Howard I. Amols

Physical characterization of neutron beams produced by protons and deuterons of various energies bombarding beryllium and lithium targets of several thicknesses

Protons of 35 and 65 MeV and deuterons of 35 MeV were used to bombard beryllium and lithium targets of various thicknesses. Four types of experiments were conducted in order to characterize the neutron fields. They were (1) central axis depth-dose measurements in a water phantom, (2) dose buildup at small depths in tissue-equivalent plastic, (3) microdosimetric measurements and LET distributions, and (4) neutron yields and energy spectra at an angle of 0 deg. The results generally show that (a) the central axis depth doses for the 35 and 65 MeV particles roughly approximate those of 60Co and 4-MeV bremsstrahlung photons, respectively, (B) the neutron dose buildups are more rapid than those of the above-mentioned photon sources, (C) the microdosimetric spectra show differences which are consistent with the measured neutron energy spectra, and (D) P-Li compared to p-Be neutron spectra have larger high-energy particle flux for similar target and beam configurations.

Biological effects of negative pions

Abstract Most pion radiobiological work in the past was done at low dose rates using biological systems sensitive to small doses. Biological effects at the beam entrance were found to be nearly the same as conventional radiations, although some reports have indicated a higher RBE. LET distribution at the peak of a nearly monoenergetic pion beam is not much different from fast neutrons; therefore, one would expect similar biological responses, and the results are consistent with this hypothesis. The RBE at the peak for a nearly monoenergetic pion beam is significantly higher than at the entrance. The RBE peak/RBE plateau ratio is decreased with increasing width of the peak. The OER (∼1.6) at the peak for a nearly monoenergetic pion beam is also similar to fast neutrons and is expected to increase with increasing width of the peak. No OER data for broad peaks relevant to therapy are available. Preliminary measurements on radiosensitivity variation as a function of cell cycle indicate that there is a slight reduction in variation at the plateau, compared to X-rays, and a significant reduction at the narrow peak. With the availability of increasing intensity of pion beams, more radiobiological work relevant to radiotherapy is in progress at Los Alamos, Vancouver and Zurich.

Dosimetry of pion therapy beams.

Cellular, animal, and human radiobiology studies are in progress at the Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility as part of a joint University of New Mexico and Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory pion therapy project. To support these activities, dosimetry has been performed on many different pion beam configurations. The effect of both static and dynamic momentum spreaders and of collimators on beam profiles, depth-dose distributions, and peak-to-plateau ratios have been studied. The absorbed dose is obtained by the application of Bragg-Gray cavity theory to ionization chamber measurements. Calculations have been made for the effective W values and average mass-stopping-power ratios needed for the Bragg-Gray equation. Kerma corrections are applied to transform the dose from the chamber wall to dose in muscle.

Microdosimetry of negative pions at LAMPF

Lineal energy distributions and linear energy transfer (LET) spectra are being measured at the biomedical facility of the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory for a negative pion beam having an initial momentum of 168 MeV/c. The results show that the fraction of the dose for lineal energies greater than 50 keV/µm is approximately 2% in the plateau and approximately 12% at the Bragg peak. Preliminary data indicate that the high lineal energy (and high LET) component increases significantly in the region slightly downstream from the peak.

Pion in vivo dosimetry using aluminum activation

The method of aluminum activation to 24Na has been shown feasible as a high-LET, in vivo dosimeter for clinical pion beams at the Clinton P. Anderson Meson Physics Facility in Los Alamos. A 3 X 3 in. phi NaI (Tl) well detector measures the 24Na activity following exposure by windowing the 2.75 MeV photopeak. Calculations of the 24Na activity agree well with experiment if one assumes a production ratio of 0.075 24Na/stopped pi- in aluminum, and an in-flight cross section of 26 mb. The activity is produced primarily by stopping pions although 15-25% of the activity is the result of neutrons. Thus, the induced activation is a good measure of high-LET dose. By comparison with high-LET dose measured by a 7.6 mu silicon detector and a Rossi chamber, the amount of high-LET dose per activation is found to be 1.35 X 10(-6) rad/(24Na/gm Al). A clinical setup has been installed and a sample patient measurement is compared with high-LET dose calculated by treatment planning programs.

Dose outside the treatment volume for irradiation with negative pions

Irradiation of humans with negative pions requires a knowledge of the absorbed dose and radiation quality outside the primary pion beam. In conjunction with early clinical trials at LAMPF, experimental data have been obtained with microdosimetric techniques and multiwire proportional counters. Theoretical calculations have been made for the neutron contribution to the dose and are consistent with these data. Measurements were made with in 40 cm x 51 cm x 76 cm water phantom for a negative pion beam of initial momentum of 170 MeV/c, deltap = +/- 3MeV/c. The absorbed dose outside the treatment volume is the result of: (1) neutrons and photons from the pion interactions,(2) treatment room background and (3) peripheral muons, electrons and pions in the primary beam. The first two components are nearly isotropic and are congruent to 0.02% of the peak dose at a distance of 24 cm from the treatment volume; the third component is anisotropic and varies from 0.01 to 0.1% of the peak dose. Collimation of the bean increases the dose outside the treatment volume typically by 50%.

Cell survival as a function of depth for modulated negative pion beams.

Abstract Cell survival measurements as a function of depth have been reported for three pion beams modulated in different ways. Cultured human cells (line T 1) suspended in gelatin medium were used in this investigation. A uniform dose distribution in the peak region was found to produce more cell killing at the distal side of the peak compared to the proximal side. A uniform π − stopping distribution in the peak region produced more cell killing at the proximal side of the peak compared to the distal side. These two distributions represent the extremes. The optimum dose distribution to obtain uniform biological effect in a broad pion peak region can be acquired by making the dose distribution nearly uniform from the proximal side of the peak to the peak center and then reducing the dose gradually from the peak center to the distal end of the peak. Cell killing in the peak region was more uniform for all three dose distributions when two opposing and overlapping fields were used. Dose distributions to produce uniform cell killing should be checked at higher doses because of the small rate of survival change in the shoulder region compared to the exponential region.

Calculation of pion dose distributions in water

Techniques for calculating negative pion beam depth and off-axis dose distributions in a water phantom have been developed at the Clinton P. Anderson Meson Physics Facility in Los Alamos. The superposition of the unmodulated depth-dose curve produced modulated depth-dose curves. The addition of the collimator neutron dose, which has been shown to depend on field size, to the modulated depth-dose curve yields the collimated depth-dose distributions. Off-axis dose distributions under a collimator are produced by calculating the distortion of the uncollimated beam caused by multiple Coulomb scattering and beam phase space. Several comparisons of calculated and measured distributions are shown with agreement of normally +/- 3% of peak dose of +/- 3 mm for a particular dose contour. These distribution are them modified by computerized tomographic data to give patient isodose distributions.

Pion Beam Development for the LAMPF Biomedical Project

Common to both static and dynamic patient irradiations at the LAMPF linac is the problem of maintaining good quality control of beams form a secondary channel. A major contributor to therapy beam variation has been change in electron contamination due to the change in target geometry and proton beam steering. The electron variation problem is described and a solution is presented that has been realized as a result o a new target geometry that allows some control of the electron fraction. (GHT)

An automated dosimetry data-acquisition and analysis system at the LAMPF pion therapy facility.

An automated data-acquisition and analysis system has been developed for dosimetry measurements on the pion therapy beam at the Clinton P. Anderson Meson Physics Facility Biomedical Channel in Los Alamos using a PDP-11/45 computer and CAMAC interface. Initialization, test, and monitor programs allow the user to set the physical limits of scanner travel, test the data lines, calibrate the analog signals for the scanner position, and monitor the analog versus digital values of the scanner position during operation. Data-acquisition programs scan beams in one, two, and three dimensions. Many options are available to the user in selecting the scan parameters and in changing some of these parameters during scanning. Data-analysis programs provide reproduction of stored data, comparison of linear scans, beam profiles along any line of a planar or volume scan, and isodose distributions from any planar scan or from any planar scan or from any plane of a volume scan. Other programs summarize stored data files and search for specific data according to the users instruments.