Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1682593 | Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms | 2009 | 4 Pages |
Abstract
A key point in the quality control of ion therapy is real-time monitoring and imaging of the dose delivered to the patient. Among the possible signals that can be used to make such a monitoring, prompt gamma-rays issued from nuclear fragmentation are possible candidates, provided the correlation between the emission profile and the primary beam range can be established. By means of simultaneous energy and time-of-flight discrimination, we could measure the longitudinal profile of the prompt gamma-rays emitted by 73Â MeV/u carbon ions stopping inside a PMMA target. This technique allowed us to minimize the shielding against neutrons and scattered gamma rays, and to find a good correlation between the prompt-gamma profile and the ion range. This profile was studied as a function of the observation angle. By extrapolating our results to higher energies and realistic detection efficiencies, we showed that prompt gamma-ray measurements make it feasible to control in real time the longitudinal dose during ion therapy treatments.
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Authors
E. Testa, M. Bajard, M. Chevallier, D. Dauvergne, F. Le Foulher, N. Freud, J.M. Létang, J.C. Poizat, C. Ray, M. Testa,