SU‐E‐T‐802: Verification of Implanted Cardiac Pacemaker Doses in Intensity‐Modulated Radiation Therapy: Dose Prediction Accuracy and Reduction Effect of a Lead Sheet

Abstract

Purpose:To verify delivered doses on the implanted cardiac pacemaker, predicted doses with and without dose reduction method were verified using the MOSFET detectors in terms of beam delivery and dose calculation techniques in intensity‐modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).Methods:The pacemaker doses for a patient with a tongue cancer were predicted according to the beam delivery methods [step‐and‐shoot (SS) and sliding window (SW)], intensity levels for dose optimization, and dose calculation algorithms. Dosimetric effects on the pacemaker were calculated three dose engines: pencil‐beam convolution (PBC), analytical anisotropic algorithm (AAA), and Acuros‐XB. A lead shield of 2 mm thickness was designed for minimizing irradiated doses to the pacemaker. Dose variations affected by the heterogeneous material properties of the pacemaker and effectiveness of the lead shield were predicted by the Acuros‐XB. Dose prediction accuracy and the feasibility of the dose reduction strategy were verified based on the measured skin doses right above the pacemaker using mosfet detectors during the radiation treatment.Results:The Acuros‐XB showed underestimated skin doses and overestimated doses by the lead‐shield effect, even though the lower dose disagreement was observed. It led to improved dose prediction with higher intensity level of dose optimization in IMRT. The dedicated tertiary lead sheet effectively achieved reduction of pacemaker dose up to 60%.Conclusion:The current SS technique could deliver lower scattered doses than recommendation criteria, however, use of the lead sheet contributed to reduce scattered doses.Thin lead plate can be a useful tertiary shielder and it could not acuse malfunction or electrical damage of the implanted pacemaker in IMRT. It is required to estimate more accurate scattered doses of the patient with medical device to design proper dose reduction strategy.