Investigation of the Dependency of the Output Factor on the Field Size in Passive Scattering Proton Therapy at the National Cancer Center in Korea

Abstract

The dependency of the output factor on the field size in the passive scattering proton therapy at the National Cancer Center (NCC) in Korea was investigated through a comparison of the measured output factors. The output factor of the fields of the representative beam options was measured using a Pinpoint chamber with standard circular blocks of less than 5 cm in diameter. The measured output factors for different field sizes show that the dependency of the output factor on the field size is not negligible even in the field for the 5 cm in diameter for long-range proton beams. In addition, the conflicting dependency in shallow fields indicates that the potential contribution of scattered protons should be considered in predicting and modelling of the output factors in small fields.