Optical range determination of clinical proton beams in water. A comparison with standard measurement methods

Burg, Jan Michael; Horst, Felix; Wulff, Jörg; Timmermann, Beate; Vorwerk, Hilke; Zink, Klemens

doi:10.1016/j.ejmp.2020.03.012

Cited by 1 publication

(6 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The light signal in the PMMA showed an increased intensity by a factor of about 10 compared to the signal from the water phantom. The effect of the increased light signal in PMMA compared to water has also been described by Burg et al (2020). Looking at the wavelength distribution of the PMMA signal compared to that of water shows a shift towards lower wavelengths with a maximum of ∼410 nm and a spectral width of ∼115 nm (FWHM) which is also smaller than that of the water signal.…”

Section: Luminescence Signal In Pmmamentioning

confidence: 74%

“…Since for PMMA the fiber was aligned to the maximum of the Bragg peak, significant amounts of Cerenkov light were not expected. Burg et al (2020) has already shown that secondary electrons at the end of the proton range are below the threshold energy for the Cerenkov generation. This result corresponds to the investigation made by Darafsheh et al (2018), where an optical fiber of PMMA was irradiated with protons and a fluorescence signal could be detected.…”

Section: Luminescence Signal In Pmmamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the effect of the spectrum shift towards smaller wavelengths seems plausible and can be explained by the fact that for lower proton energies, a larger amount of Cerenkov radiation is contributed to the detected signal. Burg et al (2020) has shown in simulations that, especially in the entrance channel of a proton beam in water, Cerenkov radiation is produced by secondary electrons. This is not possible for the Bragg peak region, as the energy of the secondary electrons fall below the Cerenkov threshold energy.…”

Section: Luminescence Signal In Watermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Specifically, this means that at the considered energy of 100 MeV the range of protons in water is about 77 mm. From the publication by Burg et al (2020), it can be seen that at 100 MeV proton energy, secondary electrons above the Cerenkov threshold energy can be expected up to a depth of about 10 mm in water. With increasing proton energy, the distance between the point of origin of the two light signals increases.…”

Section: Luminescence Signal In Watermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a further work by Burg et al (2020), a direct and detailed comparison between standard ionization chamber based range measurement methods and optical range measurements was performed. Furthermore, Burg et al showed that the signal produced in water and PMMA when irradiated with protons for the Bragg peak region is not originated from Cerenkov radiation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Induced luminescence in water and PMMA - spectral analysis for irradiations with proton beams within the clinical energy range

Burg

Flatten

Wulff

et al. 2023

Biomed. Phys. Eng. Express

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As recently discovered, water and PMMA emit a weak luminescence signal when irradiated with protons within the clinically used energy range. The potential use of this signal has been shown for example on range measurements in water. An explanation or investigation on the origin of the signal has not been clearly published. Furthermore, there is a lack of high-resolution spectral investigations in the literature that could form a basis for further work on this topic.High-resolution spectral analysis of the signal is challenging due to the low signal intensity of the effect. In this work, a setup for high-resolution spectral measurement of the weak luminescence signal was designed. The measurement environment in the vicinity of a clinical accelerator presents a particular challenge for low light optical measurement systems due to the presence of scattered radiation which interfere with the sensitive system. Therefore, a high-sensitive spectrometer in combination with a custom designed fiber was used. For water, a broad distribution in the range from 240 to 900 nm with a maximum at 480 nm could be determined.The comparison of the measurements for water and PMMA showed clear differences.The signal in PMMA is approximately 10 times stronger, has a narrower distribution and is shifted to lower wavelengths, indicating a different origin.For the investigated proton energies, no spectral energy dependance was detected for both materials. In addition to the results for water and PMMA, a further luminescence signal was measured when the silica fiber used was directly irradiated with primary protons. These measurements confirm previously published works on this fiber effect.Finally, spectra with a resolution of 3.4 nm were obtained in this work which accurately describe the signal of proton-induced luminescence in water and PMMA and thus form a basis for further research on this topic.

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Section: Luminescence Signal In Pmmamentioning

confidence: 74%

Section: Luminescence Signal In Pmmamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Luminescence Signal In Watermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Luminescence Signal In Watermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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