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

Elemental analysis of tissue in proton therapy using photopeak count of prompt gamma spectrum

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

F. Saheli 1
N. Vosoughi 1
Z. Riazi 2
F.S. Rasouli 3

1 Department of Energy Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, P.O.Box: 14515-8639, Tehran – Iran

2 Physics and Accelerator Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, AEOI, P.O.Box: 11365-3486, Tehran – Iran

3 Department of Physics, K.N. Toosi University of Technology, P.O.Box: 15418-49611, Tehran – Iran

https://doi.org/10.24200/nst.2020.1110
Abstract
nline elemental analysis of irradiated tissue in proton therapy is a major part of this treatment, since it leads to accurate estimation of the depth of Bragg peak, proton range, and distribution of stopping power of irradiated tissue. Given the fact that each element has unique characteristic prompt gamma (PG) spectrum, recording and analyzing of the emitted gamma-ray spectra is one of the methods used for online elemental analysis of irradiated tissue. In the present study, the PG lines of most abundant  elements of human tissues (12C, 16O, 20Ca, and 14N) are obtained using Geant4 toolkit. Moreover, the linear dependency of 7.12, 3.91 and 2.31 MeV PG counts to the mass of 16O, 20Ca, and 14N are investigated in five phantoms. The gamma lines of 2.31, 3.91 and 7.12 MeV are selected to determine the mass of nitrogen, calcium, and oxygen in the irradiated volume. Furthermore, for two test phantoms, the mass of elements is estimated using linear fitting and is compared with predefined mass of these elements in the test phantoms. The results showed that the relative errors of estimated mass of calcium, nitrogen, and oxygen are less than 6%, which leads to the range estimation deviation of about 1 mm.

Highlights

1.             W.D. Newhauser, R. Zhang, The physics of proton therapy. Phys. Med. Biol. 60 (8) 155 (2015(.

 

2.             J. Krimmer, et al, Prompt-gamma monitoring in hadrontherapy: A review, Nucl. Instrum. Meth. A, 878, 58 (2018).

 

3.             M. Moteabbed, S. España, H. Paganetti, Monte Carlo patient study on the comparison of prompt gamma and PET imaging for range verification in proton therapy, Phys. Med. Biol., 56 (4), 1063 (2011).

 

4.             C.H. Min, et al. Prompt gamma measurements for locating the dose falloff region in the protontherapy, Appl. phys. lett., 89 (18), 183517 (2006).

 

5.             E. Testa, et al. Monitoring the Bragg peak location of 73MeV/u carbon ions by means of prompt-γ ray measurements, Appl. phys. lett.,  93 (9), 093506 (2008).

 

6.             M. Usta, et al. Stopping power and dose calculations with analytical and Monte Carlo methods for protons and prompt gamma range verification. Nucl. Instr. Meth. Phys. Res. A, 897, 106 (2018).

 

7.             J.C. Polf, et al. Measurement of characteristic prompt gamma rays emitted from oxygen and carbon in tissue-equivalent samples during proton beam irradiation, Phys. Med. Biol. 58 (17), 5821 (2013).

 

8.             T. Werner, et al. Processing of prompt gamma-ray timing data for proton range measurements at a clinical beam delivery, Phys. Med. Biol. (2019) accepted manuscript.

 

9.             R.P. Gardner, et al., Single peak versus library least-squares analysis methods for the PGNAA analysis of vitrified waste. Appl. Radiat. Isotopes. 48 (10), 331 (1997).

 

10.          J.C. Polf, et al., Prompt gamma-ray emission from biological tissues during proton irradiation: a preliminary study. Phys. Med. Biol., 54, 731 (2009).

 

11.          J.C. Polf, et al., Measurement and calculation of characteristic prompt gamma ray spectra emitted during proton irradiation, Phys. Med. Biol. 519, 27 (2009).

 

12.          J.M. Verburg, H.A. Shih, J. Seco, Simulation of prompt gamma-ray emission during proton radiotherapy, Phys. Med. Biol. 57(17), 5459 (2012).

 

13.          J. Jeyasugiththan, S. Peterson, Evaluation of proton inelastic reaction models in Geant4 for prompt gamma production during proton radiotherapy. Phys. Med. Biol., 60 (19), 7617 (2015).

 

14.          F.S. Rasouli, S.F. Masoudi, D. Jette, Technical Note: On the proton range and nuclear interactions in compounds and mixtures, Med. Phys., 42 (5) 2364 (2015).

Keywords

Monte carlo
Proton therapy
Geant4
Prompt gamma
Elemental analysis
1.             W.D. Newhauser, R. Zhang, The physics of proton therapy. Phys. Med. Biol. 60 (8) 155 (2015(.
 
2.             J. Krimmer, et al, Prompt-gamma monitoring in hadrontherapy: A review, Nucl. Instrum. Meth. A, 878, 58 (2018).
 
3.             M. Moteabbed, S. España, H. Paganetti, Monte Carlo patient study on the comparison of prompt gamma and PET imaging for range verification in proton therapy, Phys. Med. Biol., 56 (4), 1063 (2011).
 
4.             C.H. Min, et al. Prompt gamma measurements for locating the dose falloff region in the protontherapy, Appl. phys. lett., 89 (18), 183517 (2006).
 
5.             E. Testa, et al. Monitoring the Bragg peak location of 73MeV/u carbon ions by means of prompt-γ ray measurements, Appl. phys. lett.,  93 (9), 093506 (2008).
 
6.             M. Usta, et al. Stopping power and dose calculations with analytical and Monte Carlo methods for protons and prompt gamma range verification. Nucl. Instr. Meth. Phys. Res. A, 897, 106 (2018).
 
7.             J.C. Polf, et al. Measurement of characteristic prompt gamma rays emitted from oxygen and carbon in tissue-equivalent samples during proton beam irradiation, Phys. Med. Biol. 58 (17), 5821 (2013).
 
8.             T. Werner, et al. Processing of prompt gamma-ray timing data for proton range measurements at a clinical beam delivery, Phys. Med. Biol. (2019) accepted manuscript.
 
9.             R.P. Gardner, et al., Single peak versus library least-squares analysis methods for the PGNAA analysis of vitrified waste. Appl. Radiat. Isotopes. 48 (10), 331 (1997).
 
10.          J.C. Polf, et al., Prompt gamma-ray emission from biological tissues during proton irradiation: a preliminary study. Phys. Med. Biol., 54, 731 (2009).
 
11.          J.C. Polf, et al., Measurement and calculation of characteristic prompt gamma ray spectra emitted during proton irradiation, Phys. Med. Biol. 519, 27 (2009).
 
12.          J.M. Verburg, H.A. Shih, J. Seco, Simulation of prompt gamma-ray emission during proton radiotherapy, Phys. Med. Biol. 57(17), 5459 (2012).
 
13.          J. Jeyasugiththan, S. Peterson, Evaluation of proton inelastic reaction models in Geant4 for prompt gamma production during proton radiotherapy. Phys. Med. Biol., 60 (19), 7617 (2015).
 
14.          F.S. Rasouli, S.F. Masoudi, D. Jette, Technical Note: On the proton range and nuclear interactions in compounds and mixtures, Med. Phys., 42 (5) 2364 (2015).

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