Shu Hang

Monte Carlo simulation of glandular dose in a dedicated breast CT system

A dedicated breast CT system (DBCT) is a new method for breast cancer detection proposed in recent years. In this paper, the glandular dose in the DBCT is simulated using the Monte Carlo method. The phantom shape is half ellipsoid, and a series of phantoms with different sizes, shapes and compositions were constructed. In order to optimize the spectra, monoenergy X-ray beams of 5–80 keV were used in simulation. The dose distribution of a breast phantom was studied: a higher energy beam generated more uniform distribution, and the outer parts got more dose than the inner parts. For polyenergtic spectra, four spectra of Al filters with different thicknesses were simulated, and the polyenergtic glandular dose was calculated as a spectral weighted combination of the monoenergetic dose.

ATPF - a dedicated proton therapy facility

A proton therapy facility based on a linac injector and a slow-cycling synchrotron is proposed. To obtain good treatments for different cancer types, both the spot scanning method and the double-scattering method are adopted in the facility, whereas the nozzles include both gantry and fixed beam types. The proton accelerator chain includes a synchrotron of 250 MeV in maximum energy, an injector of 7 MeV consisting of an RFQ and a DTL linac, with a repetition rate of 0.5 Hz. The slow extraction using the third-order resonance and together with the RFKO method is considered to be a good method to obtain a stable and more-or-less homogenous beam spill. To benefit the spot scanning method, the extraction energy can be as many as about 200 between 60 MeV and 230 MeV. A new method - the emittance balancing technique of using a solenoid or a quadrupole rotator is proposed to solve the problem of unequal emittance in the two transverse planes with a beam slowly extracted from a synchrotron. The facility has been designed to keep the potential to be upgraded to include the carbon therapy in the future.

Physical design of scanning gantry for proton therapy facility

A proton therapy facility based on a linac injector and a slow cycling synchrotron is proposed. To achieve effective treatment of cancer, a scanning gantry is required. The flexible transmission of beam and high beam position accuracy are the most basic requirements for a gantry. The designed gantry optics and scanning system are presented. Great efforts are put into studying the sensitivity of the beam position in the isocenter to the element misalignments. It shows that quadrupole shift makes the largest contribution and special attention should be paid to it.

Irradiation methods and nozzle design for the advanced proton therapy facility

A conception design of the Advanced Proton Therapy Facility (APTF) has been carried out. The system intentionally employs a slow-cycling synchrotron with a maximum energy of 250 MeV, two rotating gantries and two fixed beam nozzles for the treatment. In this paper, we try to compare the strength and weaknesses between the two treatment methods: the beam spreading and the pencil beam scanning. The application of the pencil beam scanning method and the double-scattering method together with the related nozzle design at APTF is also given. The simulation results of employing the double-scattering method have been given during the preliminary design.