Barry L. Werner

Clinical electron-beam dosimetry: report of AAPM Radiation Therapy Committee Task Group No. 25.

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Dose perturbations at interfaces in photon beams

A model based on an approximation called the partial fluence approximation is presented for the calculation of dose distributions in the vicinity of medium interfaces in photon beams. The predictions of the model are compared with dose distributions measured in layered phantoms consisting of aluminum and polystyrene, for photon beams ranging in energy from 60Co to 24 MV.

Validity of transition‐zone dosimetry at high atomic number interfaces in megavoltage photon beams

Measurement of dose or dose perturbation factors at high atomic number interfaces are usually performed with a thin-window parallel-plate ion chamber. In a transition region, under nonequilibrium conditions, accuracy of ion chamber readings for the dose measurements has often been questioned. This paper critically analyzes the factors (stopping power ratio and charge collection) for the dose measurements at interfaces. Monte Carlo simulations were performed to investigate the secondary electron spectrum produced by photon beams and to calculate the stopping power ratios at the point of measurement. The validity of dose measurements was studied for the photon beams in the range of Co-60 gamma rays to 24-MV x rays at bone and lead interfaces with polystyrene, using thermoluminescent dosimeters, extrapolation chamber and several types of commercially available parallel-plate ion chambers. It is observed that for energies greater than 10 MV most parallel-plate chambers can be used to measure dose accurately. At lower energies, however significant differences between measured doses with different detectors were noticed. It is suggested that at high-Z interfaces and lower energies, the dose measurements should be performed with ultrathin-window parallel-plate ion chambers or extrapolation chambers.

Dose perturbations at interfaces in photon beams : secondary electron transport

An improved, quantitative version of the partial fluence model [Med. Phys. 14, 585 (1987)] for the calculation of dose perturbations at media interfaces in photon beams is presented and compared with measurements made at interfaces between polystyrene and materials ranging in atomic number from aluminum to lead, for photon beams ranging in energy from 60Co to 24 MV.

Lead shielding for electrons

Using a 13 MeV electron beam as an example, transmission curves for various thicknesses of lead were measured. The data indicated that the choice of shielding thickness depends greatly on the depth at which the measurements are made. The importance of this reference depth and criteria for shield design when shields of minimum thickness are required is discussed.

Technical note: on cerrobend shielding for 18-22 MeV electron beams.

The purpose of this study is to investigate (1) the depth at which the measurement of the block transmission factor should be made, and (2) the level of the transmission of 18 and 22MeV electron beams through conventional Cerrobend. We measured the block transmission in water phantom as ionization profiles across the beam and as ionization distributions along the central axis of the beam for 18 and 22MeV electron beams, for cone sizes ranging from 6×10cm2to25×25cm2. In our analysis, we separated the bremsstrahlung component produced in the Cerrobend block from the component originating in the head in the transmitted dose under the standard Cerrobend block. The block transmission for both beam energies and cone sizes was maximum on the central axis of the beam at depths between 0.4 and 0.7cm. For the 18MeV beam, the maximum transmission was 6.2% for the 6×10cm2 cone, and 7.4% for the 25×25cm2 cone. For the 22MeV beam, it was 9.5% for the 6×10cm2 cone, and 11.3% for the 25×25cm2 cone. For the 22MeV beam and 15×15cm2 cone, it takes 2.95 and 1.4cm of Cerrobend to reduce the maximum block transmission to 5% and 10%, respectively. The maximum dose under a blocked electron beam occurs on the central axis closer to the surface than it does for the open beam, and the block transmission factor should be defined at this shallower depth. To decrease the block transmission factor to the level of 5% on the central axis, electron beams with energy 18MeV and greater require additional shielding.

Dose distributions in regions containing beta sources: Uniform spherical source regions in homogeneous media

The energy-averaged transport model for the calculation of dose rate distributions is applied to uniform, spherical source distributions in homogeneous media for radii smaller than the electron range. The model agrees well with Monte Carlo based calculations for source distributions with radii greater than half the continuous slowing down approximation range. The dose rate distributions can be written in the medical internal radiation dose (MIRD) formalism.

Dose distributions in regions containing beta sources: Large spherical source regions in a homogeneous medium

The energy averaged Boltzmann equation model is applied to the determination of dose distributions in infinite, homogeneous media with uniform, monoenergetic, isotropic source distributions in spherical regions of radius larger than the electron range. The generalization to the case of spherically symmetric source distributions is made. Comparisons with dose distributions calculated by the integration of dose point kernels derived from Monte Carlo calculations are presented.

Border separation for adjacent orthogonal fields

Field border separations for adjacent orthogonal fields can be calculated geometrically, given the validity of some important assumptions such as beam alignment and field uniformity. Thermoluminescent dosimetry (TLD) measurements were used to investigate dose uniformity across field junctions as a function of field separation and, in particular, to review the CCSG recommendation for the treatment of medulloblastoma with separate head and spine fields.

Dose distributions in regions containing beta sources: Plane interface in a homogeneous medium

An analytic model to calculate dose distributions in regions containing beta sources is developed along with a solution for the dose distribution in an infinite, homogeneous medium in which there is a uniform, monenergetic, isotropic source distribution on only one side of a plane. Comparisons with published Monte Carlo calculations are made.