Journal of Nuclear Science, Engineering and Technology (JONSAT)
In cooperation with the Iranian Nuclear Society

Detector conceptual design and image reconstruction of a compton camera system used for verification of proton beam dose distribution during proton therapy

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Sh Ghafari
Z Riazi
H Afarideh
https://doi.org/10.24200/nst.2019.1021
Abstract
In this study, a Compton camera imaging system containing several scatterer layers made of Si and a LYSO detector as an absorber layer were designed and simulated using Geant4 code. At first, the efficiency of the system according to the number of scatterer layers was optimized using a gamma point source with various energies. After finding the best structure of the system which contains 10 layers of scatterer, two similar setup of Compton camera were placed perpendicularly to the proton beam around the phantom to take image of the position of the prompt gamma emission resulted from the nuclear interaction of the proton beam with the phantom. In order to imaging the gammas, information such as interaction positions and deposited energies in the scatterers and absorber were recorded by Geant4 code in a root file. Then, using a Compton camera reconstruction algorithm, production position profile of gammas was reconstructed in a MATLAB software. A Comparison of the gamma photon distribution and dose distribution showes that this Compton camera structure is able to measure the proton beam range with less than 7 mm error, which proves the capability of prompt gammas detection for verification of the proton beam range during proton therapy.

Highlights

 

1. K.W.D. Ledingham et al. Towards Laser Driven Hadron Cancer Radiotherapy: A Review of Progress, Appl. Sci. 4, 402 (2014).

2. E. Fokas et al. Ion beam radiobiology and cancer: time to update ourselves, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) Reviews on Cancer. 1796(2), 216 (2009).

3. P. Dendooven et al. Short-lived positron emitters in beam-on PET imaging during proton therapy, Phys. Med. Biol. 60, 8923 (2015).

4. W. Enghardt et al. Charged hadron tumor therapy monitoring by means of PET, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A. 525(1-2), 284 (2004).

5. K. Parodi et al. PET/CT imaging for treatment verification after proton therapy: a study with plastic phantoms and metallic implants, Med. Phys. 34(2), 419 (2007).

6. K. Parodi, T. Bortfeld and T. Haberer, Comparison between in-beam and offline positron emission tomography imaging of proton and carbon ion therapeutic irradiation at synchrotron- and cyclotron-based facilities, Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 71(3), 945 (2008).

7. F. Stichelbaut and Y. Jongen, 39th Meeting of the Particle Therapy Co-Operative Group (San Francisco 2003), pp. 16-21.

8. C.H. Min et al. Prompt gamma measurements for locating the dose fall off region in the proton therapy, Applied physics letters. 89(18), 183517 (2006).

 

9. M. Richard et al. Design study of the absorber detector of a Compton camera for on-line control in ion beam therapy, IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science. 59(5), 1850 (2012).

10. J. Krimmer et al. Prompt-gamma monitoring in hadrontherapy: A review, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section, A. 878, 58 (2018).

11. E. Testa et al. Monitoring the Bragg peak location of 73MeV/u carbon ions by means of prompt-γ ray measurements, Applied physics letter. 93, 093506 (2008).

12. C. Richter et al. First clinical application of a prompt gamma based in vivo proton range verification system, Radiotherapy and Oncology. 118(2), 232 (2016).

13. A. Studen et al. First coincidences in pre-clinical Compton camera prototype for medical imaging, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section, A. 531(1-2), 258 (2004).

14. A. Karimian et al. Iranian Phyics Conference (CIVILCA, Kashan, 1387), 140-144 (In Persian).

Keywords

Proton therapy
Compton camera
Image reconstruction
Geant4 code
 
1. K.W.D. Ledingham et al. Towards Laser Driven Hadron Cancer Radiotherapy: A Review of Progress, Appl. Sci. 4, 402 (2014).
2. E. Fokas et al. Ion beam radiobiology and cancer: time to update ourselves, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) Reviews on Cancer. 1796(2), 216 (2009).
3. P. Dendooven et al. Short-lived positron emitters in beam-on PET imaging during proton therapy, Phys. Med. Biol. 60, 8923 (2015).
4. W. Enghardt et al. Charged hadron tumor therapy monitoring by means of PET, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A. 525(1-2), 284 (2004).
5. K. Parodi et al. PET/CT imaging for treatment verification after proton therapy: a study with plastic phantoms and metallic implants, Med. Phys. 34(2), 419 (2007).
6. K. Parodi, T. Bortfeld and T. Haberer, Comparison between in-beam and offline positron emission tomography imaging of proton and carbon ion therapeutic irradiation at synchrotron- and cyclotron-based facilities, Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 71(3), 945 (2008).
7. F. Stichelbaut and Y. Jongen, 39th Meeting of the Particle Therapy Co-Operative Group (San Francisco 2003), pp. 16-21.
8. C.H. Min et al. Prompt gamma measurements for locating the dose fall off region in the proton therapy, Applied physics letters. 89(18), 183517 (2006).
 
9. M. Richard et al. Design study of the absorber detector of a Compton camera for on-line control in ion beam therapy, IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science. 59(5), 1850 (2012).
10. J. Krimmer et al. Prompt-gamma monitoring in hadrontherapy: A review, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section, A. 878, 58 (2018).
11. E. Testa et al. Monitoring the Bragg peak location of 73MeV/u carbon ions by means of prompt-γ ray measurements, Applied physics letter. 93, 093506 (2008).
12. C. Richter et al. First clinical application of a prompt gamma based in vivo proton range verification system, Radiotherapy and Oncology. 118(2), 232 (2016).
13. A. Studen et al. First coincidences in pre-clinical Compton camera prototype for medical imaging, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section, A. 531(1-2), 258 (2004).
14. A. Karimian et al. Iranian Phyics Conference (CIVILCA, Kashan, 1387), 140-144 (In Persian).

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