Abstract
One of the goals of modern dynamic radiotherapy treatments is to deliver high-dose values in the shortest irradiation time possible. In such a context, fast X-ray detectors and reliable front-end readout electronics for beam diagnostics are crucial to meet the necessary quality assurance requirements of care plans. This work describes a diamond-based detection system able to acquire and process the dose delivered by every single pulse sourced by a linear accelerator (LINAC) generating 6-MV X-ray beams. The proposed system is able to measure the intensity of X-ray pulses in a limited integration period around each pulse, thus reducing the inaccuracy induced by unnecessarily long acquisition times. Detector sensitivity under 6-MV X-photons in the 0.1–10 Gy dose range was measured to be 302.2 nC/Gy at a bias voltage of 10 V. Pulse-by-pulse measurements returned a charge-per-pulse value of 84.68 pC, in excellent agreement with the value estimated (but not directly measured) with a commercial electrometer operating in a continuous integration mode. Significantly, by intrinsically holding the acquired signal, the proposed system enables signal processing even in the millisecond period between two consecutive pulses, thus allowing for effective real-time dose-per-pulse monitoring.
Highlights
In radiation therapy (RT), accurate measurements of delivered doses are crucial both for defining effective treatment plans and for meeting the stringent quality assurance (QA) requirements for patient management and safety
IMRT and VMAT are highly conformal techniques that allow for the irradiation of complex and irregularly shaped tumors close to delicate organs that could be damaged if the absorbed dose exceeds a certain tolerance level; the dose is released by linear accelerator (LINAC) in a very short time interval, and is appropriately modulated to be at its maximum on the tumor mass and at its minimum at the level of organs at risk [5,6,7]
Aimed at contributing to satisfying such demand, we introduce, in this work, a complete measurement system based on an ultrafast diamond detector coupled to customized front-end readout electronics designed for pulse-by-pulse signal processing to be used in the development of optimized RT plans for the treatment of solid tumors
Summary
In radiation therapy (RT), accurate measurements of delivered doses are crucial both for defining effective treatment plans and for meeting the stringent quality assurance (QA) requirements for patient management and safety. IMRT and VMAT are highly conformal techniques that allow for the irradiation of complex and irregularly shaped tumors close to delicate organs that could be damaged if the absorbed dose exceeds a certain tolerance level; the dose is released by LINAC in a very short time interval, and is appropriately modulated to be at its maximum on the tumor mass and at its minimum at the level of organs at risk [5,6,7] This ensures an optimal efficacy of treatment, as well as a lower incidence of side effects
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