• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.33-41
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• 2019

Purpose : To evaluate the effectiveness of Jaw-tracking(JT) technique in Intensity-modulated radiation therapy(IMRT) and Volumetric-modulated arc therapy(VMAT) for radiation therapy of esophageal cancer by analyzing volume dose of perimetrical normal organs along with the low-dose volume regions. Materials and Method: A total of 27 patients were selected who received radiation therapy for esophageal cancer with using $VitalBeam^{TM}$(Varian Medical System, U.S.A) in our hospital. Using Eclipse system(Ver. 13.6 Varian, U.S.A), radiation treatment planning was set up with Jaw-tracking technique(JT) and Non-Jaw-tracking technique(NJT), and was conducted for the patients with T-shaped Planning target volume(PTV), including Supraclavicular lymph nodes(SCL). PTV was classified into whether celiac area was included or not to identify the influence on the radiation field. To compare the treatment plans, Organ at risk(OAR) was defined to bilateral lung, heart, and spinal cord and evaluated for Conformity index(CI) and Homogeneity index(HI). Portal dosimetry was performed to verify a clinical application using Electronic portal imaging device(EPID) and Gamma analysis was performed with establishing thresholds of radiation field as a parameter, with various range of 0 %, 5 %, and 10 %. Results: All treatment plans were established on gamma pass rates of 95 % with 3 mm/3 % criteria. For a threshold of 10 %, both JT and NJT passed with rate of more than 95 % and both gamma passing rate decreased more than 1 % in IMRT as the low dose threshold decreased to 5 % and 0 %. For the case of JT in IMRT on PTV without celiac area, $V_5$ and $V_{10}$ of both lung showed a decrease by respectively 8.5 % and 5.3 % in average and up to 14.7 %. A $D_{mean}$ decreased by $72.3{\pm}51cGy$, while there was an increase in radiation dose reduction in PTV including celiac area. A $D_{mean}$ of heart decreased by $68.9{\pm}38.5cGy$ and that of spinal cord decreased by $39.7{\pm}30cGy$. For the case of JT in VMAT, $V_5$ decreased by 2.5 % in average in lungs, and also a little amount in heart and spinal cord. Radiation dose reduction of JT showed an increase when PTV includes celiac area in VMAT. Conclusion: In the radiation treatment planning for esophageal cancer, IMRT showed a significant decrease in $V_5$, and $V_{10}$ of both lungs when applying JT, and dose reduction was greater when the irradiated area in low-dose field is larger. Therefore, IMRT is more advantageous in applying JT than VMAT for radiation therapy of esophageal cancer and can protect the normal organs from MLC leakage and transmitted doses in low-dose field.

• 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.11 no.2
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• pp.233-240
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• 1993

Chromosomal aberration analysis, as a basis for biological radiation dosimetry, was performed for radiation dose ranges below 150 cGy. The yield, ratio of lymphocytes with dicentric and/or ring chromosomes, was 0, 0, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.8, 1.8, 5.5, 8.0, and $18.5\%$ for 0,5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 50, 75, 100 and 150 cGy, respectively. The Qdr, ratio of dicentric and ring chromosomes in total lymphocytes, was 0, 0, 0.004, 0.005, 0.006, 0.009, 0.018, 0.055, 0.084 and 0.207, respectively. The Qdr, ratio of dicentric and ring chromosomes in lymphocytes with aberration, was 1.0 for the radiation doses up to 75 cGy and 1.05 and 1.11 for 100 and 150 cGy, respectively. From the results, it seems possible to estimate radiation dose from Ydr when the exposure is 25 cGy or more. All the 5 radiation workers studied, with exposure much less than 1 mSv per month, had chromosomal aberrations. And acentric fragment pairs, in addition to dicentric and ring chromosomes, showed good dose response relationship and so may be useful for biological dosimetry for low dose radiation.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.33-38
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• 2021

In order to manufacture a lightweight medical radiation shielding sheet, a new shielding material was studied. We tried to verify the possibility of a shielding material by mixing egg shell powder, which is thrown away as food waste at home, with a polymer material. Existing lightweight materials satisfy eco-friendly conditions, but there are difficulties in the economics of shielding materials due to the cost of the material refining process. This study aims to solve this problem by using egg shells, which are household waste. A 3 mm-thick shielding sheet was fabricated using HDPE, a polymer material, and particle distribution within the cross-section of the shielding sheet was also verified. The shape of the particles was rough and there were voids between the particles, and the average weight per unit area was 1.5 g/cm². The shielding performance was around 20% in the low energy area and 10% in the high energy area, showing the possibility of a low-dose medical radiation shielding body.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.497-506
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• 2023

In the case of radiation workers in medical institutions, radiation exposure is made for patient protection and accurate procedures, so they have a problem of low dose exposure. Low-dose radiation exposure occurs mainly in parts of the body other than the Apron area, and the most frequent place is the skin of the back of the hand. In particular, since the medical personnel's hands require senses and fine movements during the procedure, they are defenseless in the radiation exposure area and are at risk of exposure. It can solve the problem of shielding such as lead gloves, and it is difficult to use by suggesting the activity of the hand during the procedure. To solve this problem, a shielding cream capable of obtaining a functional radiation protection effect was developed and its shielding performance was compared with lead equivalent of 0.1 mmPb. In the process of manufacturing shielding cream, the shielding performance was improved by adding a defoaming process to reduce air holes to increase the density of the cream. Therefore, the shielding cream using barium sulfate as the main material has a lower shielding rate than the lead plate, and in the realm of effective energy, it is 59%, At high effective energy, a difference of about 37% was shown, indicating that there is a functional radiation protection effect. The advantage is that it can be used directly on the skin, and it is considered that it can be used before wearing surgical gloves and has a permanent protective effect.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.10 no.12
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• pp.129-134
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• 2019

PVC was chosen as a plastic product that can cope with lead, a radiation shielding material that is widely used in medical institutions. In addition to radiation shielding clothing, we want to evaluate whether it can be used as a medical device component and industrial shielding material in low dose areas. Commercial PVC has a density of 3.68 g/㎠ and can be positively expected sufficient shielding effect in certain radiation areas such as material flexibility and economy efficiency, and can be transformed into various forms and used as a lightweight shielding wall. The shielding performance was tested by adjusting the thickness of 5 sheets of 3mm PVC in the range of medical radiation used for clinical examination in medical institutions. Shielding performance against effective energy was evaluated based on tube radiation voltage of medical radiation. The thicker the PVC, the lower the tube voltage and the lower the effective energy, the greater the shielding effect. The shielding effect was 70% at 12mm thickness and 80kVp tube voltage. Therefore, the shielding effect of PVC material has a high dependence of thickness. In the future, continuous research is needed to make thin and light eco-friendly products while improving shielding performance.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.172-178
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• 2002

Purpose : X-ray film over responds to low-energy photons in relative photon beam dosimetry because its sensor is based on silver bromide crystals, which are high-Z molecules. This over-response becomes a significant problem in clinical photon beam dosimetry particularly in regions outside the penumbra. In intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), the radiation field is characterized by multiple small fields and their outside-penumbra regions. Therefore, in order to use film dosimetry for IMRT, the nature the source of the over-response in its radiation field need to be known. This study is aimed to verify and possibly improve film dosimetry for IMRT. Materials and Method : Modulated beams were constructed by a combination of five or seven different static radiation fields using 6 MeV X-rays. In order to verify film dosimetry, we used X-ray film and an ion chamber were used to measure the dose profiles at various depths in a phantom. In addition, in order to reduce the over-response, 0.01 inch thick lead filters were placed on both sides of the film. Results : The measured dose profiles showed a film over-response at the outside-penumbra and low dose regions. The error increased with depths and approached 15% at a maximum for the field size of $15{\times}15cm^2$ at 10 cm depth. The use of filters reduced the error to 3%, but caused an under-response of the dose in a perpendicular set-up. Conclusion : This study demonstrated that film dosimetry for IMRT involves sources of error due to its over-response to low-energy Photons. The use of filers can enhance the accuracy in film dosimetry for IMRT. In this regard, the use of optimal filter conditions is recommended.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.34
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• pp.13-20
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• 2022

Purpose : IMRT using Tomotherapy during nasopharyngeal cancer radiation therapy irradiate an accurate dose to tumor tissues and is effective to reduce a dose rapidly in normal tissues. However, this has high MU and long Beam On Time. This study aims to analyze differences in tumors, normal tissues and low-dose distributions and the efficiency of Split VMAT after applying Helical IMRT (Tomotherapy), VMAT (Linac : 2Arc) and Split VMAT (Linac : 4Arc) plans. Materials and Methods : This study targeted ten nasopharyngeal cancer patients of this hospital and compared three treatment plans (Helical IMRT, VMAT, Split VMAT). For Helical IMRT planning, Precision^® (Version 1.1.1.1, Accuray, USA) was used, and for VMAT and Split VMAT planning, Pinnacle^3® (Version 9.10, Philips, USA) was used. The total dose applied was 38.4 Gy / 32 Gy (Daily Dose 2.4 Gy (GTV + 0.3 cm) / 2 Gy (CTV + 0.3 cm) 16Fx), and for GTV + 0.3 cm (P_GTV), 95% of V_38.4Gy was prescribed. VMAT with an angle of 360° 2Arc was applied, and for Split VMAT, the field was divided into the right, the left, the top and the bottom and an angle of 360° 4Arc, 6MV was set. For evaluating the quality of the treatment plans, differences in tumors, normal tissues and low-dose area were compared, and Beam On Time was measured to analyze the efficiency. Results : When calculating the mean values of evaluation items of the three treatment plans (Helical IMRT, VMAT, Split VMAT) for the patients, the H.I (Homogeneity Index) of P_GTV was 1.04, 1.11 and 1.1 respectively, and the C.I (Confomity Index) of P_CTV was 1.03, 0.99 and 1.00 respectively. The mean dose of RT Parotid Gland (Gy) was 14.54, 17.06 and 14.76 respectively, the mean dose of LT Parotid Gland (Gy) was 14.32, 17.32 and 15.09 respectively, the maximum dose of P_Cord (Spinal Cord + 0.3 cm) (Gy) was 20.57, 22.59 and 21.06 respectively, and the maximum dose of Brain Stem (Gy) was 22.35, 23.99 and 21.68 respectively. The 50% isodose curve (cc) was 1332, 1132.5 and 1065.2 respectively. Beam On Time (sec) was 373.7, 130.7 and 254.4 respectively. Conclusion : Displaying a similar treatment plan quality to Helical IMRT, which is used a lot for head and neck treatment, Split VMAT reduced the low-dose area and Beam On Time and produced a better result than VMAT. Therefore, it is considered that Split VMAT is effective not only for nasopharyngeal cancer but also for other head and neck cancers.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.99-105
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• 2012

We investigated the influence of photon energy, couch and collimator angle differences between arcs on dose distribution of RapidArc treatment planning for prostate cancer. RapidArc plans were created for 6 MV and 10 MV photons using 2 arcs coplanar and noncoplanar fields. The collimator angle differences between two arcs were $0^{\circ}$, $15^{\circ}$, $30^{\circ}$, $45^{\circ}$, $60^{\circ}$, $75^{\circ}$ and $90^{\circ}$. The plans were optimized using same dose constrains for target and OAR (organ at risk). To evaluate the dose distribution, plans were analyzed using CI (conformity index), HI (homogeneity index), QOC (quality of coverage), etc. Photon energy, couch and collimator angle differences between arcs had a little influence on the target and OAR. The difference of dosimetric indices was less than 3.6% in the target and OAR. However, there was significant increase in the region exposed to low dose. The increase of V15% in the femur was 6.4% (left) and 5.5% (right) for the 6 MV treatment plan and 23.4% (left), 24.1% (right) for the noncoplanar plan. The increase of V10% in the Far Region distant from target was 54.2 cc for the 6 MV photon energy, 343.4 cc for the noncoplanar and 457.8 cc for the no collimator rotation between arcs.

• Proceedings of the Korea Information Processing Society Conference
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• 2013.05a
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• pp.285-288
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• 2013

의료영상에서의 노이즈는 환자 진단에 있어서 막대한 영향을 미치는 영상의 화질을 떨어트림으로써, 진단에 대한 유효성을 낮추게 된다. 특히, 현재 이슈화 되고 있는 저선량 의료영상은 기존의 고선량 의료영상보다 노이즈 레벨이 높으며, 이에 따라서 의료영상에서의 노이즈 제거 기술은 매우 중요한 사안으로 부각되고 있다. 본 논문에서 제시하는 노이즈 제거 기술은 각각의 투영 영상을 여러개의 부대역(sub-band)으로 분해하는 것으로부터 시작한다. 분해된 각각의 부대역 영상은 엣지 검출기를 통하여 엣지 부분과 평탄한 영역으로 구별되어 진다. 검출된 엣지는 0 ~ 1 사이의 값으로 정규화 되며, 퍼지기반의 연산을 통하여 엣지의 확실성을 나타내는 엣지맵으로 변환하게 된다. 이 엣지맵을 통하여 각 부대역 영상의 필터링 정도를 제어하고, 분해된 각 부대역을 결합하는 방식을 취함으로써 영상의 엣지 부분을 최대한 보존하면서 노이즈는 효과적으로 제거하도록 하였다.