The aim of this thesis is to investigate the use of a dedicated system for proton therapy treatments monitoring based on the PET technique. It focuses on the use of data acquired shortly after irradiations, which is currently not yet fully explored. An ad hoc detector called DoPET was built and used for several experiments. This stationary dual-head detector, along with an on-purpose optimised reconstruction software, is capable of reconstructing the β+ activated volume, acquiring data also during treatment for cyclotron based facilities. Currently, this system is one of the few PET systems worldwide for proton therapy monitoring that can be easily transported: it acquired data in three different particle therapy centres in Italy and in the proton therapy centre of Krakow, Poland. The FLUKA MC code was used for the validation and interpretation of our experimental data. FLUKA was chosen as a simulation tool because it has been intensively benchmarked against depth-dose data and lateral-dose profiles from various accelerators used for research and clinical ion-beam therapy. In this thesis, we present data acquired in two proton therapy centres with the aim of measuring the system monitoring capabilities in various conditions. The thesis is organized as follows: Chapter 1 provides a review of the physical rationale of particle therapy. In chapter 2, the DoPET system and its calibration process are described, along with the proton therapy centres where we have acquired data. Furthermore, we describe two methods of β+ activity reconstruction and the FLUKA MC code. Chapter 3 contains the experimental data analysis and their validation with FLUKA simulations, demonstrating that DoPET along with FLUKA can be used as a monitoring system for proton therapy. The last part of the chapter deals with the potential use of DoPET for beam characterisation. Finally, appendix A describes particle therapy technology and appendix B introduces a model for β + signal estimation.

Topi, A. (2018). Positron Emission Tomography Applied in Proton Therapy for Treatment Delivery Verification.

Positron Emission Tomography Applied in Proton Therapy for Treatment Delivery Verification

Albana Topi
2018-01-01

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the use of a dedicated system for proton therapy treatments monitoring based on the PET technique. It focuses on the use of data acquired shortly after irradiations, which is currently not yet fully explored. An ad hoc detector called DoPET was built and used for several experiments. This stationary dual-head detector, along with an on-purpose optimised reconstruction software, is capable of reconstructing the β+ activated volume, acquiring data also during treatment for cyclotron based facilities. Currently, this system is one of the few PET systems worldwide for proton therapy monitoring that can be easily transported: it acquired data in three different particle therapy centres in Italy and in the proton therapy centre of Krakow, Poland. The FLUKA MC code was used for the validation and interpretation of our experimental data. FLUKA was chosen as a simulation tool because it has been intensively benchmarked against depth-dose data and lateral-dose profiles from various accelerators used for research and clinical ion-beam therapy. In this thesis, we present data acquired in two proton therapy centres with the aim of measuring the system monitoring capabilities in various conditions. The thesis is organized as follows: Chapter 1 provides a review of the physical rationale of particle therapy. In chapter 2, the DoPET system and its calibration process are described, along with the proton therapy centres where we have acquired data. Furthermore, we describe two methods of β+ activity reconstruction and the FLUKA MC code. Chapter 3 contains the experimental data analysis and their validation with FLUKA simulations, demonstrating that DoPET along with FLUKA can be used as a monitoring system for proton therapy. The last part of the chapter deals with the potential use of DoPET for beam characterisation. Finally, appendix A describes particle therapy technology and appendix B introduces a model for β + signal estimation.
2018
Topi, A. (2018). Positron Emission Tomography Applied in Proton Therapy for Treatment Delivery Verification.
Topi, Albana
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11365/1066400
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo