Creation and application of three-dimensional computer-graphic animations for introduction to radiological physics and technology.

Physics-related subjects are important in the educational fields of radiological physics and technology. However, conventional teaching tools, for example texts, equations, and two-dimensional figures, are not very effective in attracting the interest of students. Therefore, we have created several multimedia educational materials covering radiological physics and technology. Each educational presentation includes several segments of high-quality computer-graphic animations designed to attract students' interest. We used personal computers (PCs) and commercial software to create and compile these. Undergraduate and graduate students and teachers and related professionals contributed to the design and creation of the educational materials as part of student research. The educational materials can be displayed on a PC monitor and manipulated with popular free software. Opinion surveys conducted in undergraduate courses at Kitasato University support the effectiveness of our educational tools in helping students gain a better understanding of the subjects offered and in raising their interest.

New method for obtaining position and time structure of source in HDR remote afterloading brachytherapy unit utilizing light emission from scintillator.

When using a HDR remote afterloading brachytherapy unit, results of treatment can be greatly influenced by both source position and treatment time. The purpose of this study is to obtain information on the source of the HDR remote afterloading unit, such as its position and time structure, with the use of a simple system consisting of a plastic scintillator block and a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera. The CCD camera was used for recording images of scintillation luminescence at a fixed rate of 30 frames per second in real time. The source position and time structure were obtained by analyzing the recorded images. For a preset source-step-interval of 5 mm, the measured value of the source position was 5.0 +/- 1.0 mm with a pixel resolution of 0.07 mm in the recorded images. For a preset transit time of 30 s, the measured value was 30.0 +/- 0.6 s, when the time resolution of the CCD camera was 1/30 s. This system enables us to obtain the source dwell time and movement time. Therefore, parameters such as 192Ir source position, transit time, dwell time, and movement time at each dwell position can be determined quantitatively using this plastic scintillator-CCD camera system.