Conceptual design of a proton computed tomography system for applications in proton radiation therapy

Author

Schulte, Reinhard ; Bashkirov, Vladimir ; Li, Tianfang ; Liang, Zhengrong ; Mueller, Klaus ; Heimann, Jason ; Johnson, Leah R. ; Keeney, Brian ; Sadrozinski, Hartmut F W ; Seiden, Abraham ; Williams, David C. ; Zhang, Lan ; Li, Zhang ; Peggs, Steven ; Sat

Author_Institution

Loma Linda Univ. Med. Center, CA, USA

Volume

51

Issue

3

fYear

2004

fDate

6/1/2004 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

866

Lastpage

872

Abstract

Proton computed tomography (pCT) has the potential to improve the accuracy of dose calculations for proton treatment planning, and will also be useful for pretreatment verification of patient positioning relative to the proton beam. A design study was performed to define the optimal approach to a pCT system based on specifications for applications in proton therapy. Conceptual and detailed design of a pCT system is presented; the system consists of a silicon-based particle tracking system and a crystal calorimeter to measure energy loss of individual protons. We discuss the formation of pCT images based on the reconstruction of volume electron density maps and the suitability of analytic and statistical algorithms for image reconstruction.

Keywords

Monte Carlo methods; biological effects of ionising particles; computerised tomography; dosimetry; energy loss of particles; image reconstruction; particle calorimetry; particle track visualisation; position sensitive particle detectors; proton beams; radiation therapy; silicon radiation detectors; GEANT4 method; analytic algorithm; crystal calorimeter; dose calculation; image reconstruction; optimal approach; patient position; pretreatment verification; proton beam; proton computed tomography system; proton energy loss; proton radiation therapy; proton treatment planning; silicon-based particle tracking system; statistical algorithm; volume electron density map; Accuracy; Biomedical applications of radiation; Computed tomography; Energy measurement; Image reconstruction; Loss measurement; Medical treatment; Particle beams; Particle tracking; Protons;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TNS.2004.829392

Filename

1311983