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Smith, B

Publications and source records attributed to Smith, B.

9 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

SU-F-T-73: Experimental Determination of the Effective Point of Measurement in Electron Beams Using a Commercial Scintillation Detector

Purpose: The aim of this work was to determine experimentally the effective point of measurement (EPOM) in clinical electron beams for three cylindrical ionization chambers using a commercial scintillation detector as a reference detector. Methods: Percent depth dose (PDD) curves were measured using an Exradin W1 scintillation detector and were used as a representative PDD to water. Depth dose curves were measured with the Exradin A18, A1SL, and A28 ionization chambers. The raw ionization chamber curve data were corrected by the chamber fluence perturbation correction factor and restricted mass collisional stopping power ratio at each depth to obtain a percent depth dose curve to the gas volume (PDDGV) of the detector. Ratios of the W1 PDD to the ion chamber PDDGV were calculated for each measurement depth. The W1 PDD curve was shifted by small depth increments, Δz, until the ratio of the W1 PDD to the ion chamber PDDGV was depth-independent (optimal Δz). A MATLAB routine was developed to determine the optimal Δz value. Results: The optimal Δz shift was used as an estimate of the EPOM for each chamber. The average calculated EPOM shifts (expressed as a fraction of the chamber cavity radius) for the A18, A1SL, and A28 ionization chambers were 0.21 ± 0.04, 0.10 ± 0.05, and 0.22 ± 0.03, respectively. Conclusion: The experimentally determined EPOM values for the A18 and A1SL in this work agreed with the simulated values of Muir and Rogers (MedPhys 2014). The results also indicate that the Exradin W1 scintillator is water equivalent for electron energies of 6 MeV, 9 MeV, 12 MeV, and 16 MeV. In addition, we confirmed that the AAPM TG51 recommended EPOM shift of 0.5 times the cavity radius is not accurate for the A18 and A1SL chambers.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2016

MO-FG-BRA-03: A Novel Method for Characterizing Gating Response Time in Radiation Therapy

Purpose: Low temporal latency between a gating ON/OFF signal and the LINAC beam ON/OFF during respiratory gating is critical for patient safety. Current film based methods to assess gating response have poor temporal resolution and are highly qualitative. We describe a novel method to precisely measure gating lag times at high temporal resolutions and use it to characterize the temporal response of several gating systems. Methods: A respiratory gating simulator with an oscillating platform was modified to include a linear potentiometer for position measurement. A photon diode was placed at linear accelerator isocenter for beam output measurement. The output signals of the potentiometer and diode were recorded simultaneously at 2500 Hz (0.4 millisecond (ms) sampling interval) with an analogue-to-digital converter (ADC). The techniques was used on three commercial respiratory gating systems. The ON and OFF of the beam signal were located and compared to the expected gating window for both phase and position based gating and the temporal lag times extracted using a polynomial fit method. Results: A Varian RPM system with a monoscopic IR camera was measured to have mean beam ON and OFF lag times of 98.2 ms and 89.6 ms, respectively. A Varian RPM system with a stereoscopic IR camera was measured to have mean beam ON and OFF lag times of 86.0 ms and 44.0 ms, respectively. A Calypso magnetic fiducial tracking system was measured to have mean beam ON and OFF lag times of 209.0 ms and 60.0 ms, respectively. Conclusions: A novel method allowed for quantitative determination of gating timing accuracy for several clinically used gating systems. All gating systems met the 100 ms TG-142 criteria for mean beam OFF times. For beam ON response, the Calypso system exceeded the recommended response time.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

SU-E-T-187: Collimation Methods in Spot Scanning Proton Therapy: A Treatment Plan Comparison Between a Fixed Aperture and a Dynamic Collimation System

Purpose: Low-energy treatments during spot scanning proton therapy (SSPT) suffer from poor conformity due to increased spot size. Collimation devices can reduce the lateral penumbra of a proton therapy dose distribution and improve the overall plan quality. The purpose of this work was to study the advantages of individual energy-layer collimation, which is unique to a recently proposed Dynamic Collimation System (DCS), in comparison to a standard, fixed aperture that allows only a single shape for all energy layers. Methods: Three brain patients previously planned and treated with SSPT were re-planned using an in-house treatment planning system capable of modeling collimated and un-collimated proton beamlets. The un-collimated plans, which served as a baseline for comparison, reproduced the target coverage of the clinically delivered plans. The collimator opening for the aperture based plans included a 0.6 cm expansion of the largest cross section of the target in the Beam’s Eye View, while the DCS based plans were created by optimizing the collimator position for beam spots near the periphery of the target in each energy layer. Results: The reduction of mean dose to normal tissue adjacent to the target, as defined by a 10 mm ring, averaged 9.13% and 3.48% for the DCS and aperture plans, respectively. The conformity index, as defined by the ratio of the volume of the 50% isodose line to the target volume, yielded an average improvement of 16.42% and 8.16% for the DCS and aperture plans, respectively. Conclusion: Collimation reduces the dose to normal tissue adjacent to the target and increases dose conformity to the target region for low-energy SSPT. The ability of the DCS to provide collimation to each energy layer yields better conformity in comparison to fixed aperture plans. This work was partially funded by IBA (Ion Beam Applications S.A.)

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

WE-D-17A-01: A Dynamic Collimation System for Spot Scanned Proton Therapy: Conceptual Overview

Purpose: In the absence of a collimation system, the lateral penumbra in pencil beam scanning (PBS) proton therapy delivered at low energies is highly dependent on the spot size. This dependence, coupled with the fact that spot sizes increase with decreasing energy, reduces the benefit of the PBS technique for treating shallow tumors such as those found in the head and neck region. In order to overcome this limitation, a dynamic collimation system (DCS) was developed for sharpening the lateral penumbra of low energy proton therapy dose distributions delivered by PBS. Methods: The proposed DCS consists of two pairs of orthogonal trimmer blades which intercept the edges of the proton beam near the target edge in the beam's eye view. Each trimmer blade is capable of rapid motion in the direction perpendicular to the central beam axis by means of a linear motor, with maximum velocity and acceleration of 2.5 m/s and 19.6 m/s{sup 2}, respectively. Two-dimensional treatment plans were created both with and without the DCS for in-air spot sizes (σ-air) of 3, 5, 7, and 9 mm, representing a wide array of clinically available equipment. Results: In its current configuration, the snout of the DCS has outer dimensions of 22.6 × 22.6 cm{sup 2} and is capable of delivering a minimum treatment field size of 15 × 15 cm{sup 2}. Using off the shelf components, the constructed system would weigh less than 20 kg. The treatment plans created with the DCS yielded a reduction in the mean dose to normal tissue surrounding the target of 26.2–40.6% for spot sizes of 3–9 mm, respectively. Conclusion: The DCS can be integrated with current or future proton therapy equipment and we believe it will serve as a useful tool to further improve the next generation of proton therapy delivery.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

TH-C-BRD-03: Determining the Optimal Collimator Position for Collimated Pencil Beam Scanning Proton Therapy

Purpose: There has been a growing interest in applying collimation to pencil beam scanning (PBS) proton therapy in order to sharpen the lateral dose falloff out of the target, especially at low energies. Currently, there is not a method to optimally determine the collimation position or margin around the target. A uniform margin would not be ideal due to the fact that an incoming symmetric pencil beam, after being intercepted by a collimator near the target boundary, will become asymmetric and experience a lateral shift away from its original spot location, leaving the target insufficiently covered. We demonstrate a method that optimally determines the collimator position on a per-spot basis, in order to maximize target dose while minimizing normal tissue dose. Methods: A library of collimated pencil beams were obtained through Monte Carlo simulation with a collimator placed at varying distances from the central axis of an incoming symmetrical pencil beam of 118 MeV and 5 mm sigma-in-air. Two-dimensional treatment plans were then created using this library of collimated pencil beams. For each spot position in a treatment plan, the collimator position was optimally determined in such a way that the resultant pencil beam maximized the ratio of in-target dose and out-of-target dose. For comparison, un-collimated treatment plans were also computed. Results: The spot-by-spot optimally determined collimator positions allowed the reduction of normal tissue dose while maintaining the same target coverage as un-collimated PBS. Quantitatively, the mean dose outside of the target was reduced by approximately 40% as compared to the plan without collimation. Conclusion: The proposed method determines the optimal collimator position for each spot in collimated PBS proton therapy. The use of a collimator will improve PBS dose distributions achievable today and will continue to be the subject of future investigations.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

SU-E-J-209: Verification of 3D Surface Registration Between Stereograms and CT Images

Purpose: Stereography can provide a visualization of the skin surface for radiation therapy patients. The aim of this study was to verify the registration algorithm in a commercial image analysis software, 3dMDVultus, for the fusion of stereograms and CT images. Methods: CT and stereographic scans were acquired of a head phantom and a deformable phantom. CT images were imported in 3dMDVultus and the surface contours were generated by threshold segmentation. Stereograms were reconstructed in 3dMDVultus. The resulting surfaces were registered with Vultus algorithm and then exported to in-house registration software and compared with four algorithms: rigid, affine, non-rigid iterative closest point (ICP) and b-spline algorithm. RMS (root-mean-square residuals of the surface point distances) error between the registered CT and stereogram surfaces was calculated and analyzed. Results: For the head phantom, the maximum RMS error between registered CT surfaces to stereogram was 6.6 mm for Vultus algorithm, whereas the mean RMS error was 0.7 mm. For the deformable phantom, the maximum RMS error was 16.2 mm for Vultus algorithm, whereas the mean RMS error was 4.4 mm. Non-rigid ICP demonstrated the best registration accuracy, as the mean of RMS errors were both within 1 mm. Conclusion: The accuracy of registration algorithm in 3dMDVultus was verified and exceeded RMS of 2 mm for deformable cases. Non-rigid ICP and b-spline algorithms improve the registration accuracy for both phantoms, especially in deformable one. For those patients whose body habitus deforms during radiation therapy, more advanced nonrigid algorithms need to be used.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗