Secondary neutron dose measurement for proton eye treatment using an eye snout with a borated neutron absorber

In-field and out-of-field microdosimetric characterisation of a 62 MeV proton beam at CATANA

PURPOSE

A 5 and 10 μm thin silicon on insulator (SOI) 3D mushroom microdosimeter was used to characterize both the in-field and out-of-field of a 62 MeV proton beam.

METHODS

The SOI mushroom microdosimeter consisted of an array of cylindrical sensitive volumes (SVs), developed by the Centre for Medical Radiation Physics, University of Wollongong, was irradiated with 62 MeV protons at the CATANA (Centro di AdroTerapia Applicazioni Nucleari Avanzate) facility in Catania, Italy, a facility dedicated to the radiation treatment of ocular melanomas. Dose mean lineal energy, ( y D ¯ ), values were obtained at various depths in PMMA along a pristine and spread out Bragg peak (SOBP). The measured microdosimetric spectra at each position were then used as inputs into the modified Microdosimetric Kinetic Model (MKM) to derive the RBE for absorbed dose in a middle of the SOBP 2Gy (RBE_D ). Microdosimetric spectra were obtained with both the 5 and 10 μm 3D SOI microdosimeters, with a focus on the distal part of the BP. The in-field and out-of-field measurement configurations along the Bragg curve were modeled in Geant4 for comparison with experimental results. Lateral out-of-field measurements were performed to study secondary particles' contribution to normal tissue's dose, up to 12 mm from the edge of the beam field, and quality factor and dose equivalent results were obtained.

RESULTS

Comparison between experimental and simulation results showed good agreement between one another for both the pristine and SOBP beams in terms of y D ¯ and RBED. Though a small discrepancy between experiment and simulation was seen at the entrance of the Bragg curve, where experimental results were slightly lower than Geant4. The dose equivalent value measured 12 mm from the edge of the target volume was 1.27 ± 0.15 mSv/Gy with a Q ¯ value of 2.52 ± 0.30, both of which agree within uncertainty with Geant4 simulation.

CONCLUSIONS

These results demonstrate that SOI microdosimeters are an effective tool to predict RBED in-field as well as dose equivalent monitoring out-of-field to provide insight to probability of second cancer generation.

MEASUREMENT OF NEUTRON AMBIENT DOSE EQUIVALENT IN PROTON RADIOTHERAPY WITH LINE-SCANNING AND WOBBLING MODE TREATMENT SYSTEM

The primary objective of this study was to measure secondary neutron dose during proton therapy using a detector that covers the entire neutron energy range produced in proton therapy. We analyzed and compared the neutron dose during proton treatment with passive scattering and line scanning. The neutron ambient dose equivalents were measured with a 190 MeV wobbling and line-scanning proton beam. The center of a plastic water phantom (30 × 30 × 60 cm3) was placed at the isocenter. A Wide-Energy Neutron Detection Instrument (WENDI-2) was located 1m from the isocenter at four different angles (0°, 45°, 90° and 135°). Both wobbling and line-scanning modes of a multipurpose and pencil beam scanning dedicated nozzles were used to obtain a spread-out Bragg peak with 10-cm-width for the measurements. The ambient dose equivalent H*(10) value was normalized by the proton therapeutic dose at the isocenter. For wobbling mode and line-scanning mode, the highest H*(10) values were 1.972 and 0.099 mSv/Gy, respectively. We successfully measured the neutron ambient dose equivalents at six positions generated by a 190 MeV proton beam using wobbling and line-scanning mode with the WENDI-2. These reference data could be used for neutron dose reduction methods and other analysis for advanced proton treatment in the near future.

A ring-shaped recombination chamber for hadron therapy dosimetry

An innovative recombination chamber has been designed for estimation of stray radiation doses and quality factors in hadron therapy. The chamber allows for determination of absorbed dose and recombination index of radiation quality in phantoms at small distances from simulated organs. The chamber body and electrodes are ring shaped, so the beam may be directed through the empty centre of the ring. The ionisation of the filling gas is caused by secondary or scattered radiation and can be related to the dose absorbed in the tissues close to the irradiated target volume.