A simulation study investigating a radiation detector utilizing the prompt gamma range verification technique for proton radiotherapy.

摘要

Proton therapy has shown to be a viable therapy for radiation oncology applications. The advantages of using protons as compared to photons in the treatments of diseases with radiation are numerous including the ability to deliver overall lower amounts of lethal radiation doses to the patient. This advantage is due to the fundamental interaction mechanism of the incident therapeutic protons with the patient, which produces a characteristic dose-distribution unique only to protons. Unlike photons, the entire proton beam is absorbed within the patent and the dose-distribution's maximum occurs near the end of the proton's path. Protons deliver less dose on the skin and intervening tissues, tighter dose conformality to the disease site, as well as no dose past the target volume, sparring healthy tissue distally in the patient. Current research in proton therapy is geared towards minimizing proton range uncertainty and monitoring in-vivo the location of the proton's path. Monitoring the beam's path serves also to verify which healthy structures/tissues were irradiated and whether the target volume has met the prescription dose.;Among the many techniques used for in-vivo proton monitoring, the technique based on the emitted secondary particles, specifically the Prompt Gamma (PG) method, can be used for clinical implementation. This work focuses on developing a radiation detector system for using the PG method by investigating the characterizing the secondary particle field emitted from plastic and water phantoms as well as a radiation detector based on glass materials that exploits the Cherenkov phenomenon.