Dosimetric scintillating screen detector for charged particle radiotherapy quality assurance
First Claim
1. An apparatus for determining the spatial distribution and intensity of a penetrating radiation beam characterized generally by a propagation direction inside a body, the apparatus comprising:
- a tissue phantom disposed between a radiation source and a radiation detector;
a scintillating screen disposed behind the tissue phantom for emitting light in response to the radiation received by the scintillating screen, the scintillating screen comprising a mixture of at least two scintillators wherein each scintillator has a different characteristic response and a different spectral output;
a means of optical communication between the output of the scintillating screen and at least one imaging sensor, wherein the means of optical communication has a nonuniform spectral transmission; and
at least one imaging sensor in optical communication with the scintillating screen for providing a high resolution imaging sensor output indicative of the spatial distribution and intensity of the radiation beam, wherein the imaging sensor has a nonuniform spectral sensitivity;
wherein the composition of the scintillating screen, the means of optical communication, and the at least one imaging sensor form a system wherein the relative contribution of the at least two scintillators of the mixture produce an imaging sensor output which is proportional to a characteristic of the radiation beam incident on the scintillating screen at each measurement position accessible with the tissue phantom;
wherein each scintillator of the mixture contributes a detection signal per deposited energy Dn(LET,F)=∫
dλ
ρ
nSn(λ
)En(LET,F)An(λ
)Q(λ
)T(λ
) to the total imaging sensor output and a fractional contribution
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Abstract
An apparatus and method are provided for performing Quality Assurance of complex beams of penetrating radiation inside a patient. A detector with a transverse scintillating screen images the radiation inside a tissue phantom with high spatial resolution. The scintillator is comprised of a mixture of two or more scintillators emitting different spectra of light and having different characteristic responses as a function of the beam LET value. The optics relaying the scintillation output have variable transmission with wavelength, further shaping the spectrum of light transmitted to the imaging sensor which also has spectrally varying sensitivity. Parameters of the scintillator construction, the optics, and the imaging sensor are chosen so the output of the composite detector is proportional to a characteristic of the input beam, for example the dose deposited as a function of depth inside the tissue phantom.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. An apparatus for determining the spatial distribution and intensity of a penetrating radiation beam characterized generally by a propagation direction inside a body, the apparatus comprising:
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a tissue phantom disposed between a radiation source and a radiation detector; a scintillating screen disposed behind the tissue phantom for emitting light in response to the radiation received by the scintillating screen, the scintillating screen comprising a mixture of at least two scintillators wherein each scintillator has a different characteristic response and a different spectral output; a means of optical communication between the output of the scintillating screen and at least one imaging sensor, wherein the means of optical communication has a nonuniform spectral transmission; and at least one imaging sensor in optical communication with the scintillating screen for providing a high resolution imaging sensor output indicative of the spatial distribution and intensity of the radiation beam, wherein the imaging sensor has a nonuniform spectral sensitivity; wherein the composition of the scintillating screen, the means of optical communication, and the at least one imaging sensor form a system wherein the relative contribution of the at least two scintillators of the mixture produce an imaging sensor output which is proportional to a characteristic of the radiation beam incident on the scintillating screen at each measurement position accessible with the tissue phantom; wherein each scintillator of the mixture contributes a detection signal per deposited energy Dn(LET,F)=∫
dλ
ρ
nSn(λ
)En(LET,F)An(λ
)Q(λ
)T(λ
) to the total imaging sensor output and a fractional contribution - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification