[en] Equation of state of nuclear matter at high temperatures and low densities is calculated including the nn,pp and np interactions in the density and temperature range of 10⁹<=rho(gm/cm³)<=10¹³ and 2<=T(Mev)<=40 respectively with an arbitrary proton to neutron ratio. The method used is that of quantum cluster expansion. The second virial co-efficient is calculated including all the experimental phase shifts of partial waves upto l<=2. The nuclear interaction leads to the softening of the equation of state. The effect of the np interaction on the equation of state is studied explicitly. The np interaction adds significantly to the softening of the equation of state below T approximately 7 Mev. The chemical potential is calculated for the above cases as well. Here again the np interaction is more important below T approximately 7 Mev. (auth.)

[en] Quantification of transit time of a remote after-loading high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy source is important both for accurate treatment planning and for quality assurance checks. In this investigation, an HDR-1000 well ionization chamber and a precision electrometer are used to measure the transit time of the Ir-192 source of a Nucletron Micro-Selectron HDR brachytherapy unit. The charge generated both during source dwelling at a selected position in an endobronchial catheter inserted into the chamber and during source travel to this position from another location at a distance of 0.5 to 10 cm from it was measured. A linear regression analysis of the measured charge as a function of dwell time was made. The interdwell position transit time was calculated from the ratio of the charge intercept and the slope of the straight line obtained from the regression analysis. The values of the effective transit time, which is a combination of interdwell position transit time and dwell time error of the after-loading unit, were found to be 0.03 and 0.45 s for 0.5 and 10 cm separation between two dwell positions, respectively. The average time for 1 cm travel of the source between two dwell positions was found to be 0.022 s, resulting in an average speed of 45.5 cm/s. This simple procedure has the potential to be utilized for routine quality assurance check of the interdwell position transit time of any remote after-loading HDR brachytherapy source

[en] Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether a two-dimensional (2D) ion chamber array detector quickly and accurately measures patient-specific dose distributions in treatment with passively scattered and spot scanning proton beams. Methods: The 2D ion chamber array detector MatriXX was used to measure the dose distributions in plastic water phantom from passively scattered and spot scanning proton beam fields planned for patient treatment. Planar dose distributions were measured using MatriXX, and the distributions were compared to those calculated using a treatment-planning system. The dose distributions generated by the treatment-planning system and a film dosimetry system were similarly compared. Results: For passively scattered proton beams, the gamma index for the dose-distribution comparison for treatment fields for three patients with prostate cancer and for one patient with lung cancer was less than 1.0 for 99% and 100% of pixels for a 3% dose tolerance and 3 mm distance-to-dose agreement, respectively. For spot scanning beams, the mean (± standard deviation) percentages of pixels with gamma indices meeting the passing criteria were 97.1%±1.4% and 98.8%±1.4% for MatriXX and film dosimetry, respectively, for 20 fields used to treat patients with prostate cancer. Conclusions: Unlike film dosimetry, MatriXX provides not only 2D dose-distribution information but also absolute dosimetry in fractions of minutes with acceptable accuracy. The results of this study indicate that MatriXX can be used to verify patient-field specific dose distributions in proton therapy.

[en] Two-dimensional ion chamber arrays are primarily used for conventional and intensity modulated radiotherapy quality assurance. There is no commercial device of such type available on the market that is offered for proton therapy quality assurance. We have investigated suitability of the MatriXX, a commercial two-dimensional ion chamber array detector for proton therapy QA. This device is designed to be used for photon and electron therapy QA. The device is equipped with 32x32 parallel plate ion chambers, each with 4.5 mm diam and 7.62 mm center-to-center separation. A 250 MeV proton beam was used to calibrate the dose measured by this device. The water equivalent thickness of the buildup material was determined to be 3.9 mm using a 160 MeV proton beam. Proton beams of different energies were used to measure the reproducibility of dose output and to evaluate the consistency in the beam flatness and symmetry measured by MatriXX. The output measurement results were compared with the clinical commissioning beam data that were obtained using a 0.6 cc Farmer chamber. The agreement was consistently found to be within 1%. The profiles were compared with film dosimetry and also with ion chamber data in water with an excellent agreement. The device is found to be well suited for quality assurance of proton therapy beams. It provides fast two-dimensional dose distribution information in real time with the accuracy comparable to that of ion chamber measurements and film dosimetry

[en] Purpose: Optically stimulated luminescent detectors (OSLDs) are quickly gaining popularity as passive dosimeters, with applications in medicine for linac output calibration verification, brachytherapy source verification, treatment plan quality assurance, and clinical dose measurements. With such wide applications, these dosimeters must be characterized for numerous factors affecting their response. The most abundant commercial OSLD is the InLight/OSL system from Landauer, Inc. The purpose of this study was to examine the angular dependence of the nanoDot dosimeter, which is part of the InLight system. Methods: Relative dosimeter response data were taken at several angles in 6 and 18 MV photon beams, as well as a clinical proton beam. These measurements were done within a phantom at a depth beyond the build-up region. To verify the observed angular dependence, additional measurements were conducted as well as Monte Carlo simulations in MCNPX. Results: When irradiated with the incident photon beams parallel to the plane of the dosimeter, the nanoDot response was 4% lower at 6 MV and 3% lower at 18 MV than the response when irradiated with the incident beam normal to the plane of the dosimeter. Monte Carlo simulations at 6 MV showed similar results to the experimental values. Examination of the results in Monte Carlo suggests the cause as partial volume irradiation. In a clinical proton beam, no angular dependence was found. Conclusions: A nontrivial angular response of this OSLD was observed in photon beams. This factor may need to be accounted for when evaluating doses from photon beams incident from a variety of directions.

[en] A range modulator wheel (RMW) is an essential component in passively scattered proton therapy. We have observed that a proton beam spot may shine on multiple steps of the RMW. Proton dose calculation algorithms normally do not consider the partial shining effect, and thus overestimate the dose at the proximal shoulder of spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP) compared with the measurement. If the SOBP is adjusted to better fit the plateau region, the entrance dose is likely to be underestimated. In this work, we developed an algorithm that can be used to model this effect and to allow for dose calculations that better fit the measured SOBP. First, a set of apparent modulator weights was calculated without considering partial shining. Next, protons spilled from the accelerator reaching the modulator wheel were simplified as a circular spot of uniform intensity. A weight-splitting process was then performed to generate a set of effective modulator weights with the partial shining effect incorporated. The SOBPs of eight options, which are used to label different combinations of proton-beam energy and scattering devices, were calculated with the generated effective weights. Our algorithm fitted the measured SOBP at the proximal and entrance regions much better than the ones without considering partial shining effect for all SOBPs of the eight options. In a prostate patient, we found that dose calculation without considering partial shining effect underestimated the femoral head and skin dose

[en] We tested the feasibility of using plastic scintillation detectors (PSDs) for proton entrance dosimetry. A PSD built with BCF-12 scintillating fiber was used to measure the absolute entrance dose of a passively scattered proton beam for energies ranging from 140 to 250 MeV, and for a range of spread out Bragg peak (SOBP) widths at two energies, to quantify the effect of ionization quenching on the response of the detector and to determine the necessity of Cerenkov radiation correction in proton beams. The overall accuracy and precision of the PSD was evaluated by measuring lateral beam profiles and comparing the results with profiles measured using film. The PSD under-responded owing to ionization quenching, exhibiting approximately a 7% loss of signal at the highest energy studied (250 MeV) and a 10% loss of signal at the lowest energy studied (140 MeV). For a given nominal energy, varying the SOBP width did not significantly alter the response of the PSD. Cerenkov radiation contributed negligibly to the PSD signal and can be safely ignored without introducing more than 1% error in the measured dose. Profiles measured with the PSD and film agreed to within the uncertainty of the detector, demonstrating good relative accuracy. Although correction factors were necessary to account for ionization quenching, the magnitude of the correction varied minimally over a broad range of energies; PSDs therefore represent a practical detector for proton entrance dosimetry. (paper)

[en] We have developed a quantitative computed tomography (CT)-based quality assurance (QA) tool for evaluating the accuracy of manufactured compensators used in passively scattered proton therapy. The thickness of a manufactured compensator was measured from its CT images and compared with the planned thickness defined by the treatment planning system. The difference between the measured and planned thicknesses was calculated with use of the Euclidean distance transformation and the kd-tree search method. Compensator accuracy was evaluated by examining several parameters including mean distance, maximum distance, global thickness error and central axis shifts. Two rectangular phantoms were used to validate the performance of the QA tool. Nine patients and 20 compensators were included in this study. We found that mean distances, global thickness errors and central axis shifts were all within 1 mm for all compensators studied, with maximum distances ranging from 1.1 to 3.8 mm. Although all compensators passed manual verification at selected points, about 5% of the pixels still had maximum distances of >2 mm, most of which correlated with large depth gradients. The correlation between the mean depth gradient of the compensator and the percentage of pixels with mean distance <1 mm is -0.93 with p < 0.001, which suggests that the mean depth gradient is a good indicator of compensator complexity. These results demonstrate that the CT-based compensator QA tool can be used to quantitatively evaluate manufactured compensators.

[en] Purpose: Since the Gafchromic film EBT has been recently replaced by the newer model EBT2, its characterization, especially energy dependence, has become critically important. The energy dependence of the dose response of Gafchromic EBT2 film is evaluated for a broad range of energies from different radiation sources used in radiation therapy. Methods: The beams used for this study comprised of kilovoltage x rays (75, 125, and 250 kVp), ¹³⁷Cs gamma (662 KeV), ⁶⁰Co gamma (1.17-1.33 MeV), megavoltage x rays (6 and 18 MV), electron beams (6 and 20 MeV), and proton beams (100 and 250 MeV). The film's response to each of the above energies was measured over the dose range of 0.4-10 Gy, which corresponds to optical densities ranging from 0.05 to 0.74 for the film reader used. Results: The energy dependence of EBT2 was found to be relatively small within measurement uncertainties (1σ=±4.5%) for all energies and modalities. Conclusion: For relative and absolute dosimetry of radiation therapy beams, the weak energy dependence of the EBT2 makes it most suitable for clinical use compared to other films.

[en] We show that oscillation of low temperature electron mobility μ can be obtained by applying an electric field F along the growth direction of the asymmetrically barrier delta doped Al_xGa_1-xAs parabolic double quantum well structure. The drastic changes in the subband Fermi energies and distributions of subband wave functions as a function of F yield nonmonotonic intra- and intersubband scattering rate matrix elements mediated by intersubband effects. The oscillatory enhancement of μ, which is attributed to the subband mobilities governed by the ionized impurity scattering, magnifies with increase in well width and decrease in height of the parabolic structure potential. The results can be utilized for nanoscale low temperature device applications