SU‐E‐CAMPUS‐T‐04: Measurement of Proton Pencil Beam Spot Profile Using Cherenkov Radiation in Two Dimensional Optical Fiber Arrays

Abstract

Purpose: Proton therapy aims to deliver a high dose in a well‐defined target volume while sparing the healthy surrounding tissues thanks to their inherent depth dose characteristic (Bragg peak). In proton therapy, several techniques can be used to deliver the dose into the target volume. The one that allows the best conformity with the tumor, is called PBS (Pencil Beam Scanning). The measurement of the proton pencil beam spot profile (spot size) and position is very important for the accurate delivery of dose to the target volume with a good conformity. Methods: We have developed a fine segmented detector array to monitor the PBS. A prototype beam monitor using Cherenkov radiation in clear plastic optical fibers (cPOF) has been developed for continuous display of the pencil beam status during the therapeutic proton Pencil Beam Scanning mode operation. The benefit of using Cherenkov radiation is that the optical output is linear to the dose. Pedestal substraction and the gain adjustment between channels are performed. Spot profiles of various pencil beam energies(100 MeV to 226 MeV) are measured. Two dimensional gaussian fit is used to analyze the beam width and the spot center. The results are compared with that of Lynx(Scintillator‐based sensor with CCD camera) and EBT3 Film. Results: The measured gaussian widths using fiber array system changes from 13 to 5 mm for the beam energies from 100 to 226 MeV. The results agree well with Lynx and Film within the systematic error. Conclusion: The results demonstrate good monitoring capability of the system. Not only measuing the spot profile but also monitoring dose map by accumulating each spot measurement is available. The x‐y monitoing system with 128 channel readout will be mounted to the snout for the in‐situ real time monitoring.