• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.14-24
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• 2016

Since the head and neck region is densely located with organs at risk (OAR), OAR-sparing is an important issue in the treatment of head and neck cancers. This study-in which different treatment plans were performed varying the head tilt angle on brain tumor patients-investigates the optimal head elevation angle for sparing normal organs (e.g. the hippocampus) and further compares the dosimetric characteristics of different types of radiation equipment. we performed 3D conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT), intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), and tomotherapy on 10 patients with brain tumors in the frontal lobe while varying the head tilt angle of patients to analyze the dosimetric characteristics of different therapy methods. In each treatment plan, 95% of the tumor volume was irradiated with a dose of 40 Gy in 10 fractions. The step and shoot technique with nine beams was used for IMRT, and the same prescription dose was delivered to the tumor volume for the 3D-CRT and tomotherapy plans. The homogeneity index, conformity index, and normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) were calculated. At a head elevation angle of $30^{\circ}$, conformity of the isodose curve to the target increased on average by 53%, 8%, and 5.4%. In 3D-CRT, the maximum dose received by the brain stem decreased at $15^{\circ}$, $30^{\circ}$, and $40^{\circ}$, compared to that observed at $0^{\circ}$. The NTCP value of the hippocampus observed in each modality was the highest at a head and neck angle of $0^{\circ}$ and the lowest at $30^{\circ}$. This study demonstrates that the elevation of the patients' head tilt angle in radiation therapy improves the target region's homogeneity of dose distribution by increasing the tumor control rate and conformity of the isodose curve to the target. Moreover, the study shows that the elevation of the head tilt angle lowers the NTCP by separating the tumor volume from the normal tissues, which helps spare OARs and reduce the delivered dose to the hippocampus.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.206-214
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• 2005

Heterogeneously-catalyzed oxidation of aqueous phase trichloroethylene (TCE) over supported metal oxides has been conducted to establish an approach to eliminate ppm levels of organic compounds in water. A continuous flow reactor system was designed to effect predominant reaction parameters in determining catalytic activity of the catalysts for wet TCE decomposition as a model reaction. 5 wt.% $CoO_x/TiO_2$ catalyst exhibited a transient period in activity vs. on-stream time behavior, suggesting that the surface structure of the $CoO_x$ might be altered with on-stream hours; regardless, it is probable to be the most promising catalyst. Not only could the bare support be inactive for the wet decomposition reaction at $36^{\circ}C$, but no TCE removal also occurred by the process of adsorption on $TiO_2$ surface. The catalytic activity was independent of all particle sizes used, thereby representing no mass transfer limitation in intraparticle diffusion. Very low TCE conversion appeared for $TiO_2$-supported $NiO_x$ and $CrO_x$ catalysts. Wet oxidation performance of supported Cu and Fe catalysts, obtained through an incipient wetness and ion exchange technique, was dependent primarily on the kinds of the metal oxides, in addition to the acidic solid supports and the preparation routes. 5 wt.% $FeO_x/TiO_2$ catalyst gave no activity in the oxidation reaction at $36^{\circ}C$, while 1.2 wt.% Fe-MFI was active for the wet decomposition depending on time on-stream. The noticeable difference in activity of the both catalysts suggests that the Fe oxidation states involved to catalytic redox cycle during the course of reaction play a significant role in catalyzing the wet decomposition as well as in maintaining the time on-stream activity. Based on the results of different $CoO_x$ loadings and reaction temperatures for the decomposition reaction at $36^{\circ}C$ with $CoO_x/TiO_2$, the catalyst possessed an optimal $CoO_x$ amount at which higher reaction temperatures facilitated the catalytic TCE conversion. Small amounts of the active ingredient could be dissolved by acidic leaching but such a process gave no appreciable activity loss of the $CoO_x$ catalyst.