Sci‐Thur AM: YIS – 02: Imaging dose distributions through the detection of radiation‐induced acoustic waves

Abstract

Purpose:X‐ray acoustic computed tomography (XACT) is an emerging technique that images the dose deposited within an object following linac irradiation by detecting acoustic waves induced via the photoacoustic effect. This work shows that XACT images can be formed in soft‐tissue equivalent material and that dosimetric information can be extracted from such images.Methods:Acoustic waves induced in a water tank following irradiation by a 10 MV flattening filter free photon beam were detected with an immersion ultrasound transducer at 60 angles surrounding the radiation field. A back‐projection algorithm was used to reconstruct an XACT image from the detected transducer signals. Profiles extracted from XACT images were compared to profiles measured with ion chambers as per the current clinical protocol.Results:XACT images were successfully formed of simple 4 cm × 4 cm and 6 cm × 3 cm fields, as well as of more complicated multi‐leaf collimator defined fields. For the 6 cm × 3 cm field, 74% and 87% of the XACT profile points in the 6 cm and 3 cm dimensions, respectively, passed a 7% / 4 mm gamma test when compared to ion chamber measurements. In a complicated puzzle piece shaped field, 86% of the pixels in an extracted profile passed a 7% / 4 mm gamma test.Conclusions:XACT is capable of imaging the dose distribution delivered by a variety of field sizes and shapes in water, and is a viable technique for both water tank and in vivo dosimetry.