[en] Purpose: To evaluate the dosimetric impact of systematic MLC positional errors (PEs) on the quality of volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans. Methods: Five patients with head-and-neck cancer (HN) and five patients with prostate cancer were randomly chosen for this study. The clinically approved VMAT plans were designed with 2–4 coplanar arc beams with none-zero collimator angles in the Pinnacle planning system. The systematic MLC PEs of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 mm on both MLC banks were introduced into the original VMAT plans using an in-house program, and recalculated with the same planned Monitor Units in the Pinnacle system. For each patient, the original VMAT plans and plans with MLC PEs were evaluated according to the dose-volume histogram information and Gamma index analysis. Results: For one primary target, the ratio of V100 in the plans with 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 mm MLC PEs to those in the clinical plans was 98.8 ± 2.2%, 97.9 ± 2.1%, 90.1 ± 9.0% for HN cases and 99.5 ± 3.2%, 98.9 ± 1.0%, 97.0 ± 2.5% for prostate cases. For all OARs, the relative difference of Dmean in all plans was less than 1.5%. With 2mm/2% criteria for Gamma analysis, the passing rates were 99.0 ± 1.5% for HN cases and 99.7 ± 0.3% for prostate cases between the planar doses from the original plans and the plans with 1.0 mm MLC errors. The corresponding Gamma passing rates dropped to 88.9 ± 5.3% for HN cases and 83.4 ± 3.2% for prostate cases when comparing planar doses from the original plans and the plans with 2.0 mm MLC errors. Conclusion: For VMAT plans, systematic MLC PEs up to 1.0 mm did not affect the plan quality in term of target coverage, OAR sparing, and Gamma analysis with 2mm/2% criteria

[en] A method for the direct ^99mTc-labeling of antibodies by dithionite reduction was developed. Among three murine monoclonal IgG1 and one human polyclonal IgG (hIgG) antibodies tested, hIgG was the most quickly reduced by dithionite. These differences may reflect the reactivities of antibody disulfide bonds toward the oxidation products of dithionite. By optimizing reduction conditions to generate enough free sulfhydryl groups, it was possible to radiolabel human IgG and monoclonal antibody 170 with ^99mTc with a 90% monomeric antibody efficiency. The process avoided colloid formation. In contrast, about 0.1 sulfhydryl groups per antibody molecule, less than 1% of the possible 36, were detected after treatment with ascorbate (up to 35,000:1 molar ratio) at room temperature for 1 h for the antibodies tested. Sulfhydryl groups generated in antibodies were estimated using a new method: 5-iodoacetamidofluorescein-labeled antibodies quantitated by size exclusion HPLC. Ascorbate was found to prevent antibody aggregate formation in cysteine-challenged samples

[en] The chemical condition of ^99mTc eluate obtained from a ⁹⁹Mo-^99mTc generator is a function of the source, time elapsed after elution and age of the eluate. The radiochemical purity and stability of ^99mTc labeled MAb-170 (Tru-Scint AD^TM, photo activated monoclonal antibody kit) preparation was evaluated comparing pertechnetate source of known age and elution history. The effect of H₂O₂, a radiolytic impurity in ^99m Tc eluates, on the active kit components stannous ion and photo activated MAb and radiolabeling yield has been investigated. The lyophilized Tru-Scint AD^TM kit has been labeled with 20 to 80 mCi in o.5 to 4.0 ml of Sodium Pertechnetate ^99mTc Injection, USP. The eluates were obtained from three brands of generators and used up to six hours after elution. The kits were reconstituted either with Sodium Pertechnetate ^99mTc Injection, USP or Sodium Chloride Injection, USP, 0.9% containing known amounts of H₂O₂. The reconstituted kits were analyzed for radiolabeling yield and radiochemical impurities, stannous ion and protein sulfhydryl group. The results indicated that the radiolabeling yield is a function of both the chemical condition of ^99mTc eluate, generator brand and the radiolabeling parameters like reconstruction volume and activity. The observed radiolabeling yield differences did not depend on the amount of chemical technetium in the eluate. The major radiochemical impurities at 15-minute post labeling have been identified as the ^99mTc-buffer complex and column adsorbed reduced ^99mTc(^99mTc-Ad) species and not the unreduced ^99mTcO^-₄. (author). 33 refs., 3 figs., 5 tabs

[en] The charge transfer characteristic of tetraphenylporphyrin iron (III) chloride (FeP) Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) films on the surface of the ITO glass electrode was reported. When the cyclic voltammetry (CV) scanning was running, the charge transfer characteristic was controlled by the oxidation–reduction process of Fe(III)/Fe(II). The charge transfer characteristic was related to the following factors: the cross-sectional area, relative to the electrode, of FeP as the electron donor (or acceptor). The greater the cross-sectional area of the aggregation of FeP as the electron donor (or acceptor) was, the larger the number of the donated (or accepted) electrons was. The projected area of the cross-section on the ITO electrode. The greater the projected area was, the larger the number of the donated (or accepted) electrons was. The distance between the center of the electron donor (or acceptor) of FeP and the surface of ITO electrode. The smaller the distance was, the greater the rate of donating (or accepting) electrons was. The monolayer coverage, which formed because of the FeP lying on the ITO surface in the form of the monomer and aggregate, was more sensitive to detect oxygen

[en] Purpose: To implement and validate a method of using electronic portal image device (EPID) for pre-treatment quality assurance (QA) of volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans using flattering filter free (FFF) beams for stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). Methods: On Varian Edge with 6MV FFF beam, open field (from 2×2 cm to 20×20 cm) EPID images were acquired with 200 monitor unit (MU) at the image device to radiation source distance of 150cm. With 10×10 open field and calibration unit (CU) provided by vendor to EPID image pixel, a dose conversion factor was determined by dividing the center dose calculated from the treatment planning system (TPS) to the corresponding CU readout on the image. Water phantom measured beam profile and the output factors for various field sizes were further correlated to those of EPID images. The dose conversion factor and correction factors were then used for converting the portal images to the planner dose distributions of clinical fields. A total of 28 VMAT fields of 14 SBRT plans (8 lung, 2 prostate, 2 liver and 2 spine) were measured. With 10% low threshold cutoff, the delivered dose distributions were compared to the reference doses calculated in water phantom from the TPS. A gamma index analysis was performed for the comparison in percentage dose difference/distance-to-agreement specifications. Results: The EPID device has a linear response to the open fields with increasing MU. For the clinical fields, the gamma indices between the converted EPID dose distributions and the TPS calculated 2D dose distributions were 98.7%±1.1%, 94.0%±3.4% and 70.3%±7.7% for the criteria of 3%/3mm, 2%/2mm and 1%/1mm, respectively. Conclusion: Using a portal image device, a high resolution and high accuracy portal dosimerty was achieved for pre-treatment QA verification for SBRT VMAT plans with FFF beams.

[en] Purpose: In commercial secondary dose calculation system, an average effective depth is used to calculate the Monitor Units for an arc beam from the volumetric modulated arc (VMAT) plans. Typically, an arithmetic mean of the effective depths (AMED) of a VMAT arc beam is used, which may result in large MU discrepancy from that of the primary treatment planning system. This study is to demonstrate the use of a dose weighted mean effective depth (DWED) can improve accuracy of MU calculation for the secondary MU verification. Methods: In-house scripts were written in the primary treatment planning system (TPS) to first convert a VMAT arc beam to a series of static step & shoot beams (every 4 degree). The computed dose and effective depth of each static beam were then used to obtain the dose weighted mean effective depth (DWED) for the VMAT beam. The DWED was used for the secondary MU calculation for VMAT plans. Six lung SBRT VMAT plans, eight head and neck VMAT plans and ten prostate VMAT plans that had > 5% MU deviations (failed MU verification) using the AMED method were recalculated with the DWED. For comparison, same number VMAT plans that had < 5% MU deviations (passed MU verification) using AMED method were also reevaluated with the dose weighted mean effective depth method. Results: For MU verification passed plans, the mean and standard deviation of MU differences between the TPS and the secondary calculation program were 2.2%±1.5% for the AMED and 2.1%±1.7% for the DMED method. For the failed plans, the mean and standard deviation of MU differences of TPS to the secondary calculation program were 9.9%±4.7% and 4.7%±2.6, respectively. Conclusion: The dose weighted mean effective depth improved MU calculation accuracy which can be used for the pre-treatment MU verification of VMAT plans.

[en] A sensitive and selective method is described for the determination of neodymium in mixed rare earths using fourth-derivative spectrophotometry. The method is based on the absorption spectra of 4f electron transitions of the complex of neodymium with methyl thymol blue and cetylpyridinium chloride. The influence of various instrumental parameters and reaction conditions for maximum colour development are investigated. The calibration curve is linear over the range 0-3.5 μg ml^-1 neodymium. The relative standard deviation for determination of 1.4 μg ml^-1 neodymium (n = 7) is 1.6%. The detection limit (signal-to-noise ratio = 3) is 0.2 μ g ml^-1. (author)

[en] Thick tungsten (W) coatings prepared by vacuum plasma spraying (VPS) on copper (Cu) heat sink are one of important potential materials for plasma facing components (PFCs) in future tokamaks. Pure W coatings of 1 mm thick have been deposited on Cu tiles (150 mm x 50 mm x 40 mm) with two built-in cooling channels to form PFCs for the HT-7 movable limiter. In order to investigate their thermal behavior under high heat fluxes, such VPS-W/Cu PFCs have been tested using an e-beam high heat flux (HHF) device and also exposing to the HT-7 long pulse plasmas. The PFCs in the HHF tests can withstand the e-beam irradiation of >20 cycles at duration of 100 s/cycle and heat load of ∼10 MW/m² without significant crack formation on the surface of the W coatings. The PFCs as a movable limiter was then exposed to 1 minute plasmas with LHCD power of 130 kW in the last HT-7 campaign. Numerical simulation by ANSYS code has been performed with the same conditions as in the tests, and the results are in good agreement with the surface and the bulk temperature measurements by an IR camera and thermocouples in the tests, respectively. The heat fluxes deposited onto the limiter have been evaluated to be 5-7 MW/m² by the code using the measured surface temperatures as boundary conditions. Results from the coming HT-7 Spring campaign will also be presented on the workshop. (authors)

[en] Purpose: To investigate whether Monte Carlo (MC) recalculated dose distributions can predict the geometric location of the recurrence for nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). Methods: Thirty NSCLC patients with local recurrence were retrospectively selected for this study. The recurred gross target volumes (rGTV) were delineated on the follow-up CT/PET images and then rigidly transferred via imaging fusion to the original planning CTs. Failure pattern was defined according to the overlap between the rGTV and planning GTV (pGTV) as: (a) in-field failure (≥80%), (b) marginal failure (20%–80%), and (c) out-of-field failure (≤20%). All clinical plans were calculated initially with pencil beam (PB) with or without heterogeneity correction dependent of protocols. These plans were recalculated with MC with heterogeneity correction. Because of non-uniform dose distributions in the rGTVs, the rGTVs were further divided into four regions: inside the pGTV (GTVin), inside the PTV (PTVin), outside the pGTV (GTVout), and outside the PTV (PTVout). The mean doses to these regions were reported and analyzed separately. Results: Among 30 patients, 10 patients had infield recurrences, 15 marginal and 5 out-of-field failures. With MC calculations, D95 and D99 of the PTV were reduced by (10.6 ± 7.4)% and (11.7 ± 7.9)%. The average MC calculated mean doses of GTVin, GTVout, PTVin and PTVout were 48.2 ± 5.3 Gy, 48.2 ± 5.5 Gy, 46.3 ± 6.2 Gy and 46.6 ± 5.6 Gy, respectively. No significant dose differences between GTVin and GTVout (p=0.65), PTVin and PTVout (p=0.19) were observed, using the paired students t-test. Conclusion: Although the PB calculations underestimated the tumor target doses, the geometric location of the recurrence did not correlate with the mean doses of subsections of the recurrent GTV. Under dose regions recalculated by MC cannot predict the local failure for NSCLC patients treated with SBRT

[en] Full text of publication follows: Thick tungsten (W) coatings prepared by vacuum plasma spraying (VPS) on copper (Cu) substrate is one of important potential materials for plasma facing components (PFCs) in future tokamaks. In order to investigate the thermal behavior of the coatings under high heat fluxes, W coatings of ∼1 mm thick were deposited onto a directly cooled, movable Cu limiter. And the limiter has then been tested using an e-beam high heat flux (HHF) device and also exposing to HT-7 long pulse plasmas. The limiter can withstand the e-beam irradiation of >20 cycles at duration of 100 s/cycle and heat load of ∼ 10 MW/m². The limiter was exposed to 1 minute plasmas with LHCD power of 130 kW in HT-7 where the surface and bulk temperatures were monitored employing an IR camera and thermocouples, respectively. The heat flux deposited onto the limiter was evaluated by an ANSYS code using the measured surface temperatures as boundary conditions and the heat fluxes have been calculated to be 5- 7 MW/m². And the calculated temperature distribution/evolution inside the limiter have also been compared with those measured by the thermocouples. Results from the coming HT-7 campaigns will also be presented on the conference. (authors)