy. Conclusions: It is necessary to implement a stem effect removal technique when building a PSD for in vivo dosimetry during Ir-192 HDR brachytherapy. The PSD that the authors have developed for this study would be suitable for such an application.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2011

An opposite view data replacement approach for reducing artifacts due to metallic dental objects

Purpose: To present a conceptually new method for metal artifact reduction (MAR) that can be used on patients with multiple objects within the scan plane that are also of small sized along the longitudinal (scanning) direction, such as dental fillings. Methods: The proposed algorithm, named opposite view replacement, achieves MAR by first detecting the projection data affected by metal objects and then replacing the affected projections by the corresponding opposite view projections, which are not affected by metal objects. The authors also applied a fading process to avoid producing any discontinuities in the boundary of the affected projection areas in the sinogram. A skull phantom with and without a variety of dental metal inserts was made to extract the performance metric of the algorithm. A head and neck case, typical of IMRT planning, was also tested. Results: The reconstructed CT images based on this new replacement scheme show a significant improvement in image quality for patients with metallic dental objects compared to the MAR algorithms based on the interpolation scheme. For the phantom, the authors showed that the artifact reduction algorithm can efficiently recover the CT numbers in the area next to the metallic objects. Conclusions: The authors presented a new and efficient method for artifact reduction due to multiple small metallic objects. The obtained results from phantoms and clinical cases fully validate the proposed approach.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

DOE OSTI2011

The difference of scoring dose to water or tissues in Monte Carlo dose calculations for low energy brachytherapy photon sources

Purpose: The goal of this work is to compare D{sub m,m} (radiation transported in medium; dose scored in medium) and D{sub w,m} (radiation transported in medium; dose scored in water) obtained from Monte Carlo (MC) simulations for a subset of human tissues of interest in low energy photon brachytherapy. Using low dose rate seeds and an electronic brachytherapy source (EBS), the authors quantify the large cavity theory conversion factors required. The authors also assess whether applying large cavity theory utilizing the sources' initial photon spectra and average photon energy induces errors related to spatial spectral variations. First, ideal spherical geometries were investigated, followed by clinical brachytherapy LDR seed implants for breast and prostate cancer patients. Methods: Two types of dose calculations are performed with the GEANT4 MC code. (1) For several human tissues, dose profiles are obtained in spherical geometries centered on four types of low energy brachytherapy sources: {sup 125}I, {sup 103}Pd, and {sup 131}Cs seeds, as well as an EBS operating at 50 kV. Ratios of D{sub w,m} over D{sub m,m} are evaluated in the 0-6 cm range. In addition to mean tissue composition, compositions corresponding to one standard deviation from the mean are also studied. (2) Four clinical breast (using {sup 103}Pd) and prostate (using {sup 125}I) brachytherapy seed implants are considered. MC dose calculations are performed based on postimplant CT scans using prostate and breast tissue compositions. PTV D{sub 90} values are compared for D{sub w,m} and D{sub m,m}. Results: (1) Differences (D{sub w,m}/D{sub m,m}-1) of -3% to 70% are observed for the investigated tissues. For a given tissue, D{sub w,m}/D{sub m,m} is similar for all sources within 4% and does not vary more than 2% with distance due to very moderate spectral shifts. Variations of tissue composition about the assumed mean composition influence the conversion factors up to 38%. (2) The ratio of D{sub 90(w,m)} over D{sub 90(m,m)} for clinical implants matches D{sub w,m}/D{sub m,m} at 1 cm from the single point sources. Conclusions: Given the small variation with distance, using conversion factors based on the emitted photon spectrum (or its mean energy) of a given source introduces minimal error. The large differences observed between scoring schemes underline the need for guidelines on choice of media for dose reporting. Providing such guidelines is beyond the scope of this work.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2011

Real-time verification of multileaf collimator-driven radiotherapy using a novel optical attenuation-based fluence monitor

Purpose: Multileaf collimator (MLC)-driven conformal radiotherapy modalities [e.g., such as intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), intensity-modulated arc therapy, and stereotactic body radiotherapy] are more subject to delivery errors and dose calculation inaccuracies than standard modalities. Fluence monitoring during treatment delivery could reduce such errors by allowing an independent interface to quantify and assess measured difference between the delivered and planned treatment administration. We developed an optical attenuation-based detector to monitor fluence for the on-line quality control of radiotherapy delivery. The purpose of the current study was to develop the theoretical background of the invention and to evaluate the detector's performance both statistically and in clinical situations. Methods: We aligned 60 27-cm scintillating fibers coupled to a photodetector via clear optical fibers in the direction of motion of each of the 60 leaf pairs of a 120 leaves Millenium MLC on a Varian Clinac iX. We developed a theoretical model to predict the intensity of light collected on each side of the scintillating fibers when placed under radiation fields of varying sizes, intensities, and positions. The model showed that both the central position of the radiation field on the fiber (x{sub c}) and the integral fluence passing through the fiber ({Phi}{sub int}) could be assessed independently in a single measurement. We evaluated the performance of the prototype by (1) measuring the intrinsic variation of the measured values of x{sub c} and {Phi}{sub int}, (2) measuring the impact on the measured values of x{sub c} and {Phi}{sub int} of random leaf positioning errors introduced into IMRT fields, and (3) comparing the predicted values of x{sub c} and {Phi}{sub int} calculated with the treatment planning software to the measured values of x{sub c} and {Phi}{sub int} in order to assess the predictive effectiveness of the developed theoretical model. Results: We observed a very low intrinsic dispersion, dominated by Poisson statistics, for both x{sub c} (standard deviations of less than 1 mm) and {Phi}{sub int} (standard deviations of less than 0.20%). When confronted with random leaf positioning errors from IMRT segments, {Phi}{sub int} was highly sensitive to single leaf positioning errors as small as 1 mm at isocenter, while x{sub c} was sensitive to leaf pair translation errors of at least 2 mm at isocenter. Owing to the uncertainties in the doses calculated in regions of high perpendicular dose gradients, the measured values of x{sub c} and {Phi}{sub int} deviated from the predicted values of x{sub c} and {Phi}{sub int} by a mean of 1.3 mm and 2.6%, respectively. Conclusion: Our study showed that an optical attenuation-based detector can be used to effectively monitor integral fluence during radiotherapy delivery. The performance of such a system would enable real-time quality control of the incident fluence in current MLC-driven treatments such as IMRT and future adaptive radiotherapy procedures where new treatment plans will have to be delivered without passing thru the current standard quality control chain.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2011

An algorithm for efficient metal artifact reductions in permanent seed implants

Purpose: In permanent seed implants, 60 to more than 100 small metal capsules are inserted in the prostate, creating artifacts in x-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging. The goal of this work is to develop an automatic method for metal artifact reduction (MAR) from small objects such as brachytherapy seeds for clinical applications. Methods: The approach for MAR is based on the interpolation of missing projections by directly using raw helical CT data (sinogram). First, an initial image is reconstructed from the raw CT data. Then, the metal objects segmented from the reconstructed image are reprojected back into the sinogram space to produce a metal-only sinogram. The Steger method is used to determine precisely the position and edges of the seed traces in the raw CT data. By combining the use of Steger detection and reprojections, the missing projections are detected and replaced by interpolation of non-missing neighboring projections. Results: In both phantom experiments and patient studies, the missing projections have been detected successfully and the artifacts caused by metallic objects have been substantially reduced. The performance of the algorithm has been quantified by comparing the uniformity between the uncorrected and the corrected phantom images. The results of the artifact reduction algorithm are indistinguishable from the true background value. Conclusions: An efficient algorithm for MAR in seed brachytherapy was developed. The test results obtained using raw helical CT data for both phantom and clinical cases have demonstrated that the proposed MAR method is capable of accurately detecting and correcting artifacts caused by a large number of very small metal objects (seeds) in sinogram space. This should enable a more accurate use of advanced brachytherapy dose calculations, such as Monte Carlo simulations.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗