Scanning laser optical computed tomography system for large volume 3D dosimetry

Abstract

Stray light causes artifacts in optical computed tomography (CT) that negatively affect the accuracy of radiation dosimetry in gels or solids. Scatter effects are exacerbated by a large dosimeter volume, which is desirable for direct verification of modern radiotherapy treatment plans such as multiple-isocenter radiosurgery. The goal in this study was to design and characterize an optical CT system that achieves high accuracy primary transmission measurements through effective stray light rejection, while maintaining sufficient scan speed for practical application. We present an optical imaging platform that uses a galvanometer mirror for horizontal scanning, and a translation stage for vertical movement of a laser beam and small area detector for minimal stray light production and acceptance. This is coupled with a custom lens-shaped optical CT aquarium for parallel ray sampling of projections. The scanner images 15 cm diameter, 12 cm height cylindrical volumes at 0.33 mm resolution in approximately 30 min. Attenuation coefficients reconstructed from CT scans agreed with independent cuvette measurements within 2% for both absorbing and scattering solutions as well as small 1.25 cm diameter absorbing phantoms placed within a large, scattering medium that mimics gel. Excellent linearity between the optical CT scanner and the independent measurement was observed for solutions with between 90% and 2% transmission. These results indicate that the scanner should achieve highly accurate dosimetry of large volume dosimeters in a reasonable timeframe for clinical application to radiotherapy dose verification procedures.