SU‐F‐T‐671: Effects of Collimator Material On Proton Minibeams

Abstract

Purpose:To investigate the dosimetric effects of collimator material on spatially modulated proton minibeams (pMBRT). Methods: pMBRT holds promise to exhibit shallow depth normal‐tissue sparing effects similar to synchrotron based microbeams while also retaining potential for uniform dose distributions for tumor targets. TOPAS Monte Carlo simulations were performed for a 5cm thick multislit collimator with 0.3mm slits and 1mm center‐to‐center spacing for a 50.5MeV proton minibeam while varying collimator material between brass, tungsten, and iron. The collimator was placed both “flush” at the water phantom surface and at 5cm distance to investigate the effects on surface dose, peak‐to‐valley‐dose‐ratio (PVDR) and neutron contribution.Results:For flush placement, the neutron dose at the phantom surface for the tungsten collimator was approximately 20% higher than for brass and iron. This was not reflected in the overall surface dose, which was comparable for all materials due to the relatively low neutron contribution of <0.1%. When the collimator was retracted, the overall neutron contribution was essentially identical for all three collimators. Surface dose dropped by ∼40% for all collimator materials with air gap compared to being flush with the phantom surface. This surface dose reduction was at the cost of increase in valley dose for all collimator materials due to increased angular divergence of the mini‐beams at the surface and their consequent geometric penumbra at depth. When the collimator was placed at distance from the phantom surface the PVDR decreased. The peak‐to‐entrance‐dose ratio was highest for the iron collimator with 5cm air gap. Conclusion: The dosimetric difference between the collimator materials is minimal despite the relatively higher neutron contribution at the phantom surface for the tungsten collimator when placed flush. The air gap between the collimator and phantom surface strongly influences all dosimetry parameters due to the influence of scatter on the narrow spatial modulation.