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Abstract
Proton range monitoring and verification is important to enhance the effectiveness of treatment by ensuring that the correct dose is delivered to the correct location. Upon proton irradiation, different positron emitting radioisotopes are produced by the inelastic nuclear interactions of protons with the target elements. Recently, it was reported that the 16O(p,2p2n)13N reaction has a relatively low threshold energy, and it could be potentially used for proton range verification. In the present work, we have proposed an analysis scheme (i.e., algorithm) for the extraction and three-dimensional visualization of positron emitting radioisotopes. The proposed step-by-step analysis scheme was tested using our own experimentally obtained dynamic data from a positron emission mammography (PEM) system (our developed PEMGRAPH system). The experimental irradiation was performed using an azimuthally varying field (AVF) cyclotron with a 80 MeV monoenergetic pencil-like beam. The 3D visualization showed promising results for proton-induced radioisotope distribution. The proposed scheme and developed tools would be useful for the extraction and 3D visualization of positron emitting radioisotopes and in turn for proton range monitoring and verification.
Highlights
It is well-known that protons have low lateral scattering and deposit energy more locally when compared to photons [1,2,3,4,5]
The production of proton-induced radioisotopes was confirmed by the spectral analysis (SA) approach, which was applied to the dynamic data measured using the PEMGRAPH system
All the developed numerical tools that are essential for the present scheme have been made open-source and freely available
Summary
It is well-known that protons have low lateral scattering and deposit energy more locally when compared to photons [1,2,3,4,5]. Protons have a lower exit dose when compared to photons, which are used in conventional radiation therapy [7,8,9]. Proton radiography and tomography have both shown promising results for proton range verification, but scattering reduces the resolution of the acquired images [12]. Several investigators have recently studied Prompt Gamma Imaging (PGI) [15,16] for proton range verification and reported promising results. Another important technique for proton range monitoring and verification is auto-activation Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging, which is a non-invasive technique. The proton range is estimated by measuring annihilation photons generated by positron emitting radioisotopes such as 15 O, 11 C and
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