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Output Factor Dependence On Range and Modulation for a New Proton Therapy System

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B Sun

B Sun*, T Zhao , K Grantham , S Goddu , L Santanam , E Klein , Washington University, St. Louis, MO

Presentations

TH-C-19A-7 Thursday 10:15AM - 12:15PM Room: 19A

Purpose:Proton treatment planning systems are not able to accurately predict output factors and do not calculate monitor units (MU) for proton fields. Output factors (cGy/MU) for patient-specific fields are usually measured in phantoms or modeled empirically. The purpose of this study is to predict the output factors (OFs) for a given proton (R90) and modulation width (Mod) for the first Mevion S250 proton therapy system.

Methods:Using water phantoms and a calibrated ionization chamber-electrometer, over 100 OFs were measured for various R90 and Mod combinations for 24 different options. OFs were measured at the center of the Mod, which coincided with the isocenter. The measured OFs were fitted using an analytic model developed by Kooy (Phys.Med.Biol. 50, 2005) for each option and a derived universal empirical-based polynomial as a function of R90 and Mod for all options. Options are devised for ranges of R90 and Mod. The predicted OFs from both models were compared to measurements.

Results:Using the empirical-based model, the values could be predicted to within 3% for at least 90% of measurements and within 5% for 98% of the measurements. Using the analytic model to fit each option with the same effective source position, the prediction is much more accurate. The maximal uncertainty between measured and predicted is within 2% and the averaged root-mean-square is 1.5%.

Conclusion:Although the measured data was not exhaustive, both models predicted OFs within acceptable uncertainty. Both models are currently used for a sanity check of our continual patient field OF measurements. As we acquire more patient-field OFs, the model will be refined with an ultimate goal of eliminating the time-consuming patient-specific OF measurements.


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