Investigations on Physical and Biological Range Uncertainties in Krak\'ow Proton Beam Therapy Centre

Ruciński, Antoni; Baran, Jakub; Battistoni, G.; Chrostowska, Agnieszka; Durante, Marco; Gajewski, J.; Garbacz, M.; Kisielewicz, K.; Krah, Nils; Patera, V.; Pawlik-Niedźwiecka, M.; Rinaldi, I.; Rozwadowska-Bogusz, B.; Scifoni, E.; Skrzypek, Agata; Tommasino, Francesco; Schiavi, A.; Moskal, P.

doi:10.5506/aphyspolb.51.9

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Preclinical application of FRED is presently being studied in Kracow, also in conjunction with the development of plasticscintillator-based PET detectors for particle therapy delivery monitoring [228]. Further development of FRED for carbon ion treatments is in progress.…”

Section: Usage Of Graphics Processing Units (Gpu)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges in Monte Carlo Simulations as Clinical and Research Tool in Particle Therapy: A Review

2020

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The use and interest in Monte Carlo (MC) techniques in the field of medical physics have been rapidly increasing in the past years. This is the case especially in particle therapy, where accurate simulations of different physics processes in complex patient geometries are crucial for a successful patient treatment and for many related research and development activities. Thanks to the detailed implementation of physics processes in any type of material, to the capability of tracking particles in 3D, and to the possibility of including the most important radiobiological effects, MC simulations have become an essential calculation tool not only for dose calculations but also for many other purposes, like the design and commissioning of novel clinical facilities, shielding and radiation protection, the commissioning of treatment planning systems, and prediction and interpretation of data for range monitoring strategies. MC simulations are starting to be more frequently used in clinical practice, especially in the form of specialized codes oriented to dose calculations that can be performed in short time. The use of general purpose MC codes is instead more devoted to research. Despite the increased use of MC simulations for patient treatments, the existing literature suggests that there are still a number of challenges to be faced in order to increase the accuracy of MC calculations for patient treatments. The goal of this review is to discuss some of these remaining challenges. Undoubtedly, it is a work for which a multidisciplinary approach is required. Here, we try to identify some of the aspects where the community involved in applied nuclear physics, radiation biophysics, and computing development can contribute to find solutions. We have selected four specific challenges: i) the development of models in MC to describe nuclear physics interactions, ii) modeling of radiobiological processes in MC simulations, iii) developments of MC-based treatment planning tools, and iv) developments of fast MC codes. For each of them, we describe the underlying problems, present selected examples of proposed solutions, and try to give recommendations for future research.

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Section: Usage Of Graphics Processing Units (Gpu)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges in Monte Carlo Simulations as Clinical and Research Tool in Particle Therapy: A Review

2020

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“…To overcome these constraints, unconventional PET scanners have been designed and tested for in-beam/inter-spill proton beam range verification. These included dual-head scanners (Ferrero et al 2018, Fiorina et al 2020, Baran et al 2019, Rucinski et al 2020 or more sophisticated configurations such as the axially shifted, single-ring OpenPET (Tashima et al 2016, Yamaya & Tashima 2017 or the axially slanted full-ring and dual-ring (Yoshida et al 2017, Crespo et al 2006 configurations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feasibility of the J-PET to monitor range of therapeutic proton beams

Borys¹,

Brzeziński²,

Gajewski³

et al. 2023

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Objective: The aim of this work is to investigate the feasibility of the Jagiellonian Positron Emission Tomography (J-PET) scanner for intra-treatment proton beam range monitoring.Approach: The Monte Carlo simulation studies with GATE and PET image reconstruction with CASToR were performed in order to compare six J-PET scanner geometries (three dual-heads and three cylindrical). We simulated proton irradiation of a PMMA phantom with a Single Pencil Beam (SPB) and Spread-Out Bragg Peak (SOBP) of various ranges. The sensitivity and precision of each scanner were calculated, and considering the setup's cost-effectiveness, we indicated potentially optimal geometries for the J-PET scanner prototype dedicated to the proton beam range assessment.Main results: The investigations indicate that the double-layer cylindrical and triple-layer double-head configurations are the most promising for clinical application. We found that the scanner sensitivity is of the order of 10 −5 coincidences per primary proton, while the precision of the range assessment for both SPB and SOBP irradiation plans was found below 1 mm. Among the scanners with the same number of detector modules, the best results are found for the triple-layer dual-head geometry.Significance: We performed simulation studies demonstrating that the feasibility of the J-PET detector for PET-based proton beam therapy range monitoring is possible with reasonable sensitivity and precision enabling its pre-clinical tests in the clinical proton therapy environment. Considering the sensitivity, precision and costeffectiveness, the double-layer cylindrical and triple-layer dual-head J-PET geometry configurations seem promising for the future clinical application. Experimental tests are needed to confirm these findings.

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