Ion therapy has long been investigated as a potential modality to improve cancer treatments beyond what is currently feasible with photon irradiations. Ions offer both a physical and biological advantage over photons. The physical advantages are well understood, ions deposit their maximum dose at defined penetration depths, allowing for minimal...
The leading cause of death 20 years after treatment for children surviving a cancer of the central nervous system was from a subsequent malignant neoplasm (SMN) (1). Although it was been shown that proton therapy considerably reduces the risk of a fatal SMN in children receiving craniospinal irradiation compared to...
The purpose of this study is to examine the challenges of accepting and commissioning a new treatment planning system for eye plaque brachytherapy. Currently Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) utilizes v5.3.9 of the Plaque Simulator software to plan all of its eye plaque brachytherapy cases. However, v5.3.9 is no...
Use of optically stimulated luminescence detectors (OSLDs) is rapidly increasing in the area of in vivo dosimetry. OSLDs are relatively new to the market compared to their main competitor, thermoluminescent detectors (TLDs). Currently, not all characteristics of OSLDs have been fully investigated. Landauer’s nanoDot OSLDs were used in conjunction with...
Monte Carlo (MC) algorithms are widely accepted as the most accurate method to calculate dose in a patient geometry. For this work the EGSnrc MC code was used as a benchmark for the identification of dose calculation errors produced by the widely implemented analytical anisotropic algorithm (AAA). By correlating the...
Photoneutron contamination produced during high-energy, external beam radiotherapy can contribute to total patient dose. This aspect of unwanted dose is not currently evaluated for patients undergoing radiation therapy. While multiple studies have examined the neutron dose from beams with energies above 10 MeV, research assessing neutron dose from a 10...