Correction factors to convert microdosimetry measurements in silicon to tissue in \u3csup\u3e12\u3c/sup\u3eC ion therapy

Silicon microdosimetry is a promising technology for heavy ion therapy (HIT) quality assurance, because of its sub-mm spatial resolution and capability to determine radiation effects at a cellular level in a mixed radiation field. A drawback of silicon is not being tissue-equivalent, thus the need to convert the detector response obtained in silicon to tissue. This paper presents a method for converting silicon microdosimetric spectra to tissue for a therapeutic 12C beam, based on Monte Carlo simulations. The energy deposition spectra in a 10 μm sized silicon cylindrical sensitive volume (SV) were found to be equivalent to those measured in a tissue SV, with the same shape, but with dimensions scaled by a factor κ equal to 0.57 and 0.54 for muscle and water, respectively. A low energy correction factor was determined to account for the enhanced response in silicon at low energy depositions, produced by electrons. The concept of the mean path length (lPath) to calculate the lineal energy was introduced as an alternative to the mean chord length (l) because it was found that adopting Cauchy\u27s formula for the (l) was not appropriate for the radiation field typical of HIT as it is very directional (lPath) can be determined based on the peak of the lineal energy distribution produced by the incident carbon beam. Furthermore it was demonstrated that the thickness of the SV along the direction of the incident 12C ion beam can be adopted as (lPath). The tissue equivalence conversion method and (lPath) were adopted to determine the RBE10, calculated using a modified microdosimetric kinetic model, applied to the microdosimetric spectra resulting from the simulation study. Comparison of the RBE10 along the Bragg peak to experimental TEPC measurements at HIMAC, NIRS, showed good agreement. Such agreement demonstrates the validity of the developed tissue equivalence correction factors and of the determination of (lPath)

3D silicon microdosimetry and RBE study using C-12 ion of different energies

This paper presents a new version of the 3D mesa "bridge" microdosimeter comprised of an array of 4248 silicon cells fabricated on 10 µm thick silicon-on-insulator substrate. This microdosimeter has been designed to overcome limitations existing in previous generation silicon microdosimeters and it provides well-defined sensitive volumes and high spatial resolution. The charge collection characteristics of the new 3D mesa microdosimeter were investigated using the ANSTO heavy ion microprobe, utilizing 5.5 MeV He2+ ions. Measurement of microdosimetric quantities allowed for the determination of the Relative Biological Effectiveness of 290 MeV/u and 350 MeV/u 12C heavy ion therapy beams at the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba (HIMAC), Japan. The microdosimetric RBE obtained showed good agreement with the tissue-equivalent proportional counter. Utilizing the high spatial resolution of the SOI microdosimeter, the LET spectra for 70 MeV 12C+6 ions, like those present at the distal edge of 290 and 350 MeV/u beams, were obtained as the ions passed through thin layers of polyethylene film. This microdosimeter can provide useful information about the lineal energy transfer (LET) spectra downstream of the protective layers used for shielding of electronic devices for single event upset prediction

Thin Silicon Microdosimeter utilizing 3D MEMS Fabrication Technology: Charge Collection Study and its application in mixed radiation fields

New 10-μm-thick silicon microdosimeters utilizing 3-D technology have been developed and investigated in this paper. The TCAD simulations were carried out to understand the electrical properties of the microdosimeters\u27 design. A charge collection study of the devices was performed using 5.5-MeV He2+ ions which were raster scanned over the surface of the detectors and the charge collection median energy maps were obtained and the detection yield was also evaluated. The devices were tested in a 290 MeV/u carbon ion beam at the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba (HIMAC) in Japan. Based on the microdosimetric measurements, the quality factor and dose equivalent out of field were obtained in a mixed radiation field mimicking the radiation environment for spacecraft in deep space

Development of solid state microdosimetric tools for quality assurance in proton and heavy ion therapy

Microdosimetry has been used for decades to characterise radiation fields using gas detectors with effective volume similar to that of human cells. The tissue-equivalent proportional counter (TEPC) is the gold-standard microdosimetric device, however silicon microdosimeters have shown to be a viable replacement which offer many advantages including a slimline form factor and submillimeter resolution. This thesis continues the development of silicon-on-insulator (SQQ microdosimeters for use in hadron therapy beams and mixed radiation fields, designed at the Centre for Medical Radiation Physics (CMRP), University of Wollongong, Australia. Three new SOI microdosimeters were investigated, including two based on state of the art 3D silicon technology, utilising deep reactive ion etching. This technology was used to provide well-defined sensitive volumes with enhanced charge collection properties, which were lacking in previous CMRP microdosimeters. Electrical characterisation was undertaken as well as scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, revealing the physical and chemical properties of the microscopic detection volumes. Using the ion beam induced charge collection technique, the spectroscopic response to high LET alpha particles was measured and the charge collection geometry mapped

Performance uniformity evaluation of two SensL\u27s SiPM modules

Minimization of the channel-to-channel variation of silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) array is of great importance in achieving high performance for SiPM based imaging detectors. The purpose of this study was to characterize the operating parameters of a large-area SiPM based detector module with 12x12 pixel array (SensL\u27s ArraySM-4P9) in order to develop an optimal multiplexing readout for high-resolution SPECT imaging. Two versions of SensL\u27s SiPM arrays were investigated in this study. The previous ArraySL-4 version has an array of 4x4 pixels with 3x3mm2 pixel size and the new AarraySM-4p9 version consists of a 3x3 matrix of the 4x4 pixels SiPM modules. The current versus voltage (I-V) characteristics of individual SiPM pixels were measured to extract information of its breakdown voltage and dark current. The energy spectrum of individual pixels coupling with a 1x1x3mm3 LYSO crystal was measured using 22Na and 137Cs sources. The test results show that the previous ArraySL-4 version has larger channel-to-channel variations in breakdown voltage and dark current than the newer AarraySM-4p9 version. The new large-area ArraySM-4P9 SiPM module with 12x12 pixels shows very small breakdown voltage variations within ±0.1V at operating voltage of ∼27V and dark current variations within ±0.4nA of ∼1nA over the entire 144 pixel elements. The measured energy resolution of an individual SiPM pixel with a 1x1x3mm3 LYSO crystal is ∼16% at energy of 662keV. In conclusion, the new SensL\u27s AarraySM-4p9 ArraySM has much better improved property than the previous ArraySL-4 version. The excellent performance uniformity of the large-area ArraySM-4P9 SiPM module is good for multiplexed readout approach in the development of high-performance and cost-effective compact imaging detectors. 2013 IEEE

3D-Mesa "Bridge" Silicon Microdosimeter: Charge Collection Study and application to RBE Studies in 12C Radiation Therapy

Microdosimetry is an extremely useful technique, used for dosimetry in unknown mixed radiation fields typical of space and aviation, as well as in hadron therapy. A new silicon microdosimeter with 3D sensitive volumes has been proposed to overcome the shortcomings of the conventional Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter. In this article, the charge collection characteristics of a new 3D mesa microdosimeter were investigated using the ANSTO heavy ion microprobe utilizing 5.5 MeV ${rm He}^{2 +}$ and 2 MeV ${rm H}^ {+}$ ions. Measurement of the microdosimetric characteristics allowed for the determination of the Relative Biological Effectiveness of the $^{12}{rm C}$ heavy ion therapy beam at the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba (HIMAC), Japan. Well-defined sensitive volumes of the 3D mesa microdosimeter have been observed and the microdosimetric RBE obtained showed good agreement with the TEPC. The new 3D mesa “bridge” microdosimeter is a step forward towards a microdosimeter with fully free-standing 3D sensitive volumes

Microdosimetric applications in proton and heavy ion therapy using silicon microdosimeters

Using the CMRP ‘bridge\u27 μ+ probe, microdosimetric measurements were undertaken out-of-field using a therapeutic scanning proton pencil beam and in-field using a 12C ion therapy field. These measurements were undertaken at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA and at HIMAC, Chiba, Japan, respectively. For a typical proton field used in the treatment of deep-seated tumors, we observed dose-equivalent values ranging from 0.62 to 0.99 mSv/Gy at locations downstream of the distal edge. Lateral measurements at depths close to the entrance and along the SOBP plateau were found to reach maximum values of 3.1 mSv/Gy and 5.3 mSv/Gy at 10 mm from the field edge, respectively, and decreased to ~0.04 mSv/Gy 120 mm from the field edge. The ability to measure the dose-equivalent with high spatial resolution is particularly relevant to healthy tissue dose calculations in hadron therapy treatments. We have also shown qualitatively and quantitively the effects critical organ motion would have in treatment using microdosimetric spectra. Large differences in spectra and RBE10 were observed for treatments where miscalculations of 12C ion range would result in critical structures being irradiated, showing the importance of motion management

3D-mesa \u27bridge\u27 silicon microdosimeter: charge collection study and application to RBE studies in 12C radiation therapy

Microdosimetry is an extremely useful technique, used for dosimetry in unknown mixed radiation fields typical of space and aviation, as well as in hadron therapy. A new silicon microdosimeter with 3D sensitive volumes has been proposed to overcome the shortcomings of the conventional Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter. In this article, the charge collection characteristics of a new 3D mesa microdosimeter were investigated using the ANSTO heavy ion microprobe utilizing 5.5 MeV rm He2 + and 2 MeV rm H + ions. Measurement of the microdosimetric characteristics allowed for the determination of the Relative Biological Effectiveness of the 12rm C heavy ion therapy beam at the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba (HIMAC), Japan. Well-defined sensitive volumes of the 3D mesa microdosimeter have been observed and the microdosimetric RBE obtained showed good agreement with the TEPC. The new 3D mesa \u27bridge\u27 microdosimeter is a step forward towards a microdosimeter with fully free-standing 3D sensitive volumes

New silicon microdosimetry probes for RBE and biological dose studies using stationary and movable targets in \u3csup\u3e12\u3c/sup\u3eC ion therapy

Due to the high LET and dense ionisation tracks associated with ions, microdosimetric approaches have been used in carbon ion therapy to assess field quality and calculate radiobiological quantities for a variety of cell lines. There is however a lack of instrumentation for simple and routine use in a clinical environment, important for determination of RBE which provides accurate treatment planning and delivery in hadron therapy. In this study, a 10 μm thick silicon microdosimeter with 3D sensitive volumes has been used to investigate the effect of motion on the RBE and field quality of a typical 12C ion therapy beam. For a passively scattered 290 MeV/u 12C beam with 6 cm spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP), variations in biological dose along the SOBP were observed, as well as a significant changes to particle LET when incident on a moving target

Validation of Geant4 for silicon microdosimetry in heavy ion therapy

Microdosimetry is a particularly powerful method to estimate the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of any mixed radiation field. This is particularly convenient for therapeutic heavy ion therapy (HIT) beams, referring to ions larger than protons, where the RBE of the beam can vary significantly along the Bragg curve. Additionally, due to the sharp dose gradients at the end of the Bragg peak (BP), or spread out BP, to make accurate measurements and estimations of the biological properties of a beam a high spatial resolution is required, less than a millimetre. This requirement makes silicon microdosimetry particularly attractive due to the thicknesses of the sensitive volumes commonly being ∼10 µm or less. Monte Carlo (MC) codes are widely used to study the complex mixed HIT radiation field as well as to model the response of novel microdosimeter detectors when irradiated with HIT beams. Therefore it is essential to validate MC codes against experimental measurements. This work compares measurements performed with a silicon microdosimeter in monoenergetic 12C , 14N and 16O ion beams of therapeutic energies, against simulation results calculated with the Geant4 toolkit. Experimental and simulation results were compared in terms of microdosimetric spectra (dose lineal energy, d(y)), the dose mean lineal energy, yD and the RBE10, as estimated by the microdosimetric kinetic model (MKM). Overall Geant4 showed reasonable agreement with experimental measurements. Before the distal edge of the BP, simulation and experiment agreed within ∼10% for yD and ∼2% for RBE10. Downstream of the BP less agreement was observed between simulation and experiment, particularly for the 12C and 16O beams. Simulation results downstream of the BP had lower values of yD and RBE10 compared to the experiment due to a higher contribution from lighter fragments compared to heavier fragments.acceptedVersio