Program Information
Scintillating Fiber Based In-Vivo Dose Monitoring System to the Rectum in Proton Therapy of Prostate Cancer: A Geant4 Monte Carlo Simulation
B Tesfamicael1*, P Gueye1 , M Mahesh2 , S Avery3 , D Lyons1 , (1) Hampton University, Hampton, VA, (2) Johns Hopkins Univ, Baltimore, MD, (3) UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, Sicklerville, NJ
Presentations
SU-E-T-289 Sunday 3:00PM - 6:00PM Room: Exhibit HallPurpose:
To construct a dose monitoring system based on an endorectal balloon coupled to thin scintillating fibers to study the dose delivered to the rectum during prostate cancer proton therapy
Methods:
The Geant4 Monte Carlo toolkit version 9.6p02 was used to simulate prostate cancer proton therapy treatments of an endorectal balloon (for immobilization of a 2.9 cm diameter prostate gland) and a set of 34 scintillating fibers symmetrically placed around the balloon and perpendicular to the proton beam direction (for dosimetry measurements)
Results:
A linear response of the fibers to the dose delivered was observed within <2%, a property that makes them good candidates for real time dosimetry. Results obtained show that the closest fiber recorded about 1/3 of the dose to the target with a 1/r² decrease in the dose distribution as one goes toward the frontal and distal top fibers. Very low dose was recorded by the bottom fibers (about 45 times comparatively), which is a clear indication that the overall volume of the rectal wall that is exposed to a higher dose is relatively minimized. Further analysis indicated a simple scaling relationship between the dose to the prostate and the dose to the top fibers (a linear fit gave a slope of -0.07±0.07 MeV per treatment Gy)
Conclusion:
Thin (1 mm x 1 mm x 100 cm) long scintillating fibers were found to be ideal for real time in-vivo dose measurement to the rectum for prostate cancer proton therapy. The linear response of the fibers to the dose delivered makes them good candidates of dosimeters. With thorough calibration and the ability to define a good correlation between the dose to the target and the dose to the fibers, such dosimeters can be used for real time dose verification to the target
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