Program Information

Radiation Shielding for a Fixed Horizontal-Beam Linac in a Shipping Container and a Conventional Treatment Vault

M Hsieh*, P Balter , B Beadle , P Chi , F Stingo , L Court , The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Presentations

SU-E-T-273 Sunday 3:00PM - 6:00PM Room: Exhibit Hall

Purpose: A fixed horizontal-beam linac, where the patient is treated in a seated position, could lower the overall costs of the treatment unit and room shielding substantially. This design also allows the treatment room and control area to be contained within a reduced space, such as a shipping container. The main application is the introduction of low-cost, high-quality radiation therapy to low- and middle-income regions. Here we consider shielding for upright treatments with a fixed-6MV-beam linac in a shipping container and a conventional treatment vault.

Methods: Shielding calculations were done for two treatment room layouts using calculation methods in NCRP Report 151: (1) a shipping container (6m x 2.4m with the remaining space occupied by the console area), and (2) the treatment vault in NCRP 151 (7.8m by 5.4m by 3.4m). The shipping container has a fixed gantry that points in one direction at all times. For the treatment vault, various beam directions were evaluated.

Results: The shipping container requires a primary barrier of 168cm concrete (4.5 TVL), surrounded by a secondary barrier of 3.6 TVL. The other walls require between 2.8-3.3 TVL. Multiple shielding calculations were done along the side wall. The results show that patient scatter increases in the forward direction and decreases dramatically in the backward direction. Leakage scatter also varies along the wall, depending largely on the distance between the gantry and the wall. For the treatment room, fixed-beam requires a slightly thicker primary barrier than the conventional linac (0.6 TVL), although this barrier is only needed in the center of one wall. The secondary barrier is different only by 0-0.2 TVL.

Conclusion: This work shows that (1) the shipping container option is achievable, using indigenous materials for shielding and (2) upright treatments can be performed in a conventional treatment room with minimal additional shielding.

Funding Support, Disclosures, and Conflict of Interest: Varian Medical Systems

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