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The conversion of computed tomography (CT) numbers into material composition and mass density data influences the accuracy of patient dose calculations in Monte Carlo treatment planning (MCTP). The aim of our work was to develop a CT conversion scheme by performing a stoichiometric CT calibration. Fourteen dosimetrically equivalent tissue subsets (bins), of which ten bone bins, were created. After validating the proposed CT conversion scheme on phantoms, it was compared to a conventional five bin scheme with only one bone bin. This resulted in dose distributions D₁₄ and D₅ for nine clinical patient cases in a European multi-centre study. The observed local relative differences in dose to medium were mostly smaller than 5%. The dose–volume histograms of both targets and organs at risk were comparable, although within bony structures D₁₄ was found to be slightly but systematically higher than D₅. Converting dose to medium to dose to water (D₁₄ to D_14wat and D₅ to D_5wat) resulted in larger local differences as D_5wat became up to 10% higher than D_14wat. In conclusion, multiple bone bins need to be introduced when Monte Carlo (MC) calculations of patient dose distributions are converted to dose to water.

Positron emission tomography (PET) systems dedicated to animal imaging are now widely used for biological studies. The scanner performance strongly depends on the design and the characteristics of the system. Many parameters must be optimized like the dimensions and type of crystals, geometry and field-of-view (FOV), sampling, electronics, lightguide, shielding, etc. Monte Carlo modelling is a powerful tool to study the effect of each of these parameters on the basis of realistic simulated data. Performance assessment in terms of spatial resolution, count rates, scatter fraction and sensitivity is an important prerequisite before the model can be used instead of real data for a reliable description of the system response function or for optimization of reconstruction algorithms. The aim of this study is to model the performance of the Philips Mosaic™ animal PET system using a comprehensive PET simulation code in order to understand and describe the origin of important factors that influence image quality. We use GATE, a Monte Carlo simulation toolkit for a realistic description of the ring PET model, the detectors, shielding, cap, electronic processing and dead times. We incorporate new features to adjust signal processing to the Anger logic underlying the Mosaic™ system. Special attention was paid to dead time and energy spectra descriptions. Sorting of simulated events in a list mode format similar to the system outputs was developed to compare experimental and simulated sensitivity and scatter fractions for different energy thresholds using various models of phantoms describing rat and mouse geometries. Count rates were compared for both cylindrical homogeneous phantoms. Simulated spatial resolution was fitted to experimental data for ¹⁸F point sources at different locations within the FOV with an analytical blurring function for electronic processing effects. Simulated and measured sensitivities differed by less than 3%, while scatter fractions agreed within 9%. For a 410–665 keV energy window, the measured sensitivity for a centred point source was 1.53% and mouse and rat scatter fractions were respectively 12.0% and 18.3%. The scattered photons produced outside the rat and mouse phantoms contributed to 24% and 36% of total simulated scattered coincidences. Simulated and measured single and prompt count rates agreed well for activities up to the electronic saturation at 110 MBq for the mouse and rat phantoms. Volumetric spatial resolution was 17.6 µL at the centre of the FOV with differences less than 6% between experimental and simulated spatial resolution values. The comprehensive evaluation of the Monte Carlo modelling of the Mosaic™ system demonstrates that the GATE package is adequately versatile and appropriate to accurately describe the response of an Anger logic based animal PET system.

We have constructed a three-dimensional (3D) whole body mouse atlas from coregistered x-ray CT and cryosection data of a normal nude male mouse. High quality PET, x-ray CT and cryosection images were acquired post mortem from a single mouse placed in a stereotactic frame with fiducial markers visible in all three modalities. The image data were coregistered to a common coordinate system using the fiducials and resampled to an isotropic 0.1 mm voxel size. Using interactive editing tools we segmented and labelled whole brain, cerebrum, cerebellum, olfactory bulbs, striatum, medulla, masseter muscles, eyes, lachrymal glands, heart, lungs, liver, stomach, spleen, pancreas, adrenal glands, kidneys, testes, bladder, skeleton and skin surface. The final atlas consists of the 3D volume, in which the voxels are labelled to define the anatomical structures listed above, with coregistered PET, x-ray CT and cryosection images. To illustrate use of the atlas we include simulations of 3D bioluminescence and PET image reconstruction. Optical scatter and absorption values are assigned to each organ to simulate realistic photon transport within the animal for bioluminescence imaging. Similarly, 511 keV photon attenuation values are assigned to each structure in the atlas to simulate realistic photon attenuation in PET. The Digimouse atlas and data are available at http://neuroimage.usc.edu/Digimouse.html.

The quantification of dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI data conventionally requires a conversion from signal intensity to contrast agent concentration by measuring a change in the tissue longitudinal relaxation rate, R₁. In this paper, it is shown that the use of a spoiled gradient-echo acquisition sequence (optimized so that signal intensity scales linearly with contrast agent concentration) in conjunction with a reference tissue-derived vascular input function (VIF), avoids the need for the conversion to Gd-DTPA concentration. This study evaluates how to optimize such sequences and which dynamic time-series parameters are most suitable for this type of analysis. It is shown that signal difference and relative enhancement provide useful alternatives when full contrast agent quantification cannot be achieved, but that pharmacokinetic parameters derived from both contain sources of error (such as those caused by differences between reference tissue and region of interest proton density and native T₁ values). It is shown in a rectal cancer study that these sources of uncertainty are smaller when using signal difference, compared with relative enhancement (15 ± 4% compared with 33 ± 4%). Both of these uncertainties are of the order of those associated with the conversion to Gd-DTPA concentration, according to literature estimates.

A dual modality computed mammotomography (CmT) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) system for dedicated 3D breast imaging is in development. Using heavy K-edge filtration, the CmT component narrows the energy spectrum of the cone-shaped x-ray beam incident on the patient's pendant, uncompressed breast. This quasi-monochromatic beam is expected to improve discrimination of tissue with similar attenuation coefficients while restraining absorbed dose to below that of dual view mammography. Previous simulation studies showed the optimal energy that maximizes dose efficiency for a 50/50% adipose/glandular breast is between 30 and 40 keV. This study experimentally validates these results using pre-breast and post-breast spectral measurements made under tungsten tube voltages between 40 and 100 kVp using filter materials with K-edge values ranging from 15 to 70 keV. Different filter material thicknesses are used, approximately equivalent to the 200th and 500th attenuating value layer (VL) thickness. Cerium (K = 40.4 keV) filtered post-breast spectra for 8–18 cm breasts are measured for a range of breast compositions. Figures of merit include mean beam energy, spectral full-width at tenth-maximum, beam hardening and dose for the range of breast sizes. Measurements corroborate simulation results, indicating that for a given dose, a 200th VL of cerium filtration may have optimal performance in the dedicated mammotomography paradigm.

For beamlet-based IMRT optimization, fast and less accurate dose computation algorithms are frequently used, while more accurate algorithms are needed to recompute the final dose for verification. In order to speed up the optimization process and ensure close proximity between dose in optimization and verification, proper consideration of dose gradients and tissue inhomogeneity effects should be ensured at every stage of the optimization. Due to their speed, pencil beam algorithms are often used for precalculation of beamlet dose distributions in IMRT treatment planning systems. However, accounting for tissue heterogeneities with these models requires the use of approximate rescaling methods. Recently, a finite size pencil beam (fsPB) algorithm, based on a simple and small set of data, was proposed which was specifically designed for the purpose of dose pre-computation in beamlet-based IMRT. The present work describes the incorporation of 3D density corrections, based on Monte Carlo simulations in heterogeneous phantoms, into this method improving the algorithm accuracy in inhomogeneous geometries while keeping its original speed and simplicity of commissioning. The algorithm affords the full accuracy of 3D density corrections at every stage of the optimization, hence providing the means for density related fluence modulation like penumbra shaping at field edges.

The influence of artefacts due to metal implants on the range of ion beams is investigated, using a geometrically well-defined head and pelvic phantom together with inserts from steel, titanium and tungsten. The ranges along various beam paths including artefacts were calculated from the TPS and compared to known calculations for phantoms without any insert. In the head phantom, beams intersecting the streak artefacts lead to errors in the range of around or below 1%, which is mainly due to a cancellation of various effects. Beams through the metal or close to it show an underestimation of 3.5% of the range for tungsten. For the pelvic phantom, a large underestimation of the range is observed for a lateral path through the metal insert. In the case of tungsten and steel, range errors of −5% and −18% are observed, respectively. Such beam paths are typically used for pelvic tumours in radiotherapy with ion beams. For beams in the anterior–posterior direction through the inserts, an overestimation of ion ranges of up to 3% for titanium and 8% for steel is expected, respectively. Beam paths outside the metal insert show a large cancellation for the lateral beams (leading to errors of around 1% only) and somewhat higher errors for anterior–posterior beams (around 3% for titanium and 6% for steel). The analysis of CT data of patients with dental implants of gold as compared to patients with healthy teeth also showed a significant effect of the artefacts on the distribution of HU in the data, namely a redistribution of HU to higher and lower values as compared to patients with healthy teeth. The corresponding mean range variation was a 2.5% reduction in the data with artefacts as compared to the data without artefacts. It is concluded that beam paths through metal implants should generally be avoided in proton and ion therapy. In this case, the underestimation of ion range due to artefacts alone may amount to 3% for dental fillings and up to 5% and 18% for hip prosthesis made of titanium and steel, respectively. It is important to note that the size of the metal inserts cannot be determined correctly from the images, so that a correction of the ranges in metal also leads to large uncertainties. Finally, it should be stressed that the stated relative deviations are strictly valid only for the investigated phantoms and can only give a rough estimate on the size of range uncertainties that may appear in real patients.

The usable range of thickness for the solid lithium target in the accelerator-based neutron production for BNCT via the near-threshold ⁷Li(p,n)⁷Be reaction was investigated. While the feasibility of using a ⁷Li-target with thickness equal to that which is required to slow down a mono-energetic 1.900 MeV incident proton to the 1.881 MeV threshold of the ⁷Li(p,n)⁷Be reaction (i.e., t_min = 2.33 µm) has already been demonstrated, dosimetric properties of neutron fields from targets greater than t_min were assessed as thicker targets would last longer and offer more stable neutron production. Additionally, the characteristics of neutron fields generated by ⁷Li(p,n)⁷Be for Gaussian incident protons with mean energy of 1.900 MeV were evaluated at a ⁷Li-target thickness t_min. The main evaluation index applied in this study was the treatable protocol depth (TPD) which corresponds to the depth in an irradiated medium that satisfies the requirements of the adapted dose protocol. A maximum TPD (TPD_max) was obtained for each irradiation condition from the relationship between the TPD and the thickness of boron dose enhancer (BDE) used. For a mono-energetic 1.900 MeV proton beam, the deepest TPD_max of 3.88 cm was attained at the ⁷Li-target thickness of t_min and a polyethylene BDE of 1.10 cm. When the intended TPD for a BNCT clinical treatment is shallower than the deepest TPD_max, the usable ⁷Li-target thickness would be between t_min and an upper limit t_upper whose value depends on the BDE thickness used. In terms of the effect of stability of the incident proton energy, Gaussian incident proton energies stable to within ±10 keV of 1.900 MeV were found to be feasible for the neutron production via the near-threshold ⁷Li(p,n)⁷Be reaction for BNCT provided that a suitable BDE is used.

A rubidium-82 (⁸²Rb) elution system is described for use with positron emission tomography. Due to the short half-life of ⁸²Rb (76 s), the system physics must be modelled precisely to account for transport delay and the associated activity decay and dispersion. Saline flow is switched between a ⁸²Sr/⁸²Rb generator and a bypass line to achieve a constant-activity elution of ⁸²Rb. Pulse width modulation (PWM) of a solenoid valve is compared to simple threshold control as a means to simulate a proportional valve. A predictive-corrective control (PCC) algorithm is developed which produces a constant-activity elution within the constraints of long feedback delay and short elution time. The system model parameters are adjusted through a self-tuning algorithm to minimize error versus the requested time-activity profile. The system is self-calibrating with 2.5% repeatability, independent of generator activity and elution flow rate. Accurate 30 s constant-activity elutions of 10–70% of the total generator activity are achieved using both control methods. The combined PWM–PCC method provides significant improvement in precision and accuracy of the requested elution profiles. The ⁸²Rb elution system produces accurate and reproducible constant-activity elution profiles of ⁸²Rb activity, independent of parent ⁸²Sr activity in the generator. More reproducible elution profiles may improve the quality of clinical and research PET perfusion studies using ⁸²Rb.

A method based on magnetic resonance elastography is presented that allows measuring the weldedness of interfaces between soft tissue layers. The technique exploits the dependence of shear wave scattering at elastic interfaces on the frequency of vibration. Experiments were performed on gel phantoms including differently welded interfaces. Plane wave excitation parallel to the planar interface with corresponding motion sensitization enabled the observation of only shear-horizontal (SH) wave scattering. Spatio-temporal filtering was applied to calculate scattering coefficients from the amplitudes of the incident, transmitted and reflected SH-waves in the vicinity of the interface. The results illustrate that acoustic wave scattering in soft tissues is largely dependent on the connectivity of interfaces, which is potentially interesting for imaging tissue mechanics in medicine and biology.

On-board CBCT images are used to generate patient geometric models to assist patient setup. The image data can also, potentially, be used for dose reconstruction in combination with the fluence maps from treatment plan. Here we evaluate the achievable accuracy in using a kV CBCT for dose calculation. Relative electron density as a function of HU was obtained for both planning CT (pCT) and CBCT using a Catphan-600 calibration phantom. The CBCT calibration stability was monitored weekly for 8 consecutive weeks. A clinical treatment planning system was employed for pCT- and CBCT-based dose calculations and subsequent comparisons. Phantom and patient studies were carried out. In the former study, both Catphan-600 and pelvic phantoms were employed to evaluate the dosimetric performance of the full-fan and half-fan scanning modes. To evaluate the dosimetric influence of motion artefacts commonly seen in CBCT images, the Catphan-600 phantom was scanned with and without cyclic motion using the pCT and CBCT scanners. The doses computed based on the four sets of CT images (pCT and CBCT with/without motion) were compared quantitatively. The patient studies included a lung case and three prostate cases. The lung case was employed to further assess the adverse effect of intra-scan organ motion. Unlike the phantom study, the pCT of a patient is generally acquired at the time of simulation and the anatomy may be different from that of CBCT acquired at the time of treatment delivery because of organ deformation. To tackle the problem, we introduced a set of modified CBCT images (mCBCT) for each patient, which possesses the geometric information of the CBCT but the electronic density distribution mapped from the pCT with the help of a BSpline deformable image registration software. In the patient study, the dose computed with the mCBCT was used as a surrogate of the 'ground truth'. We found that the CBCT electron density calibration curve differs moderately from that of pCT. No significant fluctuation was observed in the calibration over the period of 8 weeks. For the static phantom, the doses computed based on pCT and CBCT agreed to within 1%. A notable difference in CBCT- and pCT-based dose distributions was found for the motion phantom due to the motion artefacts which appeared in the CBCT images (the maximum discrepancy was found to be ∼3.0% in the high dose region). The motion artefacts-induced dosimetric inaccuracy was also observed in the lung patient study. For the prostate cases, the mCBCT- and CBCT-based dose calculations yielded very close results (<2%). Coupled with the phantom data, it is concluded that the CBCT can be employed directly for dose calculation for a disease site such as the prostate, where there is little motion artefact. In the prostate case study, we also noted a large discrepancy between the original treatment plan and the CBCT (or mCBCT)-based calculation, suggesting the importance of inter-fractional organ movement and the need for adaptive therapy to compensate for the anatomical changes in the future.

We consider the displacement of an elastic material under an external compression (axial or almost axial stress). We assume that only one component of the displacement is observed, in the direction of compression (axial displacement), or alternatively, that two components are observed in a plane. These hypotheses are in accordance with an imaging modality, namely ultrasonic elastography. In the case of a homogeneous medium we show that any value of Poisson's ratio allows us to predict the observed value of the axial displacement. When two components of the displacement are measured in a plane, the Poisson's ratio of the plane strain model that predicts the observed displacement is not the same as the tri-dimensional material. These facts are illustrated by numerical experiments in the case of an inhomogeneous medium. We also present results on experimental phantom data, where the inverse problem of reconstructing the Young's modulus is solved assuming different values for Poisson's ratio.

A singly resonant femtosecond-pulsed synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator (SPOPO) is reported that provides a wavelength-tunable alternative to the Cr:forsterite source for nonlinear microscopy applications. Periodically poled lithium niobate within an external resonator was synchronously pumped by a commercial fs-pulsed Nd:YLF laser source to provide fs-pulsed continuously tunable radiation from 1.45 to 1.63 µm. Third harmonic generation (THG) microscopy and three-photon laser scanning fluorescence microscopy (3PLSM) of a range of samples were subsequently performed using this long-wavelength SPOPO source. The ability to tune the excitation wavelength delivered to the sample significantly improved the efficiency of both the 3PLSM and THG imaging experiments.

Analytical dose computation algorithms like pencil beam algorithms (PB) are presently used for clinical treatment planning in intensity-modulated proton therapy. PB offer fast computation times, but are based on substantial approximations. Monte Carlo algorithms (MC) offer better accuracy, but are slower. We present a comparison of optimized treatment plans for six patients computed either with PB or MC. Both PB and MC are used during optimization, plus MC is used to recompute PB results. PB is used with different accuracy settings that define the coarseness of approximation. We evaluate the errors of PB optimized treatment plans via comparison with MC optimized plans (convergence errors) and MC recomputed plans (systematic errors) occurring for different accuracy settings of the PB. The level of lateral heterogeneities, being one of the main sources of inaccuracies of the PB, is quantified by a formula. In geometries with high levels of lateral heterogeneities, the shortcomings of PB are most obvious. For these geometries, simple PB lead to clinically significant differences and more accurate PB settings have to be used to diminish the error. The most accurate PB settings lead however to longer computing times by approximately a factor of 2 to 4 compared to PB with simple settings. Although the errors can be diminished, they cannot be fully eliminated even with sophisticated PB. Further gain in accuracy can therefore only be reached with MC in optimization. The use of MC in optimization is technically feasible, the computing times are however about 25 to 50 times longer compared to PB with most accurate settings.

For gated lung cancer radiotherapy, it is difficult to generate accurate gating signals due to the large uncertainties when using external surrogates and the risk of pneumothorax when using implanted fiducial markers. We have previously investigated and demonstrated the feasibility of generating gating signals using the correlation scores between the reference template image and the fluoroscopic images acquired during the treatment. In this paper, we present an in-depth study, aiming at the improvement of robustness of the algorithm and its validation using multiple sets of patient data. Three different template generating and matching methods have been developed and evaluated: (1) single template method, (2) multiple template method, and (3) template clustering method. Using the fluoroscopic data acquired during patient setup before each fraction of treatment, reference templates are built that represent the tumour position and shape in the gating window, which is assumed to be at the end-of-exhale phase. For the single template method, all the setup images within the gating window are averaged to generate a composite template. For the multiple template method, each setup image in the gating window is considered as a reference template and used to generate an ensemble of correlation scores. All the scores are then combined to generate the gating signal. For the template clustering method, clustering (grouping of similar objects together) is performed to reduce the large number of reference templates into a few representative ones. Each of these methods has been evaluated against the reference gating signal as manually determined by a radiation oncologist. Five patient datasets were used for evaluation. In each case, gated treatments were simulated at both 35% and 50% duty cycles. False positive, negative and total error rates were computed. Experiments show that the single template method is sensitive to noise; the multiple template and clustering methods are more robust to noise due to the smoothing effect of aggregation of correlation scores; and the clustering method results in the best performance in terms of computational efficiency and accuracy.

Fetal brain signals produce weak magnetic fields at the maternal abdominal surface. In the presence of much stronger interference these weak fetal fields are often nearly indistinguishable from noise. Our initial objective was to validate these weak fetal brain fields by demonstrating that they agree with the electromagnetic model of the fetal brain. The fetal brain model is often not known and we have attempted to fit the data to not only the brain source position, orientation and magnitude, but also to the brain model position. Simulation tests of this extended model search on fetal MEG recordings using dipole fit and beamformers revealed a region of ambiguity. The region of ambiguity consists of a family of models which are not distinguishable in the presence of noise, and which exhibit large and comparable SNR when beamformers are used. Unlike the uncertainty of a dipole fit with known model plus noise, this extended ambiguity region yields nearly identical forward solutions, and is only weakly dependent on noise. The ambiguity region is located in a plane defined by the source position, orientation, and the true model centre, and will have a diameter approximately 0.67 of the modelled fetal head diameter. Existence of the ambiguity region allows us to only state that the fetal brain fields do not contradict the electromagnetic model; we can associate them with a family of models belonging to the ambiguity region, but not with any specific model. In addition to providing a level of confidence in the fetal brain signals, the ambiguity region knowledge in combination with beamformers allows detection of undistorted temporal waveforms with improved signal-to-noise ratio, even though the source position cannot be uniquely determined.

We experimentally investigated the SPECT recovery of I-131 activity in multiple spheres located simultaneously at different locations within a cylindrical phantom that had an elliptical cross section. The sphere volumes ranged from 209 cc down to 4.2 cc. A Prism 3000 camera and two types of parallel-hexagonal-hole collimation were employed: high energy (HE) and ultra high energy (UHE). Using appropriately-different 3D models of the point source response function for the two types of collimation, approximately the same recovery of activity could be achieved with either collimation by 3D OSEM reconstruction. The recovery coefficient was greater with no background activity in the phantom by 0.10, on average, compared to that with background. In the HE collimation case, the activity recovery was considerably better for all volumes using 3D OSEM reconstruction than it had been in the past using 1D SAGE reconstruction. Recovery-coefficient-based correction in a simulated patient case involving spherical tumours moderately improved the activity estimates (average error reduced from 14% to 9% for UHE collimation, and from 15% to 11% for HE collimation). For a test case with HE collimation, increasing the projection-image sampling density while decreasing the image voxel size increased the recovery coefficient by 0.075 on average, and, if used in a full set of calibration measurements of recovery coefficient versus volume, might lead to further improvement in accuracy for the patient case.

Experiments were conducted to confirm the isotropic spatial resolution of multislice CT with a 0.5 mm slice thickness. Isotropic spatial resolution means that the spatial resolution in the transaxial plane (X–Y plane) and that in the longitudinal direction (Z direction) are equivalent. To obtain point spread function (PSF) values in the X–Y–Z directions, three-dimensional voxel data were obtained by helical scanning of a bead phantom. The modulation transfer function (MTF) values were then obtained by three-dimensional Fourier transform of the PSF. Evaluation of the spatial resolution in the X–Y–Z directions by the MTF values showed that the spatial resolution in the Z direction does not depend on the reconstruction kernel used. It was also found that the spatial resolution in the Z direction, as compared with that in the X–Y plane, is superior with the standard kernel for the abdomen and is inferior with the high-definition kernel for the ears/bones. By performing sharpening filter processing in the Z direction with a high-definition kernel, comparable spatial resolution could be obtained in the X–Y–Z directions. It was confirmed that adjusting the spatial resolution in the Z direction with the reconstruction kernel used is an effective method for isotropic imaging.

The quasi-static elastic properties of the tympanic membrane system can be described by the areal modulus of elasticity determined by a middle ear model. The response of the tympanic membrane to quasi-static pressure changes is determined by its elastic properties. Several clinical problems are related to these, but studies are few and mostly not comparable. The elastic properties of membranes can be described by the areal modulus, and these may also be susceptible to age-related changes reflected by changes in the areal modulus. The areal modulus is determined by the relationship between membrane tension and change of the surface area relative to the undeformed surface area. A middle ear model determined the tension–strain relationship in vivo based on data from experimental pressure–volume deformations of the human tympanic membrane system. The areal modulus was determined in both a younger (n = 10) and an older (n = 10) group of normal subjects. The areal modulus for lateral and medial displacement of the tympanic membrane system was smaller in the older group (mean = 0.686 and 0.828 kN m⁻¹, respectively) compared to the younger group (mean = 1.066 and 1.206 kN m⁻¹, respectively), though not significantly (2p = 0.10 and 0.11, respectively). Based on the model the areal modulus was established describing the summated elastic properties of the tympanic membrane system. Future model improvements include exact determination of the tympanic membrane area accounting for its shape via 3D finite element analyses. In vivo estimates of Young's modulus in this study were a factor 2–3 smaller than previously found in vitro. No significant age-related differences were found in the elastic properties as expressed by the areal modulus.

We continue our work on the development of an efficient treatment-planning algorithm for prostate seed implants by incorporation of an automated seed and needle configuration routine. The treatment-planning algorithm is based on region of interest (ROI) adjoint functions and a greedy heuristic. As defined in this work, the adjoint function of an ROI is the sensitivity of the average dose in the ROI to a unit-strength brachytherapy source at any seed position. The greedy heuristic uses a ratio of target and critical structure adjoint functions to rank seed positions according to their ability to irradiate the target ROI while sparing critical structure ROIs. Because seed positions are ranked in advance and because the greedy heuristic does not modify previously selected seed positions, the greedy heuristic constructs a complete seed configuration quickly. Isodose surface constraints determine the search space and the needle constraint limits the number of needles. This study additionally includes a methodology that scans possible combinations of these constraint values automatically. This automated selection scheme saves the user the effort of manually searching constraint values. With this method, clinically acceptable treatment plans are obtained in less than 2 min. For comparison, the branch-and-bound method used to solve a mixed integer-programming model took close to 2.5 h to arrive at a feasible solution. Both methods achieved good treatment plans, but the speedup provided by the greedy heuristic was a factor of approximately 100. This attribute makes this algorithm suitable for intra-operative real-time treatment planning.

A new technique for modelling multiple-order Compton scatter which uses the absolute probabilities relating the image space to the projection space in 3D whole body PET is presented. The details considered in this work give a valuable insight into the scatter problem, particularly for multiple scatter. Such modelling is advantageous for large attenuating media where scatter is a dominant component of the measured data, and where multiple scatter may dominate the total scatter depending on the energy threshold and object size. The model offers distinct features setting it apart from previous research: (1) specification of the scatter distribution for each voxel based on the transmission data, the physics of Compton scattering and the specification of a given PET system; (2) independence from the true activity distribution; (3) in principle no scaling or iterative process is required to find the distribution; (4) explicit multiple scatter modelling; (5) no scatter subtraction or addition to the forward model when included in the system matrix used with statistical image reconstruction methods; (6) adaptability to many different scatter compensation methods from simple and fast to more sophisticated and therefore slower methods; (7) accuracy equivalent to that of a Monte Carlo model. The scatter model has been validated using Monte Carlo simulation (SimSET).

Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) has become an effective tool for cancer treatment with radiation. However, even expert radiation planners still need to spend a substantial amount of time manually adjusting IMRT optimization parameters such as dose limits and costlet weights in order to obtain a clinically acceptable plan. In this paper, we describe two main advances that simplify the parameter adjustment process for five-field prostate IMRT planning. First, we report the results of a sensitivity analysis that quantifies the effect of each hand-tunable parameter of the IMRT cost function on each clinical objective and the overall quality of the resulting plan. Second, we show that a recursive random search over the six most sensitive parameters as an outer loop in IMRT planning can quickly and automatically determine parameters for the cost function that lead to a plan meeting the clinical requirements. Our experiments on a ten-patient dataset show that for 70% of the cases, we can automatically determine a plan in 10 min (on the average) that is either clinically acceptable or requires only minor adjustment by the planner. The outer-loop optimization can be easily integrated into a traditional IMRT planning system.

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We introduce an empirical formula to directly calculate the room scatter factor in the calibration of ¹⁹²Ir HDR using a Farmer chamber. Compared to the data of Selvam et al (2001 Phys. Med. Biol.46 2299), our formula is accurate to within 0.3%. Our method saves time because the room scatter can be obtained in one calculation rather than being deduced through a series of setups of different source–chamber distances. It could also be cost effective because a calibration jig might be no longer necessary. We only need to position the applicator and chamber at a fixed space in air and measure its distance. We also analysed the effects of two possible errors arising from ignoring the room scatter and the measurement error of the source–chamber distance. We recommend that the source–chamber distance should be at least 10 cm.

A new interstitial breast localization marker is proposed which exhibits positive contrast in T1-weighted MRI, ultrasound and x-ray mammography. Unlike previous markers which provide MRI contrast on the basis of a susceptibility-induced signal void, this marker provides a clear positive contrast without any loss of signal or spatial distortion. The marker is composed of 400 µm diameter copper microspheres suspended in a Gd-DTPA-doped gel matrix. Optimal contrast in T1-weighted spoiled gradient recalled MRI was found to occur with the addition of 10 mM Gd-DTPA. Ultrasound contrast was generated on the basis of scattering from the copper microspheres. X-ray contrast was provided by the high x-ray attenuation properties of the copper microspheres. The study demonstrates potential suitability of the marker for use as a breast localization marker based on ex vivo studies of chicken breast.