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Calculation of the positron distribution from 15O nuclei formed in nuclear reactions in human tissue during proton therapy

W Tuckwell1,2 and E Bezak1,2

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To measure and verify the dose distribution within a patient during proton therapy, indirect methods must be used. One such method is to use positron emission tomography (PET), which takes advantage of the nuclear reactions that take place between protons and nuclei in the tissue. The dominant nuclear reaction in human muscle tissue involves oxygen nuclei and produces radioactive oxygen-15. Oxygen-15 decays through positron emission, and it is these positrons that go on to annihilate that produce the signal used in the PET technique. Finding the distribution of annihilation points, however, is not analogous to finding the proton dose distribution. The oxygen-15 and positrons travel finite distances within the tissue, blurring the detected PET distribution from the desired proton distribution. Through Monte Carlo modelling, an analysis of the differences between the positron, oxygen-15 and proton distributions has been made. The program SRIM 2003 was used to find the correlation between the three distributions within simulated muscle tissue. Results show that the distal edge of the proton Bragg peak correlates with the detectable positron distribution, which is a section of the dose distribution of interest due to the steep dose gradient and position of adjacent critical structures.


PACS

87.53.Bn Dosimetry/exposure assessment

87.55.K- Monte Carlo methods

87.57.uk Positron emission tomography (PET)

87.55.-x Treatment strategy

87.56.Da Ancillary equipment

Subjects

Medical physics

Dates

Issue 9 (7 May 2007)

Received 2 June 2006, in final form 23 January 2007

Published 11 April 2007



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