Performance of MACACO Compton telescope for ion-beam therapy monitoring: First test with proton beams

Paola Solevi, Enrique Muñoz, Carles Solaz, Marco Trovato, Peter Dendooven, John E. Gillam, Carlos Lacasta, Josep F. Oliver, Magdalena Rafecas, Irene Torres-Espallardo, Gabriela Llosá

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In order to exploit the advantages of ion-beam therapy in a clinical setting, delivery verification techniques are necessary to detect deviations from the planned treatment. Efforts are currently oriented towards the development of devices for real-time range monitoring. Among the different detector concepts proposed, Compton cameras are employed to detect prompt gammas and represent a valid candidate for real-time range verification. We present the first on-beam test of MACACO, a Compton telescope (multi-layer Compton camera) based on lanthanum bromide crystals and silicon photo-multipliers. The Compton telescope was first characterized through measurements and Monte Carlo simulations. The detector linearity was measured employing 22Na and Am-Be sources, obtaining about 10% deviation from linearity at 3.44 MeV. A spectral image reconstruction algorithm was tested on synthetic data. Point-like sources emitting gamma rays with energy between 2 and 7 MeV were reconstructed with 3-5 mm resolution. The two-layer Compton telescope was employed to measure radiation emitted from a beam of 150 MeV protons impinging on a cylindrical PMMA target. Bragg-peak shifts were achieved via adjustment of the PMMA target location and the resulting measurements used during image reconstruction. Reconstructed Bragg peak profiles proved sufficient to observe peak-location differences within 10 mm demonstrating the potential of the MACACO Compton Telescope as a monitoring device for ion-beam therapy.

Original languageEnglish
JournalPhysics in Medicine and Biology
Volume61
Issue number14
Pages (from-to)5149-5165
Number of pages17
ISSN0031-9155
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 28.06.2016

Research Areas and Centers

  • Academic Focus: Biomedical Engineering

DFG Research Classification Scheme

  • 2.22-32 Medical Physics, Biomedical Technology

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