Objective To evaluate the patient dose from Hi-ART MV helical CT imaging in image-guided radiotherapy.Methods Weighted CT dose index (CTDI_W) was measured with PTW TM30009 CT ion chamber in head and body phantoms,respectively,for slice thicknesses of 2,4,6 mm with scanned range of 5 cm and 15 cm.Dose length products (DLP) were subsequently calculated.The CTDI_W and DLP were compared with XVI kV CBCT and ACQSim simulator CT for routine clinical protocols.Results An inverse relationship between CTDI and the slice thickness was found.The dose distribution was inhomogeneous owing to the attenuation of the couch.CTDI and DLP had close relationship with the slice thickness and the scanned range.Patient dose from MVCT was lower than XVI CBCT for head,but larger for body scan.Results CTDI_W can be used to assess the patient dose in MV helical CT due to its simplicity for measurement and reproducibility.Regular measurement should be performed in QA & QC program.Appropriate slice thickness and scan range should be chosen to reduce the patient dose.

OBJECTIVETo explore the dose-length product calibration method for pencil ionization chamber in cobalt beams.

METHODSThe PTW TM30009 ionization chamber was placed into the central hole of T40017 head phantom and irradiated 60 s in 20 cm x 20 cm cobalt beam. The charge was collected with UNIDOS electrometer. Absorbed doses were measured with TM30013 0.6 mL farmer-type chamber under the same condition. The CT chamber calibration factor was expressed in dose-length product. Dose linearity and spatial response were also investigated.

RESULTSThe calibration factor in dose-length product was derived from measured data. Dose linearity and spatial response were good in cobalt beams.

CONCLUSIONIt is feasible to calibrate the CT chamber in cobalt beams for patient dose evaluation in MVCT.

Calibration ; Radiation Monitoring ; methods ; Radiation, Ionizing ; Radiometry ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; instrumentation

easurement should be performed in QA & QC program. Optimal image parameters should be chosen to reduce the scanning range and patient dose.

Objective To calculate the mean absorbed doses at celluar and subcellular levels for uniformly and non-uniformly distributed Auger electron emitters. Methods The energy deposited in cell or nucleus by Auger electrons was analytically calculated using the polynomial representation of energy loss.S-values were subsequently computed for several target-source combinations.The absorbed dose and dose distribution were calculated for spherically symmetric radionuclide distributions depending linearly and exponentially on the radial position.The dose profile as a function of the source radial coordinate was also evaluated for typical cell sizes.The contributions of photon radiation to absorbed dose in cells were ignored. Results The mean absorbed dose and dose distribution depend largely on the size of target cells,the radiation spectrum and intracellular localization and distribution of radionuclides.The contribution of intranuclear radionuclides to mean absorbed dose was larger than that of extranuclear ones. Conclusion Auger electrons can produce high local energy deposition in cells because of their very low energies and extremely short ranges.Our dose calculation method is simple.The results are reliable and can be used in many fields.

Hypoxia inducible factor-1α(HIF-1α) is usually highly expressed in tumor cells,and can promote tumor growth.HIF-1α is correlated with tumor condition,the diagnosis and the prognosis.Therefore,HIF-1α can be used for tumor treatment in the level of transcriprion,pro-transcriprion and target.It is possible to improve the treatment efficiency,and to lengthen patients lifespan.

Objective To develop a new automatic detection algorithm of the diaphragm motion based on Canny edge detection and wavelet transform.Methods On-line fluoroscopic images under free breathing were enhanced by using the wavelet transform.After the wavelet transform,edge detection was carried out for the enhanced image.Canny edge detection algorithm was used to achieve the diaphragm edge.Programs were written in Matlab to track the position of the diaphragm.The diaphragm movement curves were derived to evaluate the characteristics of patients respiratory motion.Results Under calm free breathing,the amplitude and period of diaphragm motion acquired by means of the wavelet transform and Canny edge detection were in good agreement with manual measurement.There were six to seven respiratory cycles in a XVI MotionViewTM.The magnitude of diaphragm movement was not exactly the same in the cranio-caudal (CC) direction.The magnitude was from 6.7 mm to 8.0 mm with an average of 7.4 mm.The movements of the respiratory motion cycles had little variations in amplitude and period for the same patient between fractions except emotional excitement or cough.Conclusions The automatic diaphragm detection methods developed in this paper are precise,and can effectively reflect the characteristics of the respiratory motion.The method can save much time and improve the measure precision greatly compared with the manual measurement.

Objective Explore the regulation of haw and Red Sage on blood lipid. Method Use high-lipid forage to make animal model, the bland group of 8 animals were administered with general forage(blank control); the high-lipid forage group of 42 with high-lipid forage; the model-making group was divided randomly into 5 groups, i.e. model, Shujiang, haw, Red Sage, haw and Red Sage groups. After 14 days, respectively measure serum TC,TG,HDL-C,LDL-C contents, as well as plasma SOD activity. Result Haw and Red Sage in combination can reduce TC,TG, LDL, raise HDL contents, and markedly lower SOD activity. Conclusion Haw and Red Sage in combination can function to regulate blood lipid.

Objective To compare the dosimetric differences between helical tomotherapy (HT) and volume-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) in the treatment of upper thoracic esophageal carcinoma (UTEC).Methods A total of 10 patients with UTEC were randomly selected.HT plan and double-arc VMAT plan were designed and optimized for each patient.The prescription dose was 50 Gy/30 fractions for gross target volume (GTV), 66 Gy/30 fractions for planned target volume (PTV).The dose distribution and conformal index (CI), homogeneity index (HI) of target volume, the D1％, D5％, Dg5％, D99％, and dose of organ at risk (OAR) were analyzed by using the dose volume histogram (DVH).The monitor units and delivery time were also evaluated.Results For GTV and PTV, the D99％ of HT plans were slightly higher than those of VMAT plans (t =4.476, 3.756, P ＜ 0.05) , but no significant differences in D1％ , D5％ , D95％ , HI and CI (P ＞ 0.05) were found.The V10, V15, V20 and mean lung dose (MLD) to the total-lung of HT plans were all significantly lower than those of VMAT plans (t =-3.369,-4.824, -4.869,-3.657, P ＜ 0.05).There were no significant differences for V5, V30 and Dmax of cord (P ＞ 0.05).The monitor units and delivery time of VMAT plans were significantly lower than those of HT plans (t =13.970, 7.982, P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Both HT and VMAT are appropriate for esophageal cancer radiotherapy.HT significantly reduces the radiation dose of the total-lung, while VMAT has obvious advantages in efficiency.

Objective To evaluate the absorbed doses of lower-neck and supraclaviclar subclinical target and the normal tissues of nasopharyngeal carcinoma using three different intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) techniques. Methods Three radiotherapy techniques were single tangential low neck-supraclavicular field technique (tech1), seven portal IMRT in which the gantry angles are 180°, 150°, 120°, 90°, 270°, 210°(tech2) and 240°and eight portal IMRT in which the gantry angles are 180°, 150°, 120°,90°,0°,270°,210°and 240°(tech3). The dose distribution of lower-neck and supraclaviclar subclinical target and normal tissues were analyzed through the dose-volume histograms, high dose volumes were analyzed using V60 (volume of accepted > 60 Gy/all volume × 100%). The delivery efficiencies were evaluated by means of the total number of segments and MUs. Results The V60 of PTV2 were 65%, 10% and 3% in tech1, tech2 and teeh3 respectively. The maximum doses of spinal cord were 42.0, 48.9 and 45.1 Gy in techl, tech2 and tech3 respectively. The average doses of trachea were 32.92, 52.17 and 36.56 Gy in techl, tech2 and tech3 respectively. Conclusions Tech1 is simple method, but the dose distribution is very nonuniform. Tech2 is better than the Tech1, but the spinal cord and trachea receive the highest doses in three strategies. Tech3 uses less number of segments and MUs than Tech2, and has the best dose distribution.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of using Megavoltage CT(MVCT) for head and neck dose calculation.

METHODSThe cheese Phantom was imaged using MVCT scanner, and the MVCT value density calibration curve was established. Conventional CT and MVCT image of nasopharyngeal carcinoma was acquired respectively, and IMRT plan was designed on conventional CT image of NPC patient. The conventional CT plan was copied to MVCT image. The dose distribution was calculated for tumor and normal tissue using the MVCT value density calibration curve, and compared with that of conventional CT. Ten NPC patients were collected for dose verification of IMRT plan on MVCT images.

RESULTSThe MVCT numbers depended linearly on the electron density of the sample, and the stability of the MVCT numbers to electron density was good.The error between the measured dose and calculated dose in measured point was less than 3%.The isodose distribution was well agreement with that calculated by planning system.

CONCLUSIONSPerforming dose recalculation using MVCT of Tomotherapy in head and neck region was feasible.and the dose distributions on kVCT and MVCT were in excellent agreement.

Algorithms ; Head and Neck Neoplasms ; radiotherapy ; Humans ; Phantoms, Imaging ; Radiosurgery ; instrumentation ; methods ; Radiotherapy Dosage ; Tomography, Spiral Computed ; instrumentation