Clinical utility of Gafchromic film in an MRI-guided linear accelerator

Background The purpose of this study is to comprehensively evaluate the suitability of Gafchromic EBT3 and EBT-XD film for dosimetric quality assurance in 0.35 T MR-guided radiotherapy. Methods A 0.35 T magnetic field strength was utilized to evaluate magnetic field effects on EBT3 and EBT-XD Gafchromic films by studying the effect of film exposure time within the magnetic field using two timing sequences and film not exposed to MR, the effect of magnetic field exposure on the crystalline structure of the film, and the effect of orientation of the film with respect to the bore within the magnetic field. The orientation of the monomer crystal was qualitatively evaluated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) compared to unirradiated film. Additionally, dosimetric impact was evaluated through measurements of a series of open field irradiations (0.83 × 0.83-cm2 to 19.92 × 19.92-cm2) and patient specific quality assurance measurements. Open fields were compared to planned dose and an independent dosimeter. Film dosimetry was applied to twenty conventional and twenty stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) patient specific quality assurance cases. Results No visual changes in crystal orientation were observed in any evaluated SEM images nor were any optical density differences observed between films irradiated inside or outside the magnetic field for both EBT3 and EBT-XD film. At small field sizes, the average difference along dose profiles measured in film compared to the same points measured using an independent dosimeter and to predicted treatment planning system values was 1.23% and 1.56%, respectively. For large field sizes, the average differences were 1.91% and 1.21%, respectively. In open field tests, the average gamma pass rates were 99.8% and 97.2%, for 3%/3 mm and 3%/1 mm, respectively. The median (interquartile range) 3%/3 mm gamma pass rates in conventional QA cases were 98.4% (96.3 to 99.2%), and 3%/1 mm in SBRT QA cases were 95.8% (95.0 to 97.3%). Conclusions MR exposure at 0.35 T had negligible effects on EBT3 and EBT-XD Gafchromic film. Dosimetric film results were comparable to planned dose, ion chamber and diode measurements.

Calibration of the EBT3 Gafchromic Film Using HNN Deep Learning

To achieve a dose distribution conformal to the target volume while sparing normal tissues, intensity modulation with steep dose gradient is used for treatment planning. To successfully deliver such treatment, high spatial and dosimetric accuracy are crucial and need to be verified. With high 2D dosimetry resolution and a self-development property, the Ashland Inc. product EBT3 Gafchromic film is a widely used quality assurance tool designed especially for this. However, the film should be recalibrated each quarter due to the “aging effect,” and calibration uncertainties always exist between individual films even in the same lot. Recently, artificial neural networks (ANN) are applied to many fields. If a physicist can collect the calibration data, it could be accumulated to be a substantial ANN data input used for film calibration. We therefore use the Keras functional Application Program Interface to build a hierarchical neural network (HNN), with the inputs of net optical densities, pixel values, and inverse transmittances to reveal the delivered dose and train the neural network with deep learning. For comparison, the film dose calculated using red-channel net optical density with power function fitting was performed and taken as a conventional method. The results show that the percentage error of the film dose using the HNN method is less than 4% for the aging effect verification test and less than 4.5% for the intralot variation test; in contrast, the conventional method could yield errors higher than 10% and 7%, respectively. This HNN method to calibrate the EBT film could be further improved by adding training data or adjusting the HNN structure. The model could help physicists spend less calibration time and reduce film usage.

Point dose verification of Cranial Stereotactic Radiosurgery using micro Ionization Chamber and EBT3 film for 6MV FF and FFF beams in Varian TrueBeam® LINAC

Introduction: Achieving high positional and dosimetric accuracy in small fields is very challenging due to the imbalance of charged particle equilibrium (CPE), occlusion of the primary radiation source, and overlapping penumbra regions. These factors make the choice of the detector for Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) patient-specific quality assurance (PSQA) difficult. The aim of the study is to compare the suitability of EBT3 Gafchromic film against CC01 pinpoint chamber for the purpose of SRS and stereotactic Radiotherapy (SRT) dose verification.Material and Method: EBT3 Gafchromic film was calibrated against Treatment Planning System (TPS) doses (1 Gy – 35 Gy). CC01 pinpoint chamber and EBT3 film was used to verify Patient-Specific point doses of 21 intracranial lesions each planned with Static, Dynamic Conformal Arc (DCA), and Volumetric Arc Therapy (VMAT) using Varian TrueBeam Accelerator 6MV Flattening Filter (FF) and 6MV Flattening Filter Free (FFF) beams. The lesion sizes varied from 0.4 cc to 2.9 cc. The lesions were categorized into <1cc, 1cc-2cc and 2cc-3cc.Results: High variations in measured doses from TPS calculated dose were observed with small lesion volumes irrespective of the dosimeter. As the sizes decreased high uncertainty was observed in ion chamber results. CC01 was observed under-responding to film in small lesion sizes (<1cc), where nearly 50% of results under-responded in comparison with Film results. Film results were more or less consistent for static and DCA plans. Static and DCA plans were consistent passing more than 73% of the plans of the smallest lesion size category. VMAT showed very poor PSQA agreement for all three volumes (32.1% for <1cc, 14.3% for 2cc-3cc and 39.3% for 2cc-3cc). No significant difference was observed between 6MVFF and 6MVFFF beams from the chi-squared test.Conclusion: EBT3 Film was observed to be a more suitable detector for small lesion sizes less than 1cc, compared to CC01. As the volume increases, the response of CC01 and EBT3 film have no significant difference in performing PSQA for intracranial SRS/SRT. VMAT techniques for intra cranial SRS shows deviation from TPS planned dose for both EBT3 film and CC01 and should not be preferred choice of verification tools.

Evaluation of low energy X-ray depth dose distribution by gafchromic film for dosimetry in food irradiation

Introduction: Dosimetry is of crucial importance in radiation processing of food. Among others, plastic film has been widely used for dosimetry in radiation therapy since its density is quite similar to the equivalent biological materials. In this study, the depth dose distribution was estimated by using gafchromic film for the purpose of dosimetry in food irradiation. Experimental: The HD-V2 gafchromic dosimetry film was employed to measure the interested dose instead of ion chamber. A stack of 19 PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate) sheets interleaved with 20 pieces of gafchromic film was made. The phantom was applied in the low energy X-ray beams (maximum 100 keV) to obtain the depth dose profile. Results: A significant correlation between absorbed doses (D) and color level or optical density (O.D.) of irradiated dosimetry films was observed. The fitting function has the form of , where a, b, c are the parameters to be fitted. The depth dose distribution in the 30 mm thickness phantom was inferred from the calibration. Conclusion: The present method and the depth dose profile to be obtained are very meaningful in the processing of foodstuffs by radiation.

Radiation increases BTB permeability in a preclinical model of breast cancer brain metastasis.

Background Brain metastasis is a devastating stage of cancer progression, occurring in ~30% of metastatic breast cancer patients. Two-year survival rates for these patients is low, and most typically survive less than one year. Treatments for these women are limited by the blood-brain barrier, but include cytotoxic chemotherapy, surgical resection, and radiation therapy (whole-brain radiotherapy or stereotactic radiosurgery). Radiotherapy is considered to be capable of inducing disruption of the blood-brain barrier and eliciting an abscopal response to extracranial tumors. Methods A combination of ionization chamber and Gafchromic film dosimetry was used to commission and determine dose outputs for our experimental design. Dose deposition in-vivo was verified by immunohistochemistry. To evaluate the effects of ionizing radiation at the normal blood-brain barrier and the blood-tumor barrier, athymic nude and FVB mice were used. Athymic nude mice were injected with MDA-MB-231Br cells. Lesions were allowed to develop for ~28 days. Mice were then irradiated at the prescribed dose. Prior to tissue collection, mice were injected with Texas red, followed by a vascular washout with physiological buffer. Fluorescence in normal and diseased brain was quantified by fluorescent microscopy. Results Using a 10mmx10mm collimator, determined to have adequate field homogeneity as determined by Gafchromic film analysis, we were able to successfully treat a single hemisphere in mice. The blood-brain-barrier remained undisrupted in athymic nude mice at doses up to 12Gy compared to untreated brain and radiation naïve controls. Immune competent FVB mice treated with radiation showed significant blood-brain barrier disruption at a dose of 12Gy only. The blood-tumor barrier showed significant disruption at 24hrs following radiation treatment (6 or 12Gy). Conclusion Our study demonstrated that radiation therapy disrupts the blood-tumor barrier, but fails to disrupt the normal blood-brain barrier in athymic nude mice. However, in FVB immune competent mice, the blood-brain barrier was disrupted at a dose of 12Gy, suggesting an abscopal-like response impacts extent of barrier leakage.

SKIN DOSE MAPPING IN INTERVENTIONAL CARDIOLOGY: A PRACTICAL SOLUTION

Numerous cases of radiation-induced tissue reactions following interventional cardiology (IC) procedures have been reported, resulting in the need for an optimized and personalized dosimetry. At present, there are many fluoroscopy units without Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) Radiation Dose Structured Report globally installed. Many of these have not been updated yet, and may never be, therefore, the main objectives of this paper are to develop an offline skin dose mapping application, which uses DICOM headers for the peak skin dose (PSD) assessment and to compare the PSD assessment results to XR-RV3 Gafchromic film for common IC procedures. The mean deviation between the measured and the calculated PSD was 8.7 ± 26.3%. Simulated skin dose map showed good matching with XR-RV3 Gafchromic film. The skin dose mapping application presented in this paper is an elegant solution and a suitable alternative to XR-RV3 Gafchromic film.