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Journal of Isfahan Medical School (10277595) 37(519)pp. 222-227
Background: Todays, radiotherapy with high-energy photons is used as a common modality for cancer treatment. Unfortunately, high-energy photons can produce unwanted neutrons, and subsequently lead to increase the risk of secondary cancer in unshielded healthy organs.Methods: Using Monte Carlo (MC) code (MCNPX®), the main parts of a typical Medical Linear Accelerator (LINAC) was modeled in 18 MV. Then, neutron source strength (Q) of the LINAC and neutron mean energy were evaluated for different treatment fields, and also different points at the treatment table. Additionally, to estimate the probability of secondary cancer risk, the neutron equivalent dose was calculated at some of the human’s critical organs. For this purpose, the female medical internal radiation dosimetry (MIRD) phantom was included in the MC simulations.Findings: The Q was found as 1.25-1.38 (all in 1012 n/Gy) for different treatment fields meaning significant portion of neutrons with a mean energy of 0.59-0.90 MeV around the LINAC. Additionally, the total secondary cancer risk in unshielded healthy organs was calculated as 0.0924% which maximum and minimum were related to stomach (0.0216%) and thyroid (0.0005%), respectively.Conclusion: Regarding the estimated values for the probability of secondary cancer risk, it is suggested that in conventional radiotherapy of deeply seated tumors, the 15-MV photons are preferred instead of using 18-MV photons due to their less biological side effects.
Optics Express (10944087) 33(10)pp. 21393-21412
We introduce what we believe to be a novel machine learning (ML)-based ResNet algorithm for predicting gas pressure from spectral imagery, eliminating the need for traditional peak fitting. Evaluated using simulated and experimental carbon monoxide (CO) spectra, the model accurately predicts pressures across a wide range (1 mbar - 2 bar), even with noisy data, outperforming conventional methods like PeakFit. The ResNet model demonstrates minimal discrepancies between predicted and actual pressures, achieving a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.095 and mean squared error (MSE) of 0.009 in simulations, and maximum MAE of 1.2×10−2 and MSE of 1.46×10−4 experimentally below 94 mbar. This approach significantly enhances quantitative spectroscopy by focusing on line shape imagery, showing promising applications in atmospheric science, industrial monitoring, and environmental research. This work is a substantial improvement over our previous models. © 2025 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement.
Karimi, A.H. ,
Das, I.J. ,
Chegeni, N. ,
Jabbari, I. ,
Jafari, F. ,
Geraily, G. Scientific Reports (20452322) 14(1)
Grid therapy recently has been picking momentum due to favorable outcomes in bulky tumors. This is being termed as Spatially Fractionated Radiation Therapy (SFRT) and lattice therapy. SFRT can be performed with specially designed blocks made with brass or cerrobend with repeated holes or using multi-leaf collimators where dosimetry is uncertain. The dosimetric challenge in grid therapy is the mystery behind the lower percentage depth dose (PDD) in grid fields. The knowledge about the beam quality, indexed by TPR20/10 (Tissue Phantom Ratio), is also necessary for absolute dosimetry of grid fields. Since the grid may change the quality of the primary photons, a new kq,q should be evaluated for absolute dosimetry of grid fields. A Monte Carlo (MC) approach is provided to resolving the dosimetric issues. Using 6 MV beam from a linear accelerator, MC simulation was performed using MCNPX code. Additionally, a commercial grid therapy device was used to simulate the grid fields. Beam parameters were validated with MC model for output factor, depth of maximum dose, PDDs, dose profiles, and TPR20/10. The electron and photon spectra were also compared between open and grid fields. The dmax is the same for open and grid fields. The PDD with grid is lower (~ 10%) than the open field. The difference in TPR20/10 of open and grid fields is observable (~ 5%). Accordingly, TPR20/10 is still a good index for the beam quality in grid fields and consequently choose the correct kq,q in measurements. The output factors for grid fields are 0.2 lower compared to open fields. The lower depth dose with grid therapy is due to lower depth fluence with scatter radiation but it does not impact the dosimetry as the calibration parameters are insensitive to the effective beam energies. Thus, standard dosimetry in open beam based on international protocol could be used. © The Author(s) 2024.
Mahmoudi, F. ,
Mohammadi, N. ,
Haghighi, M. ,
Alirezaei, Z. ,
Jabbari, I. ,
Chegeni, N. ,
Elmtalab, S. ,
Vega-carrillo, H.R. ,
Kazemian, A. ,
Geraily, G. PLoS ONE (19326203) 18(1 January)
Neutron contamination in radiation therapy is of concern in treatment with high-energy photons (> 10 MV). With the development of new radiotherapy modalities such as spatially fractionated grid radiation therapy (SFGRT) or briefly grid radiotherapy, more studies are required to evaluate the risks associated with neutron contamination. In 15 MV SFGRT, high- Z materials such as lead and cerrobend are used as the block on the tray of linear accelerator (linac) which can probably increase the photoneutron production. On the other hand, the high-dose fractions (10-20 Gy) used in SFGRT can induce high neutron contamination. The current study was devoted to addressing these concerns via compression of neutron fluence (Φn) and ambient dose equivalent (H*n 10 ) at the patient table and inside the maze between SFGRT and conventional fractionated radiation therapy (CFRT). The main components of the 15 MV Siemens Primus equipped with different grids and located inside a typical radiotherapy bunker were simulated by the MCNPX® Monte Carlo code. Evidence showed that the material used for grid construction does not significantly increase neutron contamination inside the maze. However, at the end of the maze, neutron contamination in SFGRT is significantly higher than in CFRT. In this regard, a delay time of 15 minutes after SFGRT is recommended for all radiotherapy staff before entering the maze. It can be also concluded that H*n 10 at the patient table is at least 10 times more pronounced than inside the maze. Therefore, the patient is more at risk of neutrons compared to the staff. The H*n 10 at the isocenter in SFGRT with grids made of lead and cerrobend was nearly equal to CFRT. Nevertheless, it was dramatically lower than in CFRT by 30% if the brass grid is used. Accordingly, SFGRT with the brass grid is recommended, from radiation protection aspects. © 2023 Mahmoudi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Journal Of Medical Signals And Sensors (22287477) 12(1)pp. 8-24
Background: Reconstruction of high quality two dimensional images from fan beam computed tomography (CT) with a limited number of projections is already feasible through Fourier based iterative reconstruction method. However, this article is focused on a more complicated reconstruction of three dimensional (3D) images in a sparse view cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) by utilizing Compressive Sensing (CS) based on 3D pseudo polar Fourier transform (PPFT). Method: In comparison with the prevalent Cartesian grid, PPFT re gridding is potent to remove rebinning and interpolation errors. Furthermore, using PPFT based radon transform as the measurement matrix, reduced the computational complexity. Results: In order to show the computational efficiency of the proposed method, we compare it with an algebraic reconstruction technique and a CS type algorithm. We observed convergence in <20 iterations in our algorithm while others would need at least 50 iterations for reconstructing a qualified phantom image. Furthermore, using a fast composite splitting algorithm solver in each iteration makes it a fast CBCT reconstruction algorithm. The algorithm will minimize a linear combination of three terms corresponding to a least square data fitting, Hessian (HS) Penalty and l1 norm wavelet regularization. We named it PP-based compressed sensing-HS-W. In the reconstruction range of 120 projections around the 360° rotation, the image quality is visually similar to reconstructed images by Feldkamp-Davis-Kress algorithm using 720 projections. This represents a high dose reduction. Conclusion: The main achievements of this work are to reduce the radiation dose without degrading the image quality. Its ability in removing the staircase effect, preserving edges and regions with smooth intensity transition, and producing high-resolution, low-noise reconstruction results in low-dose level are also shown. © 2021 Journal of Medical Signals & Sensors Published by Wolters Kluwer-Medknow.
Geraily, G. ,
Elmtalab, S. ,
Mohammadi, N. ,
Alirezaei, Z. ,
Martinez-ovalle s.a., ,
Jabbari, I. ,
Vega-carrillo, H.R. ,
Karimi, A.H. Biomedical Physics and Engineering Express (20571976) 8(1)
This study was devoted to determining the unwanted dose due to scattered photons to the out-of-field organs and subsequently estimate the risk of secondary cancers in the patients undergoing pelvic radiotherapy. A typical 18 MV Medical Linear Accelerator (Varian Clinac 2100 C/D) was modeled using MCNPX® code to simulate pelvic radiotherapy with four treatment fields: anterior-posterior, posterior-anterior, right lateral, left lateral. Dose evaluation was performed inside Medical Internal Radiation Dose (MIRD) revised female phantom. The average photon equivalent dose in out-of-field organs is 8.53 mSv Gy−1, ranging from 0.17 to 72.11 mSv Gy−1, respectively, for the organs far from the Planning Treatment Volume (Brain) and those close to the treatment field (Colon). Evidence showed that colon with 4.3049% and thyroid with 0.0020% have the highest and lowest risk of secondary cancer, respectively. Accordingly, this study introduced the colon as an organ with a high risk of secondary cancer which should be paid more attention in the follow-up of patients undergoing pelvic radiotherapy. The authors believe that this simple Monte Carlo (MC) model can be also used in other radiotherapy plans and mathematical phantoms with different ages (from childhood to adults) to estimate the out-of-field dose. The extractable information by this simple MC model can be also employed for providing libraries for user-friendly applications (e.g. ‘.apk’) which in turn increase the public knowledge about fatal cancer risk after radiotherapy and subsequently decrease the concerns in this regard among the public. © 2021 IOP Publishing Ltd
Ahmadian, S. ,
Jabbari, I. ,
Bagherimofidi, S.M. ,
Rad, H.S. Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine (13528661) 34(2)pp. 213-228
Objective: Inversion recovery-pointwise encoding time reduction with radial acquisition (IR-PETRA) is an effective magnetic resonance (MR) pulse sequence in generating pseudo-CTs. The hardware-related spatial-distortion (HRSD) in MR images potentially deteriorates the accuracy of pseudo-CTs. Thus, we aimed at characterizing HRSD for IR-PETRA. Materials and methods: gross-HRSDoverall (Euclidean-sum of gross-HRSDi (i = x, y, z)) for IR-PETRA was assessed using a brain-specific phantom for two MR scanners (1.5 T-Aera and 3.0 T-Prisma). Moreover, hardware imperfections were analyzed by determining gradient-nonlinearity spatial-distortion (GNSD) and B0-inhomogeneity spatial-distortion (B0ISD) for magnetization-prepared rapid acquisition gradient-echo (MP-RAGE) which has well-known distortion characteristics. Results: In 3.0 T, maximum of gross-GNSDoverall (Euclidean-sum of gross-GNSDi) and gross-B0ISD for MP-RAGE was 2.77 mm and 0.57 mm, respectively. For this scanner, the mean and maximum of gross-HRSDoverall for IR-PETRA were 0.63 ± 0.38 mm and 1.91 mm, respectively. In 1.5 T, maximum of gross-GNSDoverall and gross-B0ISD for MP-RAGE was 3.41 mm and 0.78 mm, respectively. The mean and maximum of gross-HRSDoverall for IR-PETRA were 1.02 ± 0.50 mm and 3.12 mm, respectively. Discussion: The spatial accuracy of MR images, besides being impacted by hardware performance, scanner capabilities, and imaging parameters, is mainly affected by its imaging strategy and data acquisition scheme. In 3.0 T, even without applying vendor correction algorithms, spatial accuracy of IR-PETRA image is sufficient for generating pseudo-CTs. In 1.5 T, distortion-correction is required to provide this accuracy. © 2020, European Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and Biology (ESMRMB).
Safaeipour, E. ,
Poorbaygi, H. ,
Jabbari, I. ,
Sheibani s., S. Journal Of Applied Clinical Medical Physics (15269914) 22(9)pp. 82-93
169Yb has been recently used as an HDR brachytherapy source for cancer treatment. In this paper, dosimetric parameters of a new design of 169Yb HDR brachytherapy source were determined by Monte Carlo (MC) method and film dosimetry. In this new source, the radioactive core has been encapsulated twice for safety purposes. The calculations of dosimetric parameters carried out using MC simulation in water and air phantom. In order to exclude photon contamination's cutoff energy, δ was set at 10 keV. TG-43U1 data dosimetric, including Sk, Λ, g(r), F(r, θ) was computed using outputs from the simulation and their statistical uncertainties were calculated. Dose distribution around the new prototype source in PMMA phantom in the framework of AAPM TG-43 and TG-55 recommendations was measured by Radiochromic film (RCF) Gafchromic EBT3. Obtained air kerma strength, Sk, and the dose rate constant, Λ, from simulation has a value of 1.03U ± 0.03 and 1.21 cGyh−1U−1 ± 0.03, respectively. The radial dose function was calculated at radial distances between 0.5 and 10 cm with a maximum value of 1.15 ± 0.03 at 5–6 cm distances. The anisotropy functions for radial distances of 0.5–7 cm and angle distances 0° to180° were calculated. The dosimetric data of the new HDR 169Yb source were compared with another reference source of 169Yb-HDR and were found that has acceptable compatibility. In addition, the anisotropy function of the MC simulation and film dosimetry method at a distance of 1 cm from this source was obtained and a good agreement was found between the anisotropy results. © 2021 The Authors. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Association of Physicists in Medicine
IEEE Transactions on Image Processing (10577149) 29pp. 5832-5847
The recent application of Fourier Based Iterative Reconstruction Method (FIRM) has made it possible to achieve high-quality 2D images from a fan beam Computed Tomography (CT) scan with a limited number of projections in a fast manner. The proposed methodology in this article is designed to provide 3D Radon space in linogram fashion to facilitate the use of FIRM with cone beam projections (CBP) for the reconstruction of 3D images in a sparse view angles Cone Beam CT (CBCT). For this reason, in the first phase, the 3D Radon space is generated using CBP data after discretization and optimization of the famous Grangeat's formula. The method used in this process involves fast Pseudo Polar Fourier transform (PPFT) based on 2D and 3D Discrete Radon Transformation (DRT) algorithms with no wraparound effects. In the second phase, we describe reconstruction of the objects with available Radon values, using direct inverse of 3D PPFT. The method presented in this section eliminates noises caused by interpolation from polar to Cartesian space and exhibits no thorn, V-shaped and wrinkle artifacts. This method reduces the complexity to O(n3 log n) for images of size {{\mathrm {n}}\times {\mathrm {n}} \times {\mathrm {n}}}. The Cone to Radon conversion (Cone2Radon) Toolbox in the first phase and MATLAB/Python toolbox in the second phase were tested on three digital phantoms and experiments demonstrate fast and accurate cone beam image reconstruction due to proposed modifications in all three stages of Grangeat's method. © 1992-2012 IEEE.
Hossein, H.H.S. ,
Jabbari, I. ,
Zarepour, A. ,
Zarrabi, A. ,
Ashrafizadeh, M. ,
Taherian, A. ,
Makvandi, P. Molecules (14203049) 25(18)
In recent years, the intrinsic magnetic properties of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have made them one of the most promising candidates for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This study aims to evaluate the effect of different coating agents (with and without targeting agents) on the magnetic property of MNPs. In detail, iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) were prepared by the polyol method. The nanoparticles were then divided into two groups, one of which was coated with silica (SiO2) and hyperbranched polyglycerol (HPG) (SPION@SiO2@HPG); the other was covered by HPG alone (SPION@HPG). In the following section, folic acid (FA), as a targeting agent, was attached on the surface of nanoparticles. Physicochemical properties of nanostructures were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). TEM results showed that SPION@HPG was monodispersed with the average size of about 20 nm, while SPION@SiO2@HPG had a size of about 25 nm. Moreover, HPG coated nanoparticles had much lower magnetic saturation than the silica coated ones. The MR signal intensity of the nanostructures showed a relation between increasing the nanoparticle concentrations inside the MCF-7 cells and decreasing the signal related to the T2 relaxation time. The comparison of coating showed that SPION@SiO2@HPG (with/without a targeting agent) had significantly higher r2 value in comparison to Fe3O4@HPG. Based on the results of this study, the Fe3O4@SiO2@HPG-FA nanoparticles have shown the best magnetic properties, and can be considered promising contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging applications. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel,
Medical Physics (24734209) 46(11)pp. 5273-5283
Purpose: To evaluate the effect of beam configuration with inaccurate or incomplete small field output factors on the accuracy of dose calculations in treatment planning systems. Methods: Output factors were measured using various detectors and for a range of field sizes. Three types of treatment machines were configured in two treatment planning systems. In the first (corrected) machine, the Exradin W1 scintillator was used to determine output factors. In the second (uncorrected) machine, the measured output factors by the A1SL ion chamber without considering output correction factors for small field sizes were utilized. In the third (clinical) machine, measured output factors by the Exradin W1 were used but not for field sizes smaller than 2 × 2 cm2. The dose computed by the anisotropic analytical algorithm (AAA), Acuros XB (AXB) and collapsed cone convolution/superposition (CCC) algorithms in the three machines were delivered using static (jaw-, MLC-, and jaw/MLC-defined), and composite [intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT)] fields. The differences between measured and calculated dose values were analyzed. Results: For static fields, the percentage differences between measured and calculated doses by the three algorithms in three configured machines were <2% for field sizes larger than 2 × 2 cm2. In jaw- and jaw/MLC-defined fields smaller than 2 × 2 cm2, the corrected machine presented better agreement with measurement. Considering output correction factors in MLC-defined fields, among the three configured machines, the accuracy of calculation improved to within ±0.5%. For MLC-defined field size of 1 × 1 cm2, AXB showed the smallest percentage difference (1%). In IMRT and VMAT plans, the percentage differences between measured and calculated doses at the isocenter, as well as the gamma analysis of different plans, which include field sizes larger than 3 × 3 cm2, did not vary noticeably. For smaller field sizes, using the corrected machine influences dose calculation accuracy. Conclusion: Configuration with corrected output factors improves accuracy of dose calculation for static field sizes smaller than 2 × 2 cm2. For very small fields, the robustness of the dose calculation algorithm affects the accuracy of dose as well. In IMRT and VMAT plans, which include small subfields, the size of the jaw-defined field is an important factor and using corrected output factors increases dose calculation accuracy. © 2019 American Association of Physicists in Medicine
Karimi, A.H. ,
Brkić, H. ,
Shahbazi-gahrouei, D. ,
Haghighi, S.B. ,
Jabbari, I. Applied Radiation and Isotopes (09698043) 145pp. 24-31
Nowadays, high-energy X-rays produced by medical linear accelerators (LINACs) are widely used in many Radiation Therapy (RT) centers. High-energy photons (> 8 MeV) produce undesired neutrons in the LINAC head which raise concerns about unwanted neutron dose to the patients and RT personnel. Regarding the significance of radiation protection in RT, it is important to evaluate photoneutron contamination inside the RT room. Unfortunately, neutron dosimeters used for this purpose have limitations that can under the best conditions cause to > 10% uncertainty. In addition to this uncertainty, the present Monte Carlo (MC) study introduces another uncertainty in measurements (nearly up to 20%) when neutron ambient dose equivalent (H n * (10)) is measured at the patient table or inside the maze and the change in neutron energy is ignored. This type of uncertainty can even reach 35% if H n * (10) is measured by dosimeters covered by a layer of 10 B as converter. So, in these cases, neglecting the change in neutron energy can threaten the credibility of measured data and one should attend to this energy change in order to reduce measurement uncertainty to the possible minimum. This study also discusses the change in neutron spectra and H n * (10) at the patient table caused by removing a typical RT room from MC simulations. Under such conditions, neutron mean energy (Ē n ) overestimated by 0.2–0.4 MeV at the patient table. Neutron fluence (φ n ) at the isocenter (IC) was underestimated by 23–54% for different field sizes that caused H n * (10) to be miscalculated up to 24%. This finding informs researchers that for accurate evaluation of H n * (10) at the patient table, simulating the RT room is an effective parameter in MC studies. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd
Radiation Physics and Chemistry (18790895) 152pp. 1-5
In the present research, polyvinyl butyral film was prepared and irradiated by gamma-ray at various doses up to 250 kGy. Then, the effects of irradiation on the PVB were studied through the tensile test, FTIR, 1H-NMR and AFM techniques. The results of tensile tests show the existence of ‘necking’ up to 100 kGy and an increase in the toughness up to 70 kGy. Structural study by spectroscopic techniques show the formation of new groups as a result of increased conjugated double bonds. At higher doses, however, the polymer began to decompose due to degradation of the main chains, which led to reduced mechanical strength. Finally, AFM examination of the samples revealed less rough surface by irradiation. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd
Iranian Journal of Medical Physics (17357241) 15(3)pp. 169-175
Introduction: Crosstalk is a leakage of X-ray or light produced in a matrix of X-ray detectors or array of photodiodes in one element to other elements affecting on image contrast and spatial resolution. In this study, we assessed X-ray crosstalk in a computed tomography (CT) scanner with small detector elements to estimate the effect of various parameters such as X-ray tube voltage, detector element sizes, scintillator material, impurities in the scintillator material, and the material of detector separators on X-ray crosstalk. Materials and Methods: This study was performed using Monte Carlo simulation. In the first step, X-ray tube and its energy spectrum at the energies of 80, 100, 120, and 140 keV were simulated and validated by using SpekCalc and t-test. Then, other important parts of CT scanner, namely filters, detectors, and grids were simulated. X-ray crosstalk between CT detectors was calculated in air and in the presence of water phantom (as a simulator of human body) to compare the effect of scattered photons. Finally, the influence of some important parameters on X-ray crosstalk was evaluated. Results: In CT scanner with small elements, when using phantom, crosstalk increases by 16-50%. Using the lowest possible energies of X-ray, decreases the crosstalk up to 43% of its initial amount. Furthermore coating a 10 or 20 μm layer of tungsten or lead on the detector separators, decreases the X-ray crosstalk significantly. Conclusion: Choosing the proper high voltage, detectors' material and its dimensions, scintillator impurities and septa material can decrease X-ray crosstalk. © 2018, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences.
Yaraghi, Y. ,
Jabbari, I. ,
Akhavan, A. ,
Ghaffarian, P. ,
Monadi, S. ,
Saeb, M. Iranian Journal Of Nuclear Medicine (20082509) 26(1)pp. 9-15
Introduction: Tumor volume delineation is the most important step in the radiation treatment planning. In this study the impact of PET/CT data on the tumor delineation precision of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was investigated. Methods: PET/CT images of 20 patients with primary NSCLC were obtained and imported to the treatment planning system for image fusion, contouring and radiation treatment planning. For each patient two separate gross tumor volumes were delineated based on CT and PET/CT images as GTVCT and GTVPET/CT, respectively. In addition, three different indices including conformity index (CI), geographic miss index (GMI) and geographic include index (GII) were calculated to quantify the match and mismatches degree between derived volumes. Then, for each patient an appropriate 3D conformal treatment plan was made based on the PTVCT and then these plans were applied on the PTVPET/CT. Afterwards, the dose coverage of PTVPET/CT was estimated through several dosimetric parameters. Results: The GTVPET/CT was larger than GTVCT for majority of cases. The 25% exceeded volumetric alterations were observed in 8 of all cases (40%). Mean values of CI, GMI and GII were 0.43, 0.42 and 0.34, respectively. Also, dosimetric parameters indicated inadequate dose coverage of PTVPET/CT in CT-based RT plans for most of the patients. Conclusion: Incorporating PET data into tumor delineation process had a great potential to improve the quality of radiation treatment planning for NSCLC. © 2018 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.
Journal Of Medical Signals And Sensors (22287477) 8(3)pp. 175-183
Background: In the past, GRID therapy was used as a treatment modality for the treatment of bulky and deeply seated tumors with orthovoltage beams. Now and with the introduction of megavoltage beams to radiotherapy, some of the radiotherapy institutes use GRID therapy with megavoltage photons for the palliative treatment of bulky tumors. Since GRID can be a barrier for weakening the photoneutrons produced in the head of medical linear accelerators (LINAC), as well as a secondary source for producing photoneutrons, therefore, in terms of radiation protection, it is important to evaluate the GRID effect on photoneutron dose to the patients. Methods: In this study, using the Monte Carlo code MCNPX, a full model of a LINAC was simulated and verified. The neutron source strength of the LINAC (Q), the distributions of flux (φ), and ambient dose equivalent (H*[10]) of neutrons were calculated on the treatment table in both cases of with/without the GRID. Finally, absorbed dose and dose equivalent of neutrons in some of the tissues/organs of MIRD phantom were computed with/without the GRID. Results: Our results indicate that the GRID increases the production of the photoneutrons in the LINAC head only by 0.3%. The calculations in the MIRD phantom show that neutron dose in the organs/tissues covered by the GRID is on average by 48% lower than conventional radiotherapy. In addition, in the uncovered organs (by the GRID), this amount is reduced to 25%. Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, in GRID therapy technique compared to conventional radiotherapy, the neutron dose in the tissues/organs of the body is dramatically reduced. Therefore, there will be no concern about the GRID effect on the increase of unwanted neutron dose, and consequently the risk of secondary cancer. © 2018 Journal of Medical Signals & Sensors | Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow
Journal of Fusion Energy (15729591) 36(4-5)pp. 120-126
The present study examined the formation of hot spots in the plasma column of a 3.5 kJ Mather-type plasma focus device. Experiments were performed with air and argon as operating gases at 0.2–1.5 mbar of pressures. X-ray source images were obtained using a pinhole camera with dental X-ray film as X-ray detector. The objective was to investigate the effect of the operating conditions and gas type on formation and characteristics of the hot spots. Results showed that when using air in comparison to argon, the total X-ray emission is increased and therefore, the hot spots are covered by this high intensity emission and would be observed less frequently in the image. Using metal filters to attenuate the low-energy X-rays revealed that the most energetic or the most intense radiation was emitted from the hot spots region. The images of the X-ray source obtained using argon at the middle pressures (0.4–0.6 mbar) showed both the plasma column and the photons emitted from the anode surface. A pressure of 0.8–1.5 mbar using argon was most likely to observe the hot spots. For argon gas, the 0.9 mbar was the pressure in which the hot spots were more frequently observed with high reproducibility of location and number. Measurements revealed that the typical size of a hot spot was 10–300 µm and the distance from the anode surface was 0.5–20 mm. © 2017, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
Journal of Instrumentation (17480221) 12(4)
RF generation and method used for coupling power to the acceleration cavity are important issues in the RF accelerators. In this study, a high power vacuum tube was replaced with several medium power solid state amplifiers coupled through a multi-port structure in the Rhodotron-TT200 accelerator. To this end, a multi-port structure was implemented on a small aluminum model cavity for 1 to 9 ports and all main parameters affecting return loss, quality factor, coupling coefficient and RF power were investigated by calculation, simulation and experimental tests. Then, three 20 kW solid state amplifiers were designed and constructed. The outputs of these amplifiers were coupled to the Rhodotron acceleration cavity by three input ports based on the results obtained from the model cavity for generation of 5 MeV electron beam. In this method, several smaller amplifiers were used instead of a single high power amplifier. As such, acceleration cavity plays the role of power combiner in addition to its primary role and there is no need to a high power combiner. The results showed that the number of ports, port positions, angle between ports and phase of input signals, significantly affect the acceleration electrical field in the cavity. Also, experimental tests revealed that three constructed RF power supplies are enough for the generation of 5 MeV electron beam in the Rhodotron accelerator. Considering the advantages of the solid state amplifiers, application of multi-port structure and solid state amplifiers could be expanded in the industrial electron accelerators. © 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd and Sissa Medialab srl.
Iranian Journal of Physics Research (16826957) 17(2)pp. 249-253
Resonant structure is one of the proposed methods in combining power in RF systems of RF accelerators. In this structure, fabrication of RF power divider or combiner using coaxial and cylindrical cavity is important. In this study, two combiners, in the same frequency band, are designed and fabricated; and their results are compared. The experimental results confirmed the simulation results and showed that compared with cyclical cavity, the power combiner with coaxial cavity is smaller, more easily adjustable, and is more suitable for use in RF systems of RF accelerators. © 2017, Isfahan University of Technology. All rights reserved.
Iranian Journal of Physics Research (16826957) 17(2)pp. 241-247
In this paper, the feasibility study of a new method of RF power coupling to acceleration cavity of charged particles accelerator will be evaluated. In this method a slit is created around the accelerator cavity, and RF power amplifier modules is connected directly to the acceleration cavity. In fact, in this design, the cavity in addition to acting as an acceleration cavity, acts as a RF power combiner. The benefits of this method are avoiding the use of RF vacuum tubes, transmission lines, high power combiner and coupler. In this research, cylindrical and coaxial cavities were studied, and a small sample coaxial cavity is build by this method. The results of the research showed that compact, economical and safe RF accelerators can be achieved by the proposed method. © 2017, Isfahan University of Technology. All rights reserved.
Radiation Measurements (13504487) 89pp. 14-22
In this study, lithium-tetraborate (LTB) was synthesized by three methods of high-temperature solid state, wet and combustion reactions. Copper was added to pure LTB by solution assisted method, to improve the thermoluminescence (TL) properties. The pellets of LTB were produced using pressing and sintering operations at 850 °C. The synthesized LTB pellets, exposed to the gamma radiation of 60Co source in the dose range of 5-20Gy and glow curves as well as dose-response diagrams were obtained. Ultimately, the effects of different factors on TL behaviors like dopant, crystallite size and particle morphologies were studied. The results show that between pure samples, LTB which synthesized by combustion method has higher TL sensitivity than those of other methods. However, it was seen a weak glow peak for 5Gy, due to the nanocrystalline structure of LTB. This property led to decrease TL intensity at low-doses and postponed saturation at high-doses. Fading of this sample was also less than others and has relatively better reproducibility. Among LTB:Cu pellets which synthesized by the wet reaction showed the higher TL response than others due to the creation of more traps and luminescence centers and had promising properties in the case of dose response linearity and fading. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment (01689002) 828pp. 72-80
In this paper, the conceptual design of a new structure of industrial electron accelerator based on the Rhodotron accelerator is presented and its properties are compared with those of Rhodotron-TT200 accelerator. The main goal of this study was to reduce the power of RF system of accelerator at the same output electron beam energy. The main difference between the new accelerator structure with the Rhodotron accelerator is the length of the coaxial cavity that is equal to the wavelength at the resonant frequency. Also two sets of bending magnets were used around the acceleration cavity in two layers. In the new structure, the beam crosses several times in the coaxial cavity by the bending magnets around the cavity at the first layer and then is transferred to the second layer using the central bending magnet. The acceleration process in the second layer is similar to the first layer. Hence, the energy of the electron beam will be doubled. The electrical power consumption of the RF system and magnet system were calculated and simulated for the new accelerator structure and TT200. Comparing the calculated and simulated results of the TT200 with those of experimental results revealed good agreement. The results showed that the overall electrical power consumption of the new accelerator structure was less than that of the TT200 at the same energy and power of the electron beam. As such, the electrical efficiency of the new structure was improved. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Australasian Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine (18795447) 39(2)pp. 413-422
High-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy is a common method for cancer treatment in clinical brachytherapy. Because of the different source designs, there is a need for specific dosimetry data set for each HDR model. The purpose of this study is to obtain detailed dose rate distributions in water phantom for a first prototype HDR 192Ir brachytherapy source model, IRAsource, and compare with the other published works. In this study, Monte Carlo N-particle (MCNP version 4C) code was used to simulate the dose rate distributions around the HDR source. A full set of dosimetry parameters reported by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine Task Group No. 43U1 was evaluated. Also, the absorbed dose rate distributions in water, were obtained in an along-away look-up table. The dose rate constant, Λ, of the IRAsource was evaluated to be equal to 1.112 ± 0.005 cGy h−1 U−1. The results of dosimetry parameters are presented in tabulated and graphical formats and compared with those reported from other commercially available HDR 192Ir sources, which are in good agreement. This justifies the use of specific data sets for this new source. The results obtained in this study can be used as input data in the conventional treatment planning systems. © 2016, Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine.
Iranian Journal of Physics Research (16826957) 15(4)pp. 421-427
In this study, the effects of gamma and electron radiation on reflectivity of silver mirrors coated by TiO2 and Ta2O5, in the wavelength range 250 to 1100 (nm) has been investigated. The coatings are considered for space applications in LEO orbit at 500 (km) from the earth surface for three-year mission in space. Electron and gamma dose absorbed within the three-year are respectively about 7.5 (KGy) and 0.4 (KGy) in this orbit. To measure the resistance of TiO2, gamma radiation with CO60 irradiation source was applied on the sample in the range from 0.2 to 20 (KGy) including dose 400 (Gy) at the desired height. At the highest dose, 20 (KGy), radiation effects on both samples were compared with each other. The atomic force microscopy was used to investigate the effect of radiation on the quality of samples surface after radiation, and an spectrophotometer was used to measure the samples reflection before and after radiation. The results showed that in spite of very minor surface changes, and color change of the mirror substrate, its reflection remains unchanged with TiO2 and Ta2O5 coatings. © 2016, Isfahan University of Technology. All Rights Reserved.
Journal of Medical Physics (09716203) 40(2)pp. 80-89
A Monte Carlo treatment plan verification (MCTPV) system was developed for clinical treatment plan verification (TPV), especially for the conformal and intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) plans. In the MCTPV, the MCNPX code was used for particle transport through the accelerator head and the patient body. MCTPV has an interface with TiGRT planning system and reads the information which is needed for Monte Carlo calculation transferred in digital image communications in medicine-radiation therapy (DICOM-RT) format. In MCTPV several methods were applied in order to reduce the simulation time. The relative dose distribution of a clinical prostate conformal plan calculated by the MCTPV was compared with that of TiGRT planning system. The results showed well implementation of the beams configuration and patient information in this system. For quantitative evaluation of MCTPV a two-dimensional (2D) diode array (MapCHECK2) and gamma index analysis were used. The gamma passing rate (3%/3 mm) of an IMRT plan was found to be 98.5% for total beams. Also, comparison of the measured and Monte Carlo calculated doses at several points inside an inhomogeneous phantom for 6-and 18-MV photon beams showed a good agreement (within 1.5%). The accuracy and timing results of MCTPV showed that MCTPV could be used very efficiently for additional assessment of complicated plans such as IMRT plan.
Pramana - Journal of Physics (03044289) 85(1)pp. 149-159
In the present study, X-ray emission dose characteristics from a small Mather-type PF device in various pressures of argon as the operating gas were studied. The PF device was powered by a 12 μF capacitor at 25 kV charging voltage. Time-integrated hard X-ray (HXR) emission was investigated using thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLDs). These detectors were calibrated with 60Co and 131Cs sources. Twenty-four dosimeters were placed at four different radial distances from the axis of the electrodes at the top of the anode to measure the dose spatial distribution at the top of the anode for different pressures (0.5-1.3 mbar). At each radius, six dosimeters were placed circularly with equal angular intervals on the inner surface of the device chamber. It was found that the optimum pressure for the highest yield of X-ray is 0.9 mbar. The maximum measured dose was 17 mGy per shot at the top of the anode and about 0.5 mGy per shot at 90? with respect to the anode axis. Furthermore, these results showed that the dose at each radius is symmetrical at 360? around the top of the anode, but X-ray distribution follows an anisotropical behaviour. A fast plastic scintillator was also used for time-resolved HXR detection, and a linear relation was observed between the amplitude of the scintillator-PMT signals and TLD responses.
Journal of Alloys and Compounds (09258388) 628pp. 458-463
The topological band structures of InAsxSb1-x (x = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1) alloys have been investigated using density functional theory by utilizing the Wien2k package. These alloys are in a topologically trivial phase in their unstrained states and exhibit a small band gap. Since in small band-gap cubic semiconductors the nontrivial topological phase can be achieved by lattice expansion, we investigate the effect of hydrostatic and biaxial lattice expansion on band inversion strength and band order of these alloys. It is found that under reasonable hydrostatic lattice expansion, InAsxSb1-x (x = 0, 0.25, 0.75, 1) alloys with cubic symmetry and InAs0.5Sb0.5 alloy with tetragonal symmetry, are converted to nontrivial topological semiconductors with zero band gap and non-zero band gap, respectively. In order to convert InAsxSb1-x (x = 0, 0.25, 0.75, 1) alloys into topological semiconductors with non-zero band gap, we let the systems of InAsxSb1-x (x = 0, 0.25, 0.75, 1) alloys undergo a biaxial lattice expansion. Thus by breaking the cubic symmetry in these alloys, not only they are converted to topologically nontrivial phase but also a small band gap is opened at Γ point. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Namjoo, S. ,
Hasan rozatian, A.S. ,
Jabbari, I. ,
Puschnig, P. Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics (10980121) 91(20)
The structural, electronic, and optical properties of InAs, InSb, and their ternary alloys InAsxSb1-x (x=0.25, 0.5, 0.75) are investigated within density functional theory utilizing the wien2k package. We find that the lattice constants and bulk moduli as a function of x are in best agreement with Vegard's linear rule. When computing the electronic band structures with the modified Becke-Johnson exchange-correlation functional (mBJLDA), our results for the band gaps of InAs, InSb, and their ternary alloys are in good agreement with the available experimental results while the conventional Wu-Cohen generalized gradient approximation (GGA) functional leads to zero or close to zero band gaps. In particular, our mBJLDA results confirm experimental evidence that the minimum band gap occurs for As concentrations around x≈0.3. Furthermore, we investigate the dielectric function of these compounds within the random phase approximation using both the Wu-Cohen GGA and the mBJLDA functionals. While the mBJLDA results of our fully first-principles calculations show good agreement of the peak positions in ε2(ω) with experiments, the peaks in the optical spectra based on the Wu-Cohen GGA band structure appear redshifted compared to experiment. We further identify the interband transitions responsible for the structures in the spectra. Looking at the optical matrix element, we note that the major peaks are dominated by transition from the Sb 5p (As 4p) states to In s states for InSb and InAs0.25Sb0.75 (InAs, InAs0.75Sb0.25, and InAs0.5Sb0.5). © 2015 American Physical Society.
Radiation Physics and Chemistry (18790895) 101pp. 59-65
This paper offers a comprehensive investigation of image quality parameters for a small plasma focus as a pulsed hard x-ray source for radiography applications. A set of images were captured from some metal objects and electronic circuits using a low energy plasma focus at different voltages of capacitor bank and different pressures of argon gas. The x-ray source focal spot of this device was obtained to be about 0.6. mm using the penumbra imaging method. The image quality was studied by several parameters such as image contrast, line spread function (LSF) and modulation transfer function (MTF). Results showed that the contrast changes by variations in gas pressure. The best contrast was obtained at a pressure of 0.5. mbar and 3.75. kJ stored energy. The results of x-ray dose from the device showed that about 0.6. mGy is sufficient to obtain acceptable images on the film. The measurements of LSF and MTF parameters were carried out by means of a thin stainless steel wire 0.8. mm in diameter and the cut-off frequency was obtained to be about 1.5. cycles/mm. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.
Radiation Protection Dosimetry (17423406) 162(1-2)pp. 120-124
Renal angiography is one of the medical imaging methods in which patient and physician receive high equivalent doses due to long duration of fluoroscopy. In this research, equivalent doses of some radiosensitive tissues of patient (adult and child) and physician during renal angiography have been calculated by using adult and child Oak Ridge National Laboratory phantoms and Monte Carlo method (MCNPX). The results showed, in angiography of right kidney in a child and adult patient, that gall bladder with the amounts of 2.32 and 0.35 mSv, respectively, has received the most equivalent dose. About the physician, left hand, left eye and thymus absorbed the most amounts of doses, means 0.020 mSv. In addition, equivalent doses of the physician's lens eye, thyroid and knees were 0.023, 0.007 and 7.9E24 mSv, respectively. Although these values are less than the reported thresholds by ICRP 103, it should be noted that these amounts are related to one examination. © The Author 2014.
Nuclear Technology and Radiation Protection (14513994) 29(1)pp. 34-39
Exposure to radiation is one of the main sources of risk to staff employed in reactor facilities. The staff of a tokamak is exposed to a wide range of neutrons and photons around the tokamak hall. The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is a nuclear fusion engineering project and the most advanced experimental tokamak in the world. From the radiobiological point of view, ITER dose rates assessment is particularly important. The aim of this study is the assessment of the amount of radiation in ITER during its normal operation in a radial direction from the plasma chamber to the tokamak hall. To achieve this goal, the ITER system and its components were simulated by the Monte Carlo method using the MCNPX 2.6.0 code. Furthermore, the equivalent dose rates of some radiosensitive organs of the human body were calculated by using the medical internal radiation dose phantom. Our study is based on the deuterium-tritium plasma burning by 14.1 MeV neutron production and also photon radiation due to neutron activation. As our results show, the total equivalent dose rate on the outside of the bioshield wall of the tokamak hall is about 1 mSv per year, which is less than the annual occupational dose rate limit during the normal operation of ITER. Also, equivalent dose rates of radiosensitive organs have shown that the maximum dose rate belongs to the kidney. The data may help calculate how long the staff can stay in such an environment, before the equivalent dose rates reach the whole-body dose limits.
Jabbari, I. ,
Shahriari m., ,
Aghamiri s.m.r., ,
Monadi, S. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry (15882780) 291(3)pp. 831-837
The energy deposition mesh tally option of MCNPX Monte Carlo code is very useful for 3-Dimentional (3D) dose calculations. In this study, the 3D dose calculation was done for CT-based Monte Carlo treatment planning in which the energy deposition mesh tally were superimposed on merged voxel model. The results were compared with those of obtained from the common energy deposition (*F8) tally method for all cells of non-merged voxel model. The results of these two tallies and their respective computational times are compared, and the advantages of the proposed method are discussed. For this purpose, a graphical user interface (GUI) application was developed for reading CT slice data of patient, creating voxelized model of patient, optionally merging adjacent cells with the same material to reduce the total number of cells, reading beam configuration from commercial treatment planning system transferred in DICOM-RT format, and showing the isodose distribution on the CT images. To compare the results of Monte Carlo calculated and TiGRT planning system (LinaTech LLC. USA), treatment head of the Siemens ONCOR Impression accelerator was also simulated and the phase-space data on the scoring plane just above the Y-jaws was created and used. The results for a real prostate intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) plan showed that the proposed method was fivefold faster while the precision was almost the same. © 2011 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary.
RAD Conference Proceedings (24664626) 2012pp. 59-62
ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering project, which is the largest international science project and most advanced experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor. Dose rates assessment and gamma radiation due to the neutron activation of the solid structures in ITER is important from the radiological point of view. Therefore, the gamma dosimetry considered in this case is based on neutron activation due to the Deuterium-Tritium (DT) plasma burning with neutrons production rate at 14.1 MeV. The aim of this study is the assessment of gamma dose rates around ITER by considering neutron activation and delay gammas. To achieve the aim, the ITER system and its components were simulated by Monte Carlo method. Also to increase the accuracy and precision of the absorbed dose assessment the activation of walls around the ITER system were considered in the simulation. The results of this research showed that the total dose rate level near to the outside of bio-shield wall of Tokamak hall is not more than dose limits. © 2012 RAD Conference Proceedings. All rights reserved.
Turkish Journal Of Physics (13036122) 33(3)pp. 149-154
We derive the partition function of the one-body and two-body systems of classical noncommutative harmonic oscillator in two dimensions. Then, we employ the path integral approach to the quantum noncommutative harmonic oscillator and derive the partition function of the both systems at finite temperature. © Tub̈itak.
