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Poster – 12: Radiological assessment of the secondary barrier shielding for IMRT treatments delivered through patient inhomogeneities

Journal Article · · Medical Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1118/1.4961786· OSTI ID:22689320
; ;  [1]
  1. Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Science, Nilore, Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, Toronto, ON, Canada & Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Science, Nilore, Islamabad, Pakistan, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Science, Nilore, Islamabad (Pakistan)
Purpose: To assess the impact of radiation treatment delivery through patient inhomogeneities on the secondary barrier shielding requirements in IMRT treatments using Monte Carlo Simulations. Materials and Methods: Scatter factors were calculated at a distance of 1m from the center of a virtual phantom in Geant4.10.01. Phantom (30×30×30 cm{sup 3}) was inserted with lung (30×30×8 cm{sup 3}), stainless steel (5×5×5 cm{sup 3}) and aluminum (5×5×5 cm{sup 3}) to represent the inhomogeneities. Scatter factor was defined according to the NCRP-151 recommendations and was calculated for angles of 3° to 120° with respect to the beam’s central axis. A virtual radiation source, with energy sampled from a histogram representing 6 MV FFF beam, was used for irradiation with a field size of 15×15 cm{sup 2} and SSD of 100 cm. Results: Irradiation through the inhomogeneity affects the patient scattered dose. For high Z material inhomogeneities the scattered dose is reduced due to significant attenuation of the primary radiation. On the other hand if the inhomogeneity is a low Z material such as lung the scattered dose is higher by a maximum of 26%. The average increase in scatter factors for the lung phantom was 17% for angles between 3° and 63° compared to the homogeneous water phantom. Conclusions: In IMRT type treatments delivered through low density patient inhomogeneities (lung) the scattered dose increases significantly. Considering a large proportion of patients receiving radiation therapy for lung cancers the increase in the scattered dose should be incorporated in the shielding calculations for the secondary barriers.
OSTI ID:
22689320
Journal Information:
Medical Physics, Journal Name: Medical Physics Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 43; ISSN 0094-2405; ISSN MPHYA6
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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