Surface dose rate variations in planar and curved geometries of 106Ru/106Rh plaque sources for ocular tumors.

PURPOSE: Investigation of surface dose rate variation with respect to the source configuration of 106Ru/106Rh eye plaque. To explore an alternate way to determine activity of brachytherapy plaques. METHODS: The surface dose rates of 106Ru/106Rh plaque developed indigenously were measured by extrapolation chamber. To rule out possibility of any error in the activity distribution and quantity, same source was used in two different configurations namely planar and curved. EBT3 Gafchromic film was used for determination of uniformity in activity. Monte Carlo-based Codes EGSnrc and FLUKA were used to calculate dose rate in tissue, percentage depth dose and for determination of activity. Parameters and correction factors were estimated using simulations. RESULTS: The measured reference absorbed dose rates for planar and curved 106Ru/106Rh eye plaques are found to be 589 ± 29 mGy/h and 560 ± 28 mGy/h, respectively. The difference in the reference absorbed dose rate of curved eye plaque is about ~5% as compared to planar configuration. The FLUKA-calculated dose values are almost independent of cavity length of the extrapolation chamber for both eye plaques. The FLUKA-based dose rates per µCi 106Ru/106Rh are about 17.28 ± 0.08 mGy/h and 16.48 ± 0.06 mGy/h, respectively for planar and curved eye plaques which match well with the measurements. The calculated activities for planar and curved eye plaques are 34.08 µCi and 33.98 µCi, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Surface dose rates for a prototype 106Ru/106Rh eye plaque with different configurations were estimated using simulations and measured experimentally. An alternate way to determine activity of beta-gamma brachytherapy plaque has been proposed.

Ring artifact correction in gamma-ray process tomography imaging.

Ring artifacts have been studied for X-ray based Computed Tomography (CT) systems but not on γ-ray based in-situ applications. This paper discusses application of recently proposed automatic ring artifact reduction method (Yoon et al., 2016) on previously obtained experimental projection data from a γ-ray based Industrial Process Tomography (IPT) system for a prototype catalytic column. Studies include qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the method. It is observed that ring artifacts are suppressed without loss of significant information in γ-ray PT images.

Monte Carlo based investigations of electron contamination from telecobalt unit head in build up region and its impact on surface dose.

A Telecobalt unit has wide range of applications in cancer treatments and is used widely in many countries all around the world. Estimation of surface dose in Cobalt-60 teletherapy machine becomes important since clinically useful photon beam consist of contaminated electrons during the patient treatment. EGSnrc along with the BEAMnrc user code was used to model the Theratron 780E telecobalt unit. Central axis depth dose profiles including surface doses have been estimated for the field sizes of 0×0, 6×6, 10×10, 15×15, 20×20, 25×25, 30×30cm2 and at Source-to-surface distance (SSD) of 60 and 80cm. Surface dose was measured experimentally by the Gafchromic RTQA2 films and are in good agreement with the simulation results. The central axis depth dose data are compared with the data available from the British Journal of Radiology report no. 25. Contribution of contaminated electrons has also been calculated using Monte Carlo simulation by the different parts of the Cobalt-60 head for different field size and SSD's. Moreover, depth dose curve in zero area field size is calculated by extrapolation method and compared with the already published data. They are found in good agreement.

Monte Carlo-based dose calculation for (32)P patch source for superficial brachytherapy applications.

Skin cancer treatment involving (32)P source is an easy, less expensive method of treatment limited to small and superficial lesions of approximately 1 mm deep. Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has indigenously developed (32)P nafion-based patch source (1 cm × 1 cm) for treating skin cancer. For this source, the values of dose per unit activity at different depths including dose profiles in water are calculated using the EGSnrc-based Monte Carlo code system. For an initial activity of 1 Bq distributed in 1 cm(2) surface area of the source, the calculated central axis depth dose values are 3.62 × 10(-10) GyBq(-1) and 8.41 × 10(-11) GyBq(-1)at 0.0125 and 1 mm depths in water, respectively. Hence, the treatment time calculated for delivering therapeutic dose of 30 Gy at 1 mm depth along the central axis of the source involving 37 MBq activity is about 2.7 hrs.

Phantom scatter corrections of radiochromic films in high-energy brachytherapy dosimetry: a Monte Carlo study.

Our aim in this study was to calculate Monte Carlo-based phantom scatter corrections of various radiochromic films for different solid phantoms for high-energy brachytherapy sources. Brachytherapy sources (60)Co, (137)Cs, (192)Ir, and (169)Yb and radiochromic films EBT, EBT2 (lot 020609 and lot 031109), RTQA, XRT, XRQA, and HS were investigated in this study. The solid phantom materials investigated were PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate), polystyrene, solid water, virtual water, plastic water, RW1, RW3, A150, and WE210. Monte Carlo-based user codes DOSRZnrc and FLURZnrc of the EGSnrc code system were employed in the present work. For the (60)Co source, the polystyrene, plastic water, solid water, virtual water, RW1, RW3, and WE210 phantoms were water equivalent for the investigated films, but showed distance-dependent values for XRT and XRQA films. For the (137)Cs and (192)Ir sources, the solid water, virtual water, RW1, RW3, and WE210 phantoms were water equivalent for the investigated films, but showed distance-dependent values for XRT and XRQA films. For these sources, the remaining phantoms showed distance-dependent values for all of the films investigated. For the (169)Yb source, all of the investigated phantoms showed distance-dependent values for the investigated films. This study suggests that radiochromic films demonstrate distance-dependent values, but the degree of dependence is related to the types of solid phantom and film. Hence, for brachytherapy dosimetry involving radiochromic films and solid phantom materials, phantom scatter corrections need to be applied.

Monte Carlo-based energy response studies of diode dosimeters in radiotherapy photon beams.

This study presents Monte Carlo-calculated absolute and normalized (relative to a (60)Co beam) sensitivity values of silicon diode dosimeters for a variety of commercially available silicon diode dosimeters for radiotherapy photon beams in the energy range of (60)Co-24 MV. These values were obtained at 5 cm depth along the central axis of a water-equivalent phantom of 10 cm × 10 cm field size. The Monte Carlo calculations were based on the EGSnrc code system. The diode dosimeters considered in the calculations have different buildup materials such as aluminum, brass, copper, and stainless steel + epoxy. The calculated normalized sensitivity values of the diode dosimeters were then compared to previously published measured values for photon beams at (60)Co-20 MV. The comparison showed reasonable agreement for some diode dosimeters and deviations of 5-17 % (17 % for the 3.4 mm brass buildup case for a 10 MV beam) for some diode dosimeters. Larger deviations of the measurements reflect that these models of the diode dosimeter were too simple. The effect of wall materials on the absorbed dose to the diode was studied and the results are presented. Spencer-Attix and Bragg-Gray stopping power ratios (SPRs) of water-to-diode were calculated at 5 cm depth in water. The Bragg-Gray SPRs of water-to-diode compare well with Spencer-Attix SPRs for ∆ = 100 keV and above at all beam qualities.

Study on the response of thermoluminescent dosemeters to synchrotron radiation: experimental method and Monte Carlo calculations.

In the present study, the energy dependence of response of some popular thermoluminescent dosemeters (TLDs) have been investigated such as LiF:Mg,Ti, LiF:Mg,Cu,P and CaSO(4):Dy to synchrotron radiation in the energy range of 10-34 keV. The study utilised experimental, Monte Carlo and analytical methods. The Monte Carlo calculations were based on the EGSnrc and FLUKA codes. The calculated energy response of all the TLDs using the EGSnrc and FLUKA codes shows excellent agreement with each other. The analytically calculated response shows good agreement with the Monte Carlo calculated response in the low-energy region. In the case of CaSO(4):Dy, the Monte Carlo-calculated energy response is smaller by a factor of 3 at all energies in comparison with the experimental response when polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) (75 % by wt) is included in the Monte Carlo calculations. When PTFE is ignored in the Monte Carlo calculations, the difference between the calculated and experimental response decreases (both responses are comparable >25 keV). For the LiF-based TLDs, the Monte Carlo-based response shows reasonable agreement with the experimental response.