• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.7-14
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to provide basic information for the establishment of a Heavy Ion Therapy center by analyzing the cases of Heavy Ion Therapy devices, introducing the equipment and space composition of Heavy Ion Therapy equipments. Methods: This study is carried out by study the Heavy Ion Therapy, by figure out status of the installation of treatment centers around the world and by analyze the composition of Heavy Ion Therapy equipments and spaces through case studies. Results: The results of this study, which investigated the treatment of Heavy Ion Therapy and analyzed the plans of the five Heavy Ion Therapy centers, are summarized as follows. 1) Heavy Ion equipment requires a significant floor area. Vertical as well, many cross-sectional areas need to be secured for the construction of a delivery system. The Heavy Ion Therapy device should be built as a shielded wall because of the radiation leaking. Therefore, it is necessary to consist of a independent treatment center. 2) The size of Heavy Ion devices is getting smaller. Linac can be put into syncrotron. and the size of syncrotron, delivery system, and rotating-gantry is getting smaller. 3) Japan is often installed for treatment, and control rooms are integrated, while Europe has secured research space and each control room is separated. Implications: People are not familiar with the Heavy Ion Therapy. And the effectiveness of the treatment is not well promoted yet. Hopefully, more attention will be paid to the research involved in the Heavy Ion Therapy.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.413-422
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• 2019

Heavy ion particle, represented carbon ion, radiotherapy is currently most advanced radiation therapy technique. Conventional radiation therapy has made remarkable changes over a relatively short period of time and leading various developments such as intensity modulated radiation therapy, 4D radiation therapy, image guided radiation therapy, and high precisional therapy. However, the biological and physical superiority of particle radiation, represented by Bragg peak, can give the maximum dose to tumor and minimal dose to surrounding normal tissues in the treatment of cancers in various areas surrounded by radiation-sensitive normal tissues. However, despite these advantages, there are some limitations and factors to consider. First, there is not enough evidence, such as large-scale randomized, prospective phase III trials, for the clinical application. Secondly, additional studies are needed to establish a very limited number of treatment facilities, uncertainty about the demand for heavy particle treatment, parallel with convetional radiotherapy or indications. In addition, Bragg peak of the heavy particles can greatly reduce the dose to the normal tissues front and behind the tumor compared to the photon or protons. High precision and accuracy are needed for treatment planning and treatment, especially for lungs or livers with large respiratory movements. Currently, the introduction of the heavy particle therapy device is in progress, and therefore, it is expected that more research will be active.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.437-442
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• 2017

Heavy ion therapy has a high cure rate for cancer cell. So many countries are introducing heavy ion therapy facility. When treating a cancer using heavy ion therapy, neutrons and gamma rays are generated and affect electronic equipment. A budget of about KRW 200 billion is needed to build a heavy ion therapy facility, and it takes more than five years to build it. Therefore it is important to observe the dose distribution in the treatment room using the monte carlo simulation before construction. In this study, we used the FLUKA of monte carlo simulation to investigate the dose distribution in the heavy ion treatment room.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.177-179
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• 2002

We have developed a scheduling system for heavy ion radiotherapy considering the condition of three treatment rooms and treatment planning for each patient. This system consists of a database (patient information, treatment method and machine schedule), a schedule for radiotherapy and WEB server. All operation of this system, such as data input, to change and to view the schedule, are performed by using a WEB browser. In order to protect personal information for the patients, access privilege to each information are limited by according to the occupational category. This system is connected with a hospital central information management system (AMIDAS) and an irradiation-managing computer for the heavy ion radiotherapy. A basic information for the patient is got from AMIDAS and the daily schedule sends to the treatment control computer at each treatment room through the irradiation-managing computer every morning. The daily, weekly, monthly schedules in the treatment room and the treatment condition of each patient are shared on the WEB browser with the all participants of the heavy ion therapy. This system could be useful to save a time to generate a treatment schedule and to inform us the most up-to-date treatment schedule and the related information at the same time.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.211-213
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• 2002

The purpose of this work is acquiring some parameters of therapeutic heavy ion beams after penetrating a thick target. The experiments were performed using a pencil-like $\^$12/C beam of about 3 mm in diameter from NIRS-HIMAC, and the data were taken at several points of the target thickness for $\^$12/C beam of 290 MeV/u and 400 MeV/u. By the simultaneous measurements using some detectors, the atomic number of each fragment particle was identified, and the beam profile, the dose distribution and the LET spectrum for each element were derived.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.231-232
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• 2002

We have been developing microvolume LET counter in order to measure the three-dimensional LET distribution of the therapeutic heavy ion radiation volumes in the water phantom. With help of the technique of cathode induced carhge readout, this detector has a rectangular (box-shape) sensitive volume of which size is about 1 mm$^2$ and 2mm (depth).

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.94-96
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• 2002

In order to achieve the radiotherapy more precisely using highly energetic heavy charged particles, it is important to know the distribution of the electron density in a human body, which is highly related to the range of charged particles. We can directly obtain the 2-D distribution of the electron density in a sample from a heavy ion CT image. For this purpose, we have developed a heavy ion CT system using a broad beam. The performance, especially the position resolution, of this system is estimated in this work. All experiments were carried out using the heavy ion beam from the HIMAC. We have obtained the projection data of polyethylene samples with various sizes using He 150 MeV/u, C 290 MeV/u and Ne 400 MeV/u beams. The used targets are the cylinders of 40, 60 and 80 mm in diameter, each of them has a hole of 10 mm in diameter at the center of it. The dependence of the spatial resolution on the target size and the kinds of beams will be discussed.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.71-80
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• 2020

This paper provides a brief review of the advanced technologies for carbon ion radiotherapy (CIRT), with a focus on current developments. Compared to photon beam therapy, treatment using heavy ions, especially a carbon beam, has potential advantages due to its physical and biological properties. Carbon ion beams with high linear energy transfer demonstrate high relative biological effectiveness in cell killing, particularly at the Bragg peak. With these unique properties, CIRT allows for accurate targeting and dose escalation for tumors with better sparing of adjacent normal tissues. Recently, the available CIRT technologies included fast pencil beam scanning, superconducting rotating gantry, respiratory motion management, and accurate beam modeling for the treatment planning system. These techniques provide precise treatment, operational efficiency, and patient comfort. Currently, there are 12 CIRT facilities worldwide; with technological improvements, they continue to grow in number. Ongoing technological developments include the use of multiple ion beams, effective beam delivery, accurate biological modeling, and downsizing the facility.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.67-75
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• 2017

Prior to the introduction of a medical apparatus based on heavy-ion medical accelerator in Korea, a study is needed on quality control in clinical operation for the safe and appropriate usage of the instrument. Data relevant for the study were obtained via information sharing sessions and visits by the Particle Therapy Co-Operative Group (PTCOG) and other related academic associations. Furthermore, investigative analysis of the European and Japanese performance evaluation guidelines for heavy ion, as well as research on relevant literature, were conducted. In addition, instrumental standards were analyzed through an investigation of the current usage status of the heavy-ion medical accelerator, and further analysis was conducted on the evaluation methods for the performance, safety, and significance of the instrument. Based on these analyses, regular quality control procedures for heavy-ion medical accelerators in hospitals and other institutes were extrapolated. It is hoped that the results of this study will facilitate hospitals that have introduced heavy-ion medical accelerators, or are considering the implementation of the instrument, in their understanding of the fundamental standards and capabilities of the treatment system, as well as in establishing and carrying out quality control procedures for clinical operations such that it will contribute to the safety of patients and the efficiency of medical practitioners.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2020

Hadron therapy, such as carbon and helium ions, is increasingly coming to the fore for the treatment of cancers. Such hadron therapy has several advantages over conventional radiotherapy using photons and electrons physically and clinically. These advantages are due to the different physical and biological characteristics of heavy ions including high linear energy transfer and Bragg peak, which lead to the reduced exit dose, lower normal tissue complication probability and the increased relative biological effectiveness (RBE). Despite the promising prospects on the carbon ion radiation therapy, it is in dispute with which bio-mathematical models to calculate the carbon ion RBE. The two most widely used models are local effect model and microdosimetric kinetic model, which are actively utilized in Europe and Japan respectively. Such selection on the RBE model is a crucial issue in that the dose prescription for planning differs according to the models. In this study, we aim to (i) introduce the concept of RBE, (ii) clarify the determinants of RBE, and (iii) compare the existing RBE models for carbon ion therapy.