Program Information
Improvements to Intra-Oral Shield Design for Electron Beam Treatments : Use of Multi-Layered Metal Foils
M Butson1*, (1) ,
Presentations
SU-E-T-474 (Sunday, July 12, 2015) 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM Room: Exhibit Hall
Purpose: Intraoral electron shields used in radiotherapy are designed to minimize radiation exposure to non-treatment tissue. Sites where shields are used include but are not limited to, the treatment of lips, cheeks and ears whilst shielding the underlying oral cavity, tongue, gingival or temporal region. However their use produces an enhancement in dose on the beam side caused by an increase in electron backscatter radiation. This work designs a new shield incorporating copper, aluminium and wax in a step down filter arrangement to minimise backscatter whilst minimizing overall shield thickness.
Methods: For electron beams ranging from 6 MeV to 10 MeV, shields of varying designs and thicknesses were assessed to determine the thinnest shield design that could be produced whilst minimising backscattered radiation to a clinically acceptable level. This was performed with conventional lead and wax shields as well as varying quantities of aluminium and copper foils.
Results: From tested shield designs, a new shield design of 4 mm lead, 0.6 mm copper, 1.0 mm aluminium and 1.5 mm wax (3.1 mm added filtration , 7.1 mm total thickness) provided a clinically acceptable (no greater than 110% dose) backscatter and transmission reduction and matched a standard 4.5 mm lead and 10 mm wax (total thickness 14.5 mm) electron shield. Dose enhancement values of no more than 10 % were measured utilising this shield design with a 50 % reduction in shield thickness.
Conclusion: The thinner layered shield reduced backscattered radiation dose to less than 10% enhancement for beam energies on 10 MeV and less and will allow easier patient set up. The thinner shields are tolerated better by patients when mucosal reactions occur as they place less physical pressure on these sites during treatment due to their smaller size and thickness.
Contact Email: