Cosmogenic radionuclides on LDEF: An unexpected Be-10 result

Following the discovery of the atmospheric derived cosmogenic radionuclide Be-7 on the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF), a search began for other known nuclides produced by similar mechanisms. None of the others have the narrow gamma-ray line emission of Be-7 decay which enabled its rapid detection and quantification. A search for Be-10 atoms on LDEF clamp plates using accelerator mass spectrometry is described. An unexpected result was obtained

Technical note: Calibrating radiochromic film in beams of uncertain quality

<b>Purpose</b>\ud \ud - The dose-response of radiochromic film has been shown to be dependent on the quality of the incident radiation, particularly at low energies. Difficulty there-fore arises when a calibration is required for radiation of uncertain energy. This study investigates the ability of a recently published calibration method [see M. Tamponi et al., “A new form of the calibration curve in radiochromic dosimetry. Properties and results,” Med. Phys. 43, 4435–4446 (2016)] to reduce the energy-dependence of radiochromic film. This allows for corrections to be applied that may improve the accuracy and precision of measurements taken in beams of uncertain energy, or where the beam quality is known but calibration doses cannot be delivered. \ud \ud <b>Methods</b>\ud \ud - Gafchromic EBT3 film was irradiated with a range of superficial, orthovoltage, and high-energy photon beams. Calibrations were then applied using a typical net optical density approach, and compared with the Tamponi et al. method that instead defines the response as a ratio of two net optical densities. To quantify the energy dependence, the response at each beam quality and dose was then normalised to the response at a preselected reference quality. This resulted in a relative measure that could be used to correct the calibration curve at the reference beam quality to any other quality of interest.\ud \ud <b>Results</b>\ud \ud - The Tamponi et al. calibration method resulted in substantially less energy dependence compared to the standard net optical density approach, without compromising the calibration fit. The maximum deviation from the reference beam calibration curve was 7% across the range of energies and doses analysed, reducing to < 3% for doses greater than 200 cGy. However, the ability of the calibration curve to fit the data deteriorated as the curve was refitted with measurements at higher doses than those originally studied.\ud \ud <b>Conclusions</b>\ud \ud - The Tamponi et al. calibration method, based on the ratio of two net optical densities, considerably reduces the energy dependence of Gafchromic EBT3 film. Manipulating the calibration data in the fashion presented in this study allows for a readily available calibration curve to be corrected to represent calibration curves at different energies. This may be useful when a calibration is desired for a beam where the delivery of a set of calibration doses is problematic, such as with out-of-field measurements, radioactive sources, and imaging applications

Comparative evaluation of modern dosimetry techniques near low- and high-density heterogeneities

The purpose of this study is to compare performance of several dosimetric methods in heterogeneous phantoms irradiated by 6 and 18 MV beams. Monte Carlo (MC) calculations were used, along with two versions of Acuros XB, anisotropic analytical algorithm (AAA), EBT2 film, and MOSkin dosimeters. Percent depth doses (PDD) were calculated and measured in three heterogeneous phantoms. The first two phantoms were a 30 x 30 x 30 cm3 solid-water slab that had an air-gap of 20x 2.5 x 2.35 cm3. The third phantom consisted of 30 x 30 x 5 cm3 solid water slabs, two 30 x 30 x 5 cm3 slabs of lung, and one 30 x 30 x 1 cm3 solid water slab. Acuros XB, AAA, and MC calculations were within 1% in the regions with particle equilibrium. At media interfaces and buildup regions, differences between Acuros XB and MC were in the range of +4.4% to −12.8%. MOSkin and EBT2 measurements agreed to MC calculations within ~ 2.5%, except for the first centimeter of buildup where differences of 4.5% were observed. AAA did not predict the backscatter dose from the high-density heterogeneity. For the third, multilayer lung phantom, 6 MV beam PDDs calculated by all TPS algorithms were within 2% of MC. 18 MV PDDs calculated by two versions of Acuros XB and AAA differed from MC by up to 2.8%, 3.2%, and 6.8%, respectively. MOSkin and EBT2 each differed from MC by up to 2.9% and 2.5% for the 6 MV, and by −3.1% and ~2% for the 18 MV beams. All dosimetric techniques, except AAA, agreed within 3% in the regions with particle equilibrium. Differences between the dosimetric techniques were larger for the 18 MV than the 6 MV beam. MOSkin and EBT2 measurements were in a better agreement with MC than Acuros XB calculations at the interfaces, and they were in a better agreement to each other than to MC. The latter is due to their thinner detection layers compared to MC voxel sizes

Impact of errors in spot size and spot position in robustly optimized pencil beam scanning proton‐based stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) lung plans

PURPOSE: The purpose of the current study was threefold: (a) investigate the impact of the variations (errors) in spot sizes in robustly optimized pencil beam scanning (PBS) proton‐based stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) lung plans, (b) evaluate the impact of spot sizes and position errors simultaneously, and (c) assess the overall effect of spot size and position errors occurring simultaneously in conjunction with either setup or range errors. METHODS: In this retrospective study, computed tomography (CT) data set of five lung patients was selected. Treatment plans were regenerated for a total dose of 5000 cGy(RBE) in 5 fractions using a single‐field optimization (SFO) technique. Monte Carlo was used for the plan optimization and final dose calculations. Nominal plans were normalized such that 99% of the clinical target volume (CTV) received the prescription dose. The analysis was divided into three groups. Group 1: The increasing and decreasing spot sizes were evaluated for ±10%, ±15%, and ±20% errors. Group 2: Errors in spot size and spot positions were evaluated simultaneously (spot size: ±10%; spot position: ±1 and ±2 mm). Group 3: Simulated plans from Group 2 were evaluated for the setup (±5 mm) and range (±3.5%) errors. RESULTS: Group 1: For the spot size errors of ±10%, the average reduction in D(99%) for −10% and +10% errors was 0.7% and 1.1%, respectively. For −15% and +15% spot size errors, the average reduction in D(99%) was 1.4% and 1.9%, respectively. The average reduction in D(99%) was 2.1% for −20% error and 2.8% for +20% error. The hot spot evaluation showed that, for the same magnitude of error, the decreasing spot sizes resulted in a positive difference (hotter plan) when compared with the increasing spot sizes. Group 2: For a 10% increase in spot size in conjunction with a −1 mm (+1 mm) shift in spot position, the average reduction in D(99%) was 1.5% (1.8%). For a 10% decrease in spot size in conjunction with a −1 mm (+1 mm) shift in spot position, the reduction in D(99%) was 0.8% (0.9%). For the spot size errors of ±10% and spot position errors of ±2 mm, the average reduction in D(99%) was 2.4%. Group 3: Based on the results from 160 plans (4 plans for spot size [±10%] and position [±1 mm] errors × 8 scenarios × 5 patients), the average D(99%) was 4748 cGy(RBE) with the average reduction of 5.0%. The isocentric shift in the superior–inferior direction yielded the least homogenous dose distributions inside the target volume. CONCLUSION: The increasing spot sizes resulted in decreased target coverage and dose homogeneity. Similarly, the decreasing spot sizes led to a loss of target coverage, overdosage, and degradation of dose homogeneity. The addition of spot size and position errors to plan robustness parameters (setup and range uncertainties) increased the target coverage loss and decreased the dose homogeneity