M. V. Moreira

Hippocampal lesions induced by ionizing radiation: a parametric study

The selective lesion of granule cell populations in the dentate gyrus induced by ionizing radiation has been proposed as a useful method for evaluating the effects of hippocampal lesions on behavioral tasks. In the first part of the present study we confirmed the induction of the selective lesion of hippocampal dentate gyrus by ionizing radiation in infant Wistar rats, reported previously, but to a smaller extent with less cell loss. A parametric study was thus performed to assess the effect of modification of the parameters previously tested, comprising three further steps: an increase in the total dose of X-rays and modification of the fractionating schedule; use of three radiation types, X-ray, gamma-ray, and electrons (at two energy levels, 3 and 7 mev); use of three X-ray energy levels, 180, 200 and 250 kVp; and assessment of the effect of five total X-ray doses, at 200 kVp, 10, 14, 16, 18 and 20 gy (grays). The data suggests that X-ray radiation, in a total dose of 14 gy, at the 200 kVp energy level, fractionated into seven consecutive exposures of 2 gy each and produces a lesion of about 85% of the dentate gyrus granule cells.

Evaluation of the breast absorbed dose distribution using the Fricke Xylenol Gel

During a breast cancer radiotherapy treatment, several issues have to be taken into account, among them, hot spots, gradient of doses delivered over the breast, as well as in the lungs and the heart. The present work aims to apply the Fricke Xylenol Gel (FXG) dosimeter in the study of these issues, using a CCD camera to analyse the dose deposited distribution. Thus, the CCD was used to capture the images of different cuvettes that were filled with FXG and irradiated considering analogous setups employed in breast cancer radiotherapy treatments. Thereafter, these pictures where processed in a MatLab routine and the spatial dose distributions could be evaluated. These distributions were compared with the ones that were obtained from dedicated treatment plannings softwares. According to the results obtained, the FXG, allied with the CCD system, has shown to be a complementary tool in dosimetry, helping to prevent possible complications during breast cancer treatments.

8 and 10 MeV Electron Beams Small Field-Size Dosimetric Parameters Through the Fricke Xylenol Gel Dosimeter

When small field sizes are recommended in radiotherapy, the dosimeter must have an adequate spatial resolution in order to determine the absorbed dose at the region of interest. The study of electron small field size is important since its dosimetry is not commonly performed in the clinical routine. It was verified that the Fricke Xylenol Gel (FXG) chemical dosimeter, with an effective atomic number of 7.75 and density of 1.05 g/cm3, presents adequate spatial resolution for absorbed dose distribution measurements, when small field sizes (square and circular) for 8 and 10 MeV electron beams are considered. The absorbed dose values are proportional to the absorbance spectrophotometric measurements that are proportional to the concentration of Fe+3 and the xylenol orange (XO) dye complex produced in the gel. The FXG behavior, for small field sizes irradiated with electron beams, was compared with those obtained using a small ionization chamber (IC). In this study, dosimetric parameters, such as beam profile, output factor, and percentage depth dose were evaluated. Since the dosimeter results showed no significant differences and the IC is considered the standard reference dosimeter by radiotherapy protocols, the FXG was validated for dosimetric parameter measurements to small field-size electron-beam irradiations.

Fricke dosimeter gel measurements of the profiles of shielded fields

In radiation therapy, the shielding of normal tissue can be made using Cerrobend® blocks or a multileaf collimator. In this work, profiles of shielded fields collimated by Cerrobend blocks were obtained through the Fricke Xylenol Gel (FXG) dosimeter irradiated with 6 MV photon beams. The results show that the FXG system can be used in profile measurements of small fields in radiotherapy.

FXG mass attenuation coefficient evaluation for radiotherapy routine

The knowledge of a radioactive beam energy or quality is important in radiotherapy once it is correlated with the type, size, and localization of the tumor. One indicative of the radiation quality is the half-value-layer (HVL), the material thickness which reduces the beam intensity to half. The analysis of a treatment beam spectrum can be inferred through its homogeneity coefficient (HC, ratio between the first and the second HVL) that for values ≥ 0.7 has the indication to be adequate for treatments. Another important indicator of radiation quality is the mass absorption coefficient (cm2/g), related to the photons energies absorbed in a particular exposed material. Once that several materials can be used as radiation detectors for X and γ dosimetry, this work has the purpose to verify the ferrous Xylenol gelatin (FXG) material performance, through its μ/ρ behavior and compare it with the μ/ρ behavior for soft tissue. The X and γ energies where selected, in the energies normally used in radiotherapy and their spectra were evaluated using the HC coefficient. The μ/ρ, for the FXG material, were obtained experimentally and from simulation with X-COM and a developed routine using the GEANT4 Library. From the results from all μ/ρ values obtained for the FXG material, when compared to those from water, one can see similar behaviors, when one considers measurements for energies greater than 78.0 keV. These results indicate that, once the human body is composed with ±80 % of water, the FXG for the energies used, could also be used as soft tissue simulator.

Measurements of the Fe3+ diffusion coefficient in Fricke Xylenol gel using optical density measurements

In Fricke dosimetry, optical density measurements are performed some time after dosimeter irradiation. Values of the diffusion coefficient of Fe(3+) in Fricke Xylenol gel (FXG) are necessary for determining the spatial distribution of the absorbed dose from measurements of the optical density. Five sets of FXG dosimeters, kept at different constant temperatures, were exposed to collimated 6 MV photons. The optical density profile, proportional to the Fe(3+) concentration, at the boundary between irradiated and non-irradiated parts of each dosimeter was measured periodically over a period of 60 h. By comparing the experimental data with a function that accounts for the unobserved initial concentration profile of Fe(3+) in the FXG, we obtained diffusion coefficients 0.30±0.05, 0.40±0.05, 0.50±0.05, 0.60±0.05 and 0.80±0.05 mm(2)/h for the temperatures 283.0±0.5, 286.0±0.5, 289.0±0.5, 292.0±0.5, and 296.0±0.5 K, respectively. The activation energy of Fe(3+) diffusion in the gel, 0.54±0.06 eV, was determined from the temperature dependence of the diffusion coefficients.

Electron Beam Quality Determination Through Fricke Xylenol Gel Dosimeter

According to the IAEA TRS-398 protocol, a parallel plate ionization chamber is recommended to be used in electron dosimetry. The important dosimetric parameters such as R{sub 100} and R{sub 50}, inferred from the percentage depth dose (PDD) curve, allow to obtain the electron beam average energy at the water phantom surface (material equivalent to the soft tissue). In this work, a chemical dosimeter based on the Fe(II) to Fe(III) oxidation was used to obtain the average energies from electrons beams (from nominal energies of 5, 8 and 10 MeV) and related parameters of R{sub 100}, R{sub 50} and z{sub ref}. These energies obtained through the Fricke Xylenol Gel (FXG) were compared to those with a parallel plate ionization chamber, following the cited protocol, which showed no significant differences. From these measurements one can conclude the FXG applicability for R{sub 100}, R{sub 50} and electron beam average energy determination.

Measurements of the Influence of Thermoplastic Mask in High Energy Photon Beams: Gel Dosimeter or Ionizing Chamber?

The influence of the immobilization mask material on the absorbed dose distribution in patients exposed to radiotherapy treatment with photon beams has been investigated for photons from a 60Co source and a 6 MV Linac. Absorbed dose values have been inferred at different depths and in the build‐up region. Dose measurements were obtained using Fricke Xylenol Gel dosimeter and the cylindrical PTW Freiburg TM 31016–0.016 cc ionizing micro chamber; their discrepancies are discussed. The affinities of FXG and PTW ICMicro for measurements with high energy photons and the difference in the effective atomic numbers due to their compositions are most likely the most important factors that contribute to the measured dose in the build‐up region. The measured values show that the use of the mask material contributes to increase the absorbed doses near the surface of the tissue. The result also shows that the build‐up effect for 60Co is significantly smaller than that for 6 MV photons; however, the variations noted in...

Thermoplastic Mask Influence with High Energy Electron Radiotherapy Evaluated by the Fricke Xylenol Gel Chemical Dosimeter

A thermoplastic mask is used to immobilize the patient head during radiotherapy. It also enhances the absorbed dose distribution improving the radiotherapic treatment. In this work we investigate the influence of the thermoplastic material in the phantom surface and in the target volume region. For the measurements a Fricke Xylenol Gel dosimeter, based on Fe (II) to Fe (III) oxidation, was used and their values compared with those from a 0.055 cm3 PTW/Markus Parallel Plate Ionization Chamber. From the results we could infer the absorbed dose distribution as a function of depth in the water phantom from the surface up to the build‐up depth for electron beam energies of 5, 8 and 10 MeV. The results show that using the mask, the surface dose distribution is not significantly alterated, and we therefore conclude that the mask is recommended and useful in head and neck cancer treatments.