Authors
Antje-Christin Knopf, Antony Lomax
Publication date
2013/7/17
Source
Physics in Medicine & Biology
Volume
58
Issue
15
Pages
R131
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Description
Protons are an interesting modality for radiotherapy because of their well defined range and favourable depth dose characteristics. On the other hand, these same characteristics lead to added uncertainties in their delivery. This is particularly the case at the distal end of proton dose distributions, where the dose gradient can be extremely steep. In practice however, this gradient is rarely used to spare critical normal tissues due to such worries about its exact position in the patient. Reasons for this uncertainty are inaccuracies and non-uniqueness of the calibration from CT Hounsfield units to proton stopping powers, imaging artefacts (eg due to metal implants) and anatomical changes of the patient during treatment. In order to improve the precision of proton therapy therefore, it would be extremely desirable to verify proton range in vivo, either prior to, during, or after therapy. In this review, we describe and compare …
Scholar articles
AC Knopf, A Lomax - Physics in Medicine & Biology, 2013