Abstract We present the Empirical Formula (EF) to calculate the phantom scatter factor, Sp, of small radiation fields under charge particle dis-equilibrium conditions. The Empirical Formula (EF) was verified by examining the calculated data with experimentally measured data utilizing the anthropomorphic phan tom in twelve different combinations of beam entry and point location, where the value for Sp per tissue composition was within 3% in 8/12 cases, 5% in 1/12 cases, and 10% in 3/12 cases. Our results showed a good agreement with experimental data to less than 1% when the ion chamber was surrounded by the homogeneous tissue, whether lung, soft tissue, or bone. Indicating that the prediction of the equation is valid, and it can be reliably used for phantom scatter factor calculation for different homogeneous media under charge particle dis equilibrium conditions .

Abstract Purpose: To test the concept of Statistical Process Control (SPC) as a Quality Assurance (QA) procedure for dose verifications in external beam radiation therapy in conventional and 3D Conformal Radiotherapy (3D-CRT) treatment of cervical cancer. Materials and Methods: A study of QA verification of target doses of 198 cervical cancer patients undergoing External Beam Radiotherapy (EBRT) treatments at two different cancer treatment centers in Kenya was conducted. The target doses were determined from measured entrance doses by the diode in vivo dosimetry. Process Behavior Charts (PBC) developed by SPC were applied for setting Action Thresholds (AT) on the target doses. The AT set was then proposed as QA limits for acceptance or rejection of verified target doses overtime of the EBRT process. Result and Discussion: Target doses for the 198 patients were calculated and SPC applied to test whether the action limits set by the Process Behavior Charts could be applied as QA for verified doses in EBRT. Results for the two sub-groups of n = 3 and n = 4 that were tested produced action thresholds which are within clinical dose specifications for both conventional AP/PA and 3D-CRT EBRT treatment techniques for cervical cancer. Conclusion: Action thresholds set by SPC were within the clinical dose specification of ±5% uncertainty for both conventional AP/PA and 3D-CRT EBRT treatment techniques for cervical cancer. So the concept of SPC could be applied in setting QA action limits for dose verifications in EBRT.

Abstract Thermoplastic immobilizing masks have dosimetric effects on the patient’s skin dose. The thermoplastic percentage depth dose (PDD), equivalent thick ness of water for the masks and surface doses were determined. The surface dose factors due to the thermoplastic mask was found to be 1.7949, 1.9456,2.0563, 2.1967, 2.3827, 2.5459 and 2.6565 for field sizes of 5 × 5, 8 × 8, 10 × 10, 12 × 12, 15 × 15, 18 × 18 and 20 × 20 cm2 respectively which shifted the per centage depth dose curve to lower values. The physical thermoplastic thickness was measured to be between 2.30 and 1.80 mm, and the equivalent thicknesses of water, de, were determined to be between 1.2 and 1.00 mm. This meant that, as the mask thickness decreased, its water equivalent thickness also decreased. The presence of the mask material increased the skin dose to a factor of 1%. The thermoplastic mask factor was also found to be 0.99.

Abstract With the increasing of data on the internet, data analysis has become inescapable to gain time and efficiency, especially in bibliographic information retrieval systems. We can estimate the number of actual scientific journals points to around 40,000 with about four million articles published each year. Machine learning and deep learning applied to recommender systems had become unavoidable whether in industry or in research. In this current, we propose an optimized interface for bibliographic information retrieval as a running example, which allows different kind of researchers to find their needs following some relevant criteria through natural language understand ing. Papers indexed in Web of Science and Scopus are in high demand. Natural language including text and linguistic-based techniques, such as tokenization, named entity recognition, syntactic and semantic analysis, are used to express natural language queries. Our Interface uses association rules to find more related papers for recommendation. Spanning trees are challenged to optimize the search process of the system.

Abstract In this work, the mass stopping power and range of protons in biological human body tissues (ovary, lung and breast) were calculated at the energy ranging from 0.04 MeV to 200 MeV using the MATLAB Program. The data relating to the densities, average atomic number to mass number ZA and excitation energy for the present tissues were collected from ICRU Report 46. The mass stopping power was calculated by the Bethe formula. Moreover, the simple integration (continuous slowing down approximation) method was employed for calculating protons range at the tissues. The results of the mass stopping power versus energy and the range versus energy were presented graphically and the empirical formulae for calculating the mass stopping power and the ranges were obtained. The present results for mass stopping powers and ranges were compared with the results obtained by others. Good agreements were found between them, especially at the energy ranging from 3 to 200MeV.

Abstract This study was done to quality assure the Hawkeye SPECT/CT at the St.Olav’s hospital and create a clinical method for doing individual dosimetry with 177Lu-octreotate in targeted radionuclide therapy for neuroendocrine tumors. Various quality control parameters were performed on Infinia Hawkeye SPECT/CT. A calibration dose of 160% ± 2% MBq was ordered and first calibrated for all the dose calibrators. The uniformity test was obtained using a 40 MBq Tc-99m point source positioned 2.5 m away from the two detectors. A 200 MBq Tc-99m was diluted in 70 ml of water, dispersed in six syringes for the registration test. A Lu-177 point source was placed in front of the detectors, one at a time, to check the energy peaks. The Jaczczak phantom with a hollow sphere set (volumes: 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16) ml with an additional 60 ml sphere was used for the 3D sensitivity and recovery with Lu-177. Total activity of 945.3 MBq was added to 160 ml of water yielding an activity concentration of 5.908 MBq/ml in the spheres. The phantom was then scanned at various time intervals. A cylindrical phantom with a volume of 6283 ml was also used to obtain the cross-calibration measurement (cps/MBq). Total activity of 995.6 MBq was added and the phantom was scanned at days 0, 6, 13 and 23. The dose calibration factor was changed from 762 to 760 to achieve correct doses. The 2D mean sensitivity factor was 5.56 cps/MBq. Uniformities for both detectors were approved after iteration calibration of the PM tubes. The X-ray to SPECT registration was found to be accurate and within specifications. The energy peak test revealed off-centered 208 keV energy peaks for the two detectors. Quality assurance of imaging devices using radiation is essential for radiation protection and ensures a high-quality image.

Abstract Total Body Irradiation (TBI) patients are often treated at extended distances of several meters, with blocking made from high-Z materials placed close to the patients’ skin. Evaluating the dose under a block (e.g., for implanted medical device shielding purposes) in such a geometry is challenging. We compare the performance of two commonly used dose calculation algorithms, Anisotropic Analytical Algorithm (AAA) and Acuros XB, with Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSLD) and ion chamber measurements in phantoms. The calculations and phantom measurements are also compared with in-vivo OSLD measurements. We find that OSLD and ion chamber measurements in phantom are good predictors of in-vivo measurements, while both AAA and Acuros XB systematically overestimate the block transmission. We found Acuros XB to be accurate enough for a rough upper estimate (dose under block overestimated by 7% - 22%), while for AAA the overestimate was more severe (90% - 110%); the reason is that AAA does not account for the increase in pair production cross-section in high-Z materials.

Abstract Purpose: To develop a new statistical index “percent CTV (clinical target volume) coverage probability” (%CCP), defined as the probability that a specific percent (e.g., 95%) of the CTV can be reliably covered by the prescription dose, for evaluating the coverage loss of brain (fractionated) stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS/fSRS) when the PTV (planning target volume) margin is zero. Methods:The random variable Q for CTV percent coverage was derived using a previously developed model for CTV random motion that follows a three-dimensional (3D) independent normal distribution with a zero mean and a standard deviation of σ S (for translation) or σ δ (for rotation). Assuming both CTV and PTV are spherical with the same diameter dCTV, the cumulative distribution function of Q could be obtained analytically using the relation of spheresphere intersection. The %CCP was then derived as the reliability function of Q and was used to quantify the coverage loss for selected dCTV. Results: The 95% - 95% clinical goal (95% of the times, at least 95% of the CTV is covered) is not achievable with dCTV < 42 mm. For common CTVs (dCTV < 20 mm) encountered in SRS/fSRS, only 60% - 90% of the CTV could be reliably covered by the prescription dose 95% of the time. For σ S = 0.5 mm and 0.4 σ δ = , the 95% CCP was the highest when the distance between the CTV and the isocenter 0 I T d ⇔ = and gradually decreased with the increasing I T d ⇔ . Conclusions: The %CCP was successfully derived for evaluating the CTV coverage loss for brain SRS/fSRS. When the PTV margin is zero, the 95% - 95% clinical goal cannot be achieved for most targets (dCTV < 42 mm).

Abstract In this work, the electronic mass stopping power and the range of protons in some biological human body parts (Water, Muscle, Skeletal and Bone, Cortical) were calculated in the energy range of protons 0.04 to 200 MeV using the theory of Bethe-Bloch formula as giving in the references. All these calculations were done using Matlab program. The data related to the densities, average atomic number to mass number ZA and excitation energies for the present tissues and substances were collected from ICRU Report 44(1989). The present results for electronic mass stopping powers and ranges were compared with the data of PSTAR and good agreements were found between them, especially at energies between 1 - 200 MeV for stopping power and 4 - 200 MeV for the range. Also in this study, several important quantities in the field of radiation, such as thickness, linear energy transfer (LET), absorbed dose, equivalent dose, and effective dose of the protons in the given biological human body parts were calculated at protons energy 0.04 - 200MeV.

Abstract In the advancement of single-isocenter multiple target treatment in the LINAC-based SRS or SRT, the target distance to the isocenter and grouping of multiple targets are the highly concerned and debatable topics in the SRS/SRT field at present. Three failure and success cases of local control in our early practices are presented in this study and it indicated that the target distance to the isocenter directly affects the margin and an inappropriate margin increase the risk of local control failure. The GTV expansion margin should be LINAC-specific and institute-specific. Within the physics and dosimetry scope, the AHARA (as high as reasonably achievable) principle is the first time proposed to the radiation oncology field. Radiobiology and tumor response complexity is beyond this study.