Margin for compensating displacement of adrenal gland metastasis and fiducial marker along with respiratory phase in real-time motion-tracking radiation therapy.

In therapy with Synchrony® mounted on Radixact®, the fiducial marker (FM) and adrenal gland metastasis, which shift with respiratory phase, require margin compensation for high-dose prescriptions. Although compensation is critical, no studies have examined the margin to compensate for the respiratory phase shift. Therefore, we aimed to suggest the compensating margin for the FM and adrenal metastasis shift along with respiratory phase.

Which has more influence on dose distribution for whole neck radiation therapy, daily neck volume change, or residual setup errors?

Introduction: The demand for treatment replanning has been reported in radiation therapy for the head-and-neck region because of changes in the patient's volume or tumor shape. As the dose calculation for PreciseART is automatically determined based on megavoltage computed tomography images, monitoring the impacts of daily volume changes on the dose distribution could help performing the treatment replanning with Re-CT images at most optimal time. However, performing treatment replanning at the optimal timing is difficult unless the factors influencing volume changes or setup errors are determined.

Impact of discrepancies between CT numbers of brain-tissue-equivalent density plug and actual brain tissue on dose calculation accuracy.

This study quantitatively evaluated the impact of differences in computed tomography (CT) numbers and elemental compositions between commercially available brain-tissue-equivalent density plugs (BDPs) and actual brain tissue on dose calculations in a radiation therapy treatment planning system (RTPS). The mass density and elemental composition of BDP were analyzed using elemental analysis and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. The CT numbers of the BDP and actual brain tissue were measured and compared, with effective atomic numbers (EANs) calculated based on compositional analysis and the International Commission on Radiological Protection Publication 110 data for brain tissues.

Pacemaker Malfunction During Passive Proton Beam Therapy for Localized Prostate Cancer: Case Reports and a Literature Review.

We report two cases of pacemaker malfunction occurring during proton beam therapy (PBT) for localized prostate cancer treatment. The first case involved mode changes in the pacemaker, while the second exhibited prolongation of the RR interval. Remarkably, both cases did not manifest significant clinical changes.

Wedged field using the half-field method with a flattening filter-free photon beam.

In this study, we propose a novel wedged field using a half-field flattening filter-free beam without a metallic filter or a moving jaw, and investigate the characteristics of the proposed technique. Dose distributions of the proposed method were first determined in virtual-water or anthropomorphic phantom using a radiotherapy planning system. We evaluated the wedge angle as a function of the field size, collimator rotation, and depth.

Contrast Enhancement in Breast Cancer and Background Mammary-Gland Tissue During the Super-Early Phase of Dynamic Breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Rationale And Objectives: We aimed to compare the contrast enhancement between tumor and mammary-gland tissue to distinguish lesions in the super-early phase, during which minimal contrast media uptake is observed in mammary-gland tissue.

Materials And Methods: Dynamic magnetic resonance imaging, including the super-early phase with bolus tracking (BT) method (to determine the optimal imaging start time), was performed by using identical parameters to obtain transverse fat-suppressed T1-weighted images of both breasts. The percent enhancement (PE) and the contrast ratio (CR) indicators for tumor and mammary-gland tissue were assessed in each dynamic phase.

[Wiener spectrum and relative electron density resolution in heavy ion CT based on measurement of residual range distribution].

The relative electron density resolution was discussed by the Wiener spectrum in the heavy ion CT image. The two-dimensional (2D) Wiener spectrum in the CT image was obtained from the one-dimensional (1D) Wiener spectrum of the measured residual range distribution of the water phantom for a single projection angle, and the relative electron density resolution in the CT image was calculated from the 2D Wiener spectrum. To examine the usefulness of this method, the relative electron density resolution was also estimated by other two methods; the calculation using the Wiener spectrum of the reconstructed image of the water phantom, and the estimation by the reconstructed image of the electron density resolution phantom.

Heavy ion CT system based on measurement of residual range distribution.

The heavy ion CT system is proposed which is based on measurement of the residual range distribution by a fluoroscopy detector consisting of an intensifying screen and a CCD video camera. To investigate the fundamental performance of the proposed system, the spatial and density resolutions of the CT image were evaluated. The heavy ion beam 12C accelerated up to 400 MeV/u by HIMAC was used in this study.