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We studied the effects of the presence of an air cavity and scatter due to patient size on dose distribution near an Iriduim-192 brachytherapy source (Ir-192). The source was modeled using Monte Carlo (MC) code MCNP5. The Radial dose, g L ( r ) , and the anisotropy function, F ( r , θ ) specified by the AAPM TG-43 have been determined and compared with the consensus data (AAPM report No. 229). We compared our MC results to the measured dose distribution using an EBT3 Gafchromic® film measurement. The dose was determined in the presence of an air cavity of 3, 5, and 7 mm diameters located at 2 mm distance from Ir-192. The dose was also determined for Ir-192 centered in 30 × 30 × 30 cm3 and 80 × 80 × 80 cm3 water phantoms. The MC results of g L ( r ) and F ( r , θ ) agreed with the consensus data to within 2% and 3%, respectively. The MC and the measured dose distributions agreed well with a maximum difference of 8.2% at the periphery of the film. The dose at 10 cm from the Ir-192 source with a full scattering medium (80 × 80 × 80 cm3) was 7% higher compared to the dose in (30 × 30 × 30 cm3) water phantom. The dose to water in the presence of a 3, 5, and 7 mm diameter air cavity increased by an average of 3%, 6%, and 9%, respectively, compared to the dose with no air cavity. Ignoring scatter effects and the heterogeneity correction in the presence of an air cavity can lead to significant errors in dose delivered to patients.

Alanine dosimeters in the form of pure alanine powder in PMMA plastic tubes were investigated for dosimetry in a clinical application. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy was used to measure absorbed radiation doses by detection of signals from radicals generated in irradiated alanine. The measurements were performed for low-dose ranges typical for single-fraction doses often used in external photon beam radiotherapy. First, the dosimeters were irradiated in a solid water phantom to establish calibration curves in the dose range from 0.3 to 3 Gy for 6 and 18 MV X-ray beams from a clinical linear accelerator. Next, the dosimeters were placed at various locations in an anthropomorphic pelvic phantom to measure the dose delivery of a conventional four-field box technique treatment plan to the pelvis. Finally, the doses measured with alanine dosimeters were compared against the doses calculated with a commercial treatment planning system (TPS). The results showed that the alanine dosimeters have a highly sensitive dose response with good linearity and no energy dependence in the dose range and photon beams used in this work. Also, a fairly good agreement was found between the in-phantom dose measurements with alanine dosimeters and the TPS dose calculations. The mean value of the ratios of measured to calculated dose values was found to be near unity. The measured points in the in-field region passed dose-difference acceptance criterion of 3 % and those in the penumbral region passed distance-to-agreement acceptance criterion of 3 mm. These findings suggest that the pure alanine powder in PMMA tube dosimeter is a suitable option for dosimetry of radiotherapy photon beams.

We studied the effect of the presence of an air inhomogeneity on the dose distribution from an Iriduim-192 brachytherapy source. The source was modeled using Monte Carlo (MC) code MCNP5. The AAPM Task Group No. 43 (TG-43) parameters were calculated to validate our simulation. We also performed experimental measurements to measure the dose distribution using EBT3 Radiochromic film. The dose in water at distance 1 to 5 cm was scored in the presence of an air cavity of diameters (3, 5, and 7 mm) at 2 mm distance from the source. The MC dosimetry results agreed to within 2% with the AAPM ESTRO (AAPM report 229) consensus data. The MC dose distributions was within 8.2% agreement with radiochromic film measurement. The dose to water at 2 cm from the source decreased by 3%, 6%, and 9% in the presence of a 3, 5, and 7 mm diameter air cavity, respectively. This difference is clinically too significant to ignore.

Purpose: To analyze the performance of the multi-leaf collimators (MLCs) from the log files recorded during the intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) treatment and to construct the relative fluence maps and do the gamma analysis to compare the planned and executed MLCs movement. Methods: We developed a program to extract and analyze the data from dynamic log files (dynalog files) generated from sliding window IMRT delivery treatments. The program extracts the planned and executed (actual or delivered) MLCs movement, calculates and compares the relative planned and executed fluences. The fluence maps were used to perform the gamma analysis (with 3% dose difference and 3 mm distance to agreement) for 3 IMR patients. We compared our gamma analysis results with those obtained from portal dose image prediction (PDIP) algorithm performed using the EPID. Results: For 3 different IMRT patient treatments, the maximum difference between the planned and the executed MCLs positions was 1.2 mm. The gamma analysis results of the planned and delivered fluences were in good agreement with the gamma analysis from portal dosimetry. The maximum difference for number of pixels passing the gamma criteria (3%/3mm) was 0.19% with respect to portal dosimetry results. Conclusion: MLC log files can be used to verify the performance of the MLCs. Patientspecific IMRT QA based on MLC movement log files gives similar results to EPID dosimetry results. This promising method for patient-specific IMRT QA is fast, does not require dose measurements in a phantom, can be done before the treatment and for every fraction, and significantly reduces the IMRT workload. The author would like to thank King Fahd University of petroleum and Minerals for the support.

Purpose To determine the best treatment technique for patients with retinoblastoma requiring radiotherapy to the whole eye. Methods and Materials Treatment plans for 3 patients with retinoblastoma were developed using 10 radiotherapy techniques including electron beams, photon beam wedge pair (WP), photon beam three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT), fixed gantry intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), photon volumetric arc therapy (VMAT), fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy, and helical tomotherapy (HT). Dose-volume analyses were carried out for each technique. Results All techniques provided similar target coverage; conformity was highest for VMAT, nine-field (9F) IMRT, and HT (conformity index [CI] = 1.3) and lowest for the WP and two electron techniques (CI = 1.8). The electron techniques had the highest planning target volume dose gradient (131% of maximum dose received [D max ]), and the CRT techniques had the lowest (103% D max ) gradient. The volume receiving at least 20 Gy (V 20Gy ) for the ipsilateral bony orbit was lowest for the VMAT and HT techniques (56%) and highest for the CRT techniques (90%). Generally, the electron beam techniques were superior in terms of brain sparing and delivered approximately one-third of the integral dose of the photon techniques. Conclusions Inverse planned image-guided radiotherapy delivered using HT or VMAT gives better conformity index, improved orbital bone and brain sparing, and a lower integral dose than other techniques.

Polarity effects in ionization chambers are caused by a radiation induced current, also known as Compton current, which arises as a charge imbalance due to charge deposition in electrodes of ionization chambers. We used a phantom-embedded extrapolation chamber (PEEC) for measurements of Compton current in megavoltage photon and electron beams. Electron contamination of photon beams and photon contamination of electron beams have a negligible effect on the measured Compton current. To allow for a theoretical understanding of the Compton current produced in the PEEC effect we carried out Monte Carlo calculations with a modified user code, the COMPTON/ EGSnrc. The Monte Carlo calculated COMPTON currents agree well with measured data for both photon and electron beams; the calculated polarity correction factors, on the other hand, do not agree with measurement results. The conclusions reached for the PEEC can be extended to parallel-plate ionization chambers in general.

Recent work has shown that there is significant uncertainty in measuring build-up doses in mega-voltage photon beams especially at high energies. In this present investigation we used a phantom-embedded extrapolation chamber (PEEC) made of Solid Water to validate Monte Carlo (MC)-calculated doses in the dose build-up region for 6 and 18 MV x-ray beams. The study showed that the percentage depth ionizations (PDIs) obtained from measurements are higher than the percentage depth doses (PDDs) obtained with Monte Carlo techniques. To validate the MC-calculated PDDs, the design of the PEEC was incorporated into the simulations. While the MC-calculated and measured PDIs in the dose build-up region agree with one another for the 6 MV beam, a non-negligible difference is observed for the 18 MV x-ray beam. A number of experiments and theoretical studies of various possible effects that could be the source of this discrepancy were performed. The contribution of contaminating neutrons and protons to the build-up dose region in the 18 MV x-ray beam is negligible. Moreover, the MC calculations using the XCOM photon cross-section database and the NIST bremsstrahlung differential cross section do not explain the discrepancy between the MC calculations and measurement in the dose build-up region for the 18 MV. A simple incorporation of triplet production events into the MC dose calculation increases the calculated doses in the build-up region but does not fully account for the discrepancy between measurement and calculations for the 18 MV x-ray beam.