• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.131-141
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• 1991

A comprehensive set of dosimetric measurements has been made on the Varian Clinac 1800 15 MV photon beam. Beam quality, percentage depth dose, dose in the build up region, output, symmetry and flatness, transmission through iead (Cerrobend), tray attenuation, isodose curves for the open and wedged fields were measured using 3 dimensional water phantom dosimetry system (including film densitometer system) and polystyrene phantoms. These dosimetric measurements sufficiently characterized the beam to permit clinical use. The depth dose characteristics of photon beam is $d_{max}$ of 3.0 cm and percentage depth dose of $76.8\%$ at 10 cm,100 cm source-surface distance, field size of $10\times10\;cm^2$ for 15 MV X-ray beam. The Output factors ranged 0.927 for $4\times4\;cm^2$ field to 1,087 for $35\times35\;cm^2$ field. The build-up level of maximum dose was at 3.0 cm and surface dose was approximately $15.5\%$ for a field size $10\times10\;cm^2$ The stability of output is $within\pm1\%$ and flatness and symmetry are $within\pm3\%$. The half value thickness (HVL) of lead is 13 mm, which corresponds to an attenuation coefficient of $0.053\;mm^{-1}$. These figures compare facorably with the manufacturesr`s specifications.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.71-79
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• 1998

Purpose : The objective of this study is to introduce our installation of a non-commercial 3D Planning system, Plunc and confirm it's clinical applicability in various treatment situations. Materials and Methods : We obtained source codes of Plunc, offered by University of North Carolina and installed them on a Pentium Pro 200MHz (128MB RAM, Millenium VGA) with Linux operating system. To examine accuracy of dose distributions calculated by Plunc, we input beam data of 6MV Photon of our linear accelerator(Siemens MXE 6740) including tissue-maximum ratio, scatter-maximum ratio, attenuation coefficients and shapes of wedge filters. After then, we compared values of dose distributions(Percent depth dose; PDD, dose profiles with and without wedge filters, oblique incident beam, and dose distributions under air-gap) calculated by Plunc with measured values. Results : Plunc operated in almost real time except spending about 10 seconds in full volume dose distribution and dose-volume histogram(DVH) on the PC described above. As compared with measurements for irradiations of 90-cm 550 and 10-cm depth isocenter, the PDD curves calculated by Plunc did not exceed $1\%$ of inaccuracies except buildup region. For dose profiles with and without wedge filter, the calculated ones are accurate within $2\%$ except low-dose region outside irradiations where Plunc showed $5\%$ of dose reduction. For the oblique incident beam, it showed a good agreement except low dose region below $30\%$ of isocenter dose. In the case of dose distribution under air-gap, there was $5\%$ errors of the central-axis dose. Conclusion : By comparing photon dose calculations using the Plunc with measurements, we confirmed that Plunc showed acceptable accuracies about $2-5\%$ in typical treatment situations which was comparable to commercial planning systems using correction-based a1gorithms. Plunc does not have a function for electron beam planning up to the present. However, it is possible to implement electron dose calculation modules or more accurate photon dose calculation into the Plunc system. Plunc is shown to be useful to clear many limitations of 2D planning systems in clinics where a commercial 3D planning system is not available.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.82-93
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• 2003

Purpose : To reduce the Irradiation dose to the lungs and heart in the case of chest wail irradiation using an oppositional electron beam, we used an Individualized custom bolus, which was precisely designed to compensate for the differences In chest wall thickness. The benefits were evaluated by comparing the normal tissue complication probablilties (NTCPS) and dose statistics both with and without boluses. Materials and Methods : Boluses were made, and their effects evaluated in ten patients treated using the reverse hockey-stick technique. The electron beam energy was determined so as to administer 80% of the irradiation prescription dose to the deepest lung-chest wall border, which was usually located at the internal mammary lymph node chain. An individualized custom bolus was prepared to compensate for a chest wall thinner than the prescription depth by meticulously measuring the chest wall thickness at 1 emf intervals on the planning CT Images. A second planning CT was obtained overlying the individuailzed custom bolus for each patient's chest wall. 3-D treatment planning was peformed using ADAC-Pinnacle$^{3}$ for all patients with and without bolus. NTCPS based on 'the Lyman-Kutcher' model were analyzed and the mean, maximum, minimum doses, V$_{50}$ and V$_{95}$ for 4he heari and lungs were computed. Results .The average NTCPS in the ipsliateral lung showed a statistically significant reduction (p<0.01), from 80.2${\pm}$3.43% to 47.7${\pm}$4.61%, with the use of the individualized custom boluses. The mean lung irradiation dose to the ipsilateral iung was also significantly reduced by about 430 cGy, Trom 2757 cGy to 2,327 cGy (p<0.01). The V$_{50}$ and V$_{95}$ in the ipsilateral lung markedly decreased from the averages of 54.5 and 17.4% to 45.3 and 11.0%, respectively. The V$_{50}$ and V$_{95}$ In the heart also decreased from the averages of 16.8 and 6.1% to 9.8% and 2.2%, respectively. The NTCP In the contralateral lung and the heart were 0%, even for the cases with no bolus because of the small effective mean radiation volume values of 4.4 and 7.1%, respectively Conclusion : The use of an Individualized custom bolus in the radiotherapy of postrnastectorny chest wall reduced the NTCP of the ipsilateral lung by about 24.5 to 40.5%, which can improve the complication free cure probability of breast cancer patients.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.285-290
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• 2008

In this study, we have fabricated a one-dimensional fiber-optic dosimeter for electron beam therapy dosimetry. Each fiber-optic dosimeter has an organic scintillator with a plastic optical fiber and it is embedded and arrayed in the plastic phantom to measure one-dimensional high energy electron beam profile of clinical linear accelerator. The scintillating lights generated from each sensor probe are guided by plastic optical fibers to the multi-channel photodiode amplifier system. We have measured one-dimensional electron beam profiles in a PMMA phantom according to different field sizes and energies of electron beam. Also, the isodose and three-dimensional percent depth dose curves in a PMMA phantom are obtained using a one-dimensional fiber-optic dosimeter with different electron beam energies.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.185-192
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• 1998

It is necessarily to evaluate the energy of X-ray emitted from linear accelerator in order to determine the accurate absorbed dose. The method of direct measurement for x-ray energy is very difficult and impractical. Therefore the method of using beam quality index is generally used. Several dosimetry protocols recommend the use of quality indices such as depth of dose maximum at radiation central axis, dose gradient, and dose level. The linear accelerator manufactures follow the recommendation as dosimetry protocols. The study was performed for us to select the most suitable parameter among the Quality indices as described above. For photon beams of 4, 6, 10, 15, and 21 MV nominal energies produced by four kinds of accelerators(Mitsubishi, Scanditronix, Siemens, Varian) in eleven institutions, We evaluated the x-ray energies obtained by the Quality indices as recommended by several dosimetry protocols and manufactures. Results showed that there were energy spreads according to the same accelerators and Quality indices even though nominal energies were same. It appeared that the percent depth dose at 10 cm (D$_{10}$(%)) gave the smallest deviation and spread of energies. As energies increased, the energy deviation increased for all the quality indices. It is desirable for the use of unified quality index to compare the evaluation of beam quality at different institutions.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.195-202
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• 1998

Purpose : In order to obtain basic data for treatment plan in radiosurgery, we measured small fields of 6 MV X-rays and compared the measured data with our Monte Carlo simulations for the small fields. Materials and Methods : The small fields of 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 cm in diameter were used in this study. Percentage depth dose (PDD) and beam Profiles of those fields were measured and calculated. A small semiconductor detector, water phantoms, and a remote control system were used for the measurement Monte Carlo simulations were Performed using the EGS4 code with the input data prepared for the energy distribution of 6 MV X-rays, beam divergence, circular fields and the geometry of the water phantoms. Results : In the case of PDD values, the calculated values were lower than the measured values for all fields and depths, with the differences being 0.3 to 5.7% at the depths of 20 to 20.0 cm and 0.0 to 8.9% at the surface regions. As a result of the analysis of beam profiles for all field sizes at a depth of loom in water phantom, the measured 90% dose widths were in good agreement with the calculated values, however, the calculated Penumbra radii were 0.1 cm shorter than measured values. Conclusion : The measured PDDs and beam profiles agreement with the Monte Carlo calculations approximately. However, it is different when it comes to calculations in the area of phantom surface and penumbra because the Monte Carlo calculations were performed under the simplified geometries. Therefore, we have to study how to include the actual geometries and more precise data for the field area in Monte Carlo calculations. The Monte Carlo calculations will be used as a useful tool for the very complicated conditions in measurement and verification.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.191-198
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• 2009

In this study, we evaluated an edge detector for small-beam dosimetry. We measured the dose linearity, dose rate dependence, output factor, beam profiles, and percentage depth dose using an edge detector (Model 1118 Edge) for 6-MV photon beams at different field sizes and depths. The obtained values were compared with those obtained using a standard volume ionization chamber (CC13) and photon diode detector (PFD). The dose linearity results for the three detectors showed good agreement within 1%. The edge detector had the best linearity of ${\pm}0.08%$. The edge detector and PFD showed little dose rate dependency throughout the range of 100~600 MU/min, while CC13 showed a significant discrepancy of approximately -5% at 100 MU/min. The output factors of the three detectors showed good agreement within 1% for the tested field sizes. However, the output factor of CC13 compared to the other two detectors had a maximum difference of 21% for small field sizes (${\sim}4{\times}4\;cm^2$). When analyzing the 20~80% penumbra, the penumbra measured using CC13 was approximately two times wider than that using the edge detector for all field sizes. The width measured using PFD was approximately 30% wider for all field sizes. Compared to the edge detector, the 10~90% penumbras measured using the CC13 and PFD were approximately 55% and 19% wider, respectively. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the edge detector was close to the real field size, while the other two detectors measured values that were 8~10% greater for all field sizes. Percentage depth doses measured by the three detectors corresponded to each other for small beams. Based on the results, we consider the edge detector as an appropriate small-beam detector, while CC13 and PFD can lead to some errors when used for small beam fields under $4{\times}4\;cm^2$.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.322-329
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• 2003

Purpose: It is difficult to exactly determine the surface dose and the dose distribution In buildup region of high energy X-rays by using the conventional ion chamber. The aim of this study Is to evaluate the accuracy of widely used dosimetry systems to measure the surface dose and the depth of maximum dose (d$_{max}$). Materials and Methods: We measured the percent depth dose (PDD) from the surface to the d$_{max}$ in either a water phantom or in a solid water phantom using TLD-100 chips, thimble type ion chamber, diode detector, diamond detector and Markus parallel plate ion chamber for 6 MV and 15 MV X-rays, 10$\times$10 cm$^{2}$, at SSD=100cm. We analysed the surface dose and the d$_{max}$. In order to verify the accuracy of the TLD data, we executed the Monte Carlo simulation for 5 MV X-ray beams. Results: The surface doses In 6 MV and IS MV X-rays were 29.31% and 23.36% ior Markus parallel plate ion chamber, 37.17$\%$ and 24.01$\%$ for TLD, 34.87$\%$ and 24.06$\%$ for diamond detector, 38.13$\%$ and 27.8$\%$ for diode detector, and 47.92$\%$ and 35.01$\%$ for thimble type ion chamber, respectively. in Monte Carlo simulation for 6 MV X-rays, the surface dose was 36.22$\%$, which Is similar to the 37.17$\%$ of the TLD measurement data. The d$_{max}$ In 6 WV and 15 MV X-rays was 14$\~$16 mm and 27$\~$29 mm, respectively. There was no significant difference in the d$_{max}$ among the detectors. Conclusion: There was a remarkable difference in the surface dose among the detectors. The Markus parallel plate chamber showed the most accurate result. The surface dose of the thimble ion chamber was 10$\%$ higher than that of other detectors. We suggest that the correction should be made when the surface dose of the thimble ion chamber Is used for the treatment planning ion the supeficial tumors. All the detectors used In our study showed no difference in the d$_{max}$.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.138-144
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• 2012

Dose distribution throughout the clinical organ range of motion was analyzed using a respiratory-motion simulator that was equipped with a polymer gel dosimeter and EBT2 film. The normoxic polymer gel dosimeter was synthesized from gelatin, MAA, HQ, THPC and HPLC. The gel dosimeter and EBT2 film were irradiated with Co-60 gamma rays that were moved along the x-axis and y-axis in ${\pm}1.5cm$ steps at five-second intervals. The field size was $5{\times}5cm^2$. The SSD was 80 cm and set to 10 Gy at a depth of 2 cm. The PDD at a depth of 50 mm was 75.2% in the ion chamber, 82.3% in the static state and 86.1% in the dynamic state in the gel dosimeter. The penumbra for the dynamic state target, which was measured using the gel dosimeter, averaged 10.89 mm, this is a 40.5% increase over the penumbra of the static state target of 7.74 mm. In addition, when measuring with gel dosimetry, the value for the penumbra is 36.6% smaller in the static state and 29.4% smaller in the dynamic state compared to measuring with film. The aim of this study was to investigate the dosimetric properties of a normoxic polymethacrylic acid gel dosimeter in static and dynamic states and to evaluate the potentiality as a relative dosimeter for dynamic therapeutic radiation.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.188-198
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• 2012

This study aims to evaluate the accuracy of the collapsed cone convolution (CCC) algorithm for dose calculation in a treatment planning system (TPS), CorePLAN$^{TM}$. We implemented beam models for various setup conditions in TPS and calculated radiation dose using CCC algorithm for 6 MV and 15 MV photon beam in $50{\times}50{\times}50cm^3$ water phantom. Field sizes were $4{\times}4cm^2$, $6{\times}6cm^2$, $10{\times}10cm^2$, $20{\times}20cm^2$, $30{\times}30cm^2$ and $40{\times}40cm^2$ and each case was classified as open beam cases and wedged beam cases, respectively. Generated beam models were evaluated by comparing calculated data and measured data of percent depth dose (PDD) and lateral profile. As a result, PDD showed good agreement within approximately 2% in open beam cases and 3% in wedged beam cases except for build-up region and lateral profile also correspond within approximately 1% in field and 4% in penumbra region. On the other hand, the discrepancies were found approximately 4% in wedged beam cases. This study has demonstrated the accuracy of beam model-based CCC algorithm in CorePLAN$^{TM}$ and the most of results from this study were acceptable according to international standards. Although, the area with large dose difference shown in this study was not significant region in clinical field, the result of our study would open the possibility to apply CorePLAN$^{TM}$ into clinical field.