The objective of this project was to develop a simple MCNPX model of the human eye to approximate dose delivered from proton therapy. The calculated dose included that due to proton interactions and secondary interactions, which included multiple coulombic energy scattering, elastic and inelastic scattering, and non-elastic nuclear reactions (i.e., the production of secondary particles). After benchmarking MCNPX with a known proton simulation, the proton therapy beam used at Laboratori Nazionali del Sud-INFN was modeled for simulation. A virtual water phantom was used and energy tallies were found to correspond with the direct measurements from the therapy beam in Italy. A simple eye model was constructed and combined with the proton beam to measure dose distributions. Two treatment simulations were considered. The first simulation was a typical treatment scenario-where dose was maximized to a tumor volume and minimized elsewhere. The second case was a worst case scenario to simulate a patient gazing directly into the treatment beam during therapy. Dose distributions for the typical treatment yielded what was expected, but the worst case scenario showed the bulk of dose deposited in the cornea and lens region. The study concluded that MCNPX is a capable platform for patient planning but laborious for programming multiple simulation configurations.

A clinical commissioning of the first 360 rotational compact Varian ProBeam scanning proton pencil beam (Varian Medical, Palo Alto, CA) system was conducted at the South Florida Proton Therapy Institute (SFPTI). The beam dosimetry and characterizations were the vital section used to verify the consistency of the treatment planning system (TPS) outputs. The integrated depth dose curves were acquired with AP CAX in water phantom utilizing a large PTW Bragg peak chamber; the dose output factors measurements were performed by using IBA PCC05 chamber at 1.5 cm water depth applying a single layer 10×10 cm2 beams and 1.1 RBE offset as recommended in TRS 398 report. Widths of the Bragg peaks ranges (Rb80-Ra80) were from 4.07 cm to 30.51 cm for the energy range 70 MeV to 220 MeV. Beam optics such as spot sizes and spot profiles were acquired in-air by using Logos scintillators with a CCD camera and the result data were from 2.33 mm to for 77 MeV to 9.70 mm for 220 MeV. In different field sizes, a comparison between the dose measured using PTW Semiflex and the AcurosPT estimated dose were performed to study the halo effect. All the measured dosimetric parameters showed that the design specifications were well achieved, and the results are suitable for being used as a part of the clinical commissioning and quality assurance program for treating patients. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (PMS)--Florida Atlantic University, 2021. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Monte Carlo method has been successfully applied in simulating the particles transport problems. Most of the Monte Carlo simulation tools are static and they can only be used to perform the static simulations for the problems with fixed physics and geometry settings. Proton therapy is a dynamic treatment technique in the clinical application. In this research, we developed a method to perform the dynamic Monte Carlo simulation of proton therapy using Geant4 simulation toolkit. A passive-scattering treatment nozzle equipped with a rotating range modulation wheel was modeled in this research. One important application of the Monte Carlo simulation is to predict the spatial dose distribution in the target geometry. For simplification, a mathematical model of a human body is usually used as the target, but only the average dose over the whole organ or tissue can be obtained rather than the accurate spatial dose distribution. In this research, we developed a method using MATLAB to convert the medical images of a patient from CT scanning into the patient voxel geometry. Hence, if the patient voxel geometry is used as the target in the Monte Carlo simulation, the accurate spatial dose distribution in the target can be obtained. A data analysis tool?root was used to score the simulation results during a Geant4 simulation and to analyze the data and plot results after simulation. Finally, we successfully obtained the accurate spatial dose distribution in part of a human body after treating a patient with prostate cancer using proton therapy.

In proton therapy systems with pencil-beam scanning, output of Halo effect is not necessarily included in Treatment Planning System (TPS). Halo effect (low-intensity tail) can significantly affect a patient’s dose distribution. The output of this dose depends on the field size being irradiated. Although much research has been made to investigate such relation to the field size, the number of reports on dose calculations including the halo effect is small. In this work we have investigated the Halo effect, including field size factor, target depth factor, and air gaps with a range shifter for a Varian ProBeam. Dose calculations created on the Eclipse Treatment Planning System (vs15.6 TPS) are compared with plane-parallel ionization chambers (PTW Octavius 1500) measurements using PCS and AcurosPT MC model in different isocenters: 5cm, 10cm, and 20cm. We find that in AcurosPT algorithm deviations range between -7.53% (for 2cm field in 25cm air gap with range shifter) up to +7.40% (for 20cm field in 15cm air gap with range shifter). Whereas, in PCS algorithm the deviations are -2.07% (for 20x20cm field in open conditions) to -6.29% (for 20x20cm field in 25cm air gap with range shifter). / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2021. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Proton therapy is an established radiotherapy technique for the treatment of complex cancers. However, problems exist in the planning of treatments where the use of inaccurate dose modelling may lead to treatments being delivered which are not optimal. Most of the problems with dose modelling tools used in proton therapy treatment planning lie in their treatment of processes such as multiple Coulomb scattering, therefore a technique that accurately models such effects is preferable. Monte Carlo simulation alleviates many of the problems in current dose models but, at present, well-validated full-physics Monte Carlo simulations require more time than is practical in clinical use. Using the well-known and well-validated Monte Carlo toolkit Geant4, an application-called PTMC-has been developed for the simulation of proton therapy treatment plans. Using PTMC, several techniques to improve throughput were developed and evaluated, including changes to the tracking algorithm in Geant4 and application of large scale parallelism using novel computing architectures such as the Intel Xeon Phi co-processor. In order to quantify any differences in the dose-distributions simulated when applying these changes, a new dose comparison tool was also developed which is more suited than current techniques for use with Monte Carlo simulated dose distributions. Using an implementation of the Woodcock algorithm developed in this work, it is possible to track protons through a water phantom up to eight times faster than using the PRESTA algorithm present in Geant4, with negligible loss of accuracy. When applied to a patient simulation, the Woodcock algorithm increases throughput by up to thirty percent, though step limitation was necessary to preserve simulation accuracy. Parallelism was implemented on an Intel Xeon Phi co-processor card, where PTMC was tested with up to 244 concurrent threads. Difficulties imposed by the limited RAM available were overcome through the modification of the Geant4 toolkit and through the use of a novel dose collation technique. Using a single Xeon Phi co-processor, it is possible to validate a proton therapy treatment plan in two hours; with two co-processors that simulation time is halved. For the treatment plan tested, two Xeon Phi co-processors were roughly equivalent to a single 48-core AMD Opteron machine. The relative costs of Xeon Phi co-processors and traditional machines have also been investigated; at present the Intel Xeon Phi co-processor is not cost competitive with standard hardware, costing around twice as much as an AMD machine with comparable performance. Distributed parallelism was also implemented through the use of the Google Compute Engine (GCE). A tool has been developed-called PYPE-which allows users to launch large clusters in the GCE to perform arbitrary compute-intensive work. PYPE was used with PTMC to perform rapid treatment plan validation in the GCE. Using a large cluster, it is possible to validate a proton therapy treatment plan in ten minutes at a cost of roughly $10; the same plan computed locally on a 24-thread Intel Xeon machine required five hours. As an example calculation using PYPE and PTMC, a robustness study is undertaken for a proton therapy treatment plan; this robustness study shows the usefulness of Monte Carlo when computing dose distributions for robustness studies, and the utility of the PYPE tool to make numerous full physics Monte Carlo simulations quickly. Using the tools developed in this work, a complete treatment plan robustness study can be performed in around 26 hours for a cost of less than $500, while using full-physics Monte Carlo for dose distribution calculations.

Proton beam radiotherapy is an emerging treatment tool for cancer. Its basic principle is to use a high-energy proton beam to deposit energy in a tumor to kill the cancer cells while sparing the surrounding healthy tissues. The therapeutic proton beam can be either a broad beam or a narrow beam. In this research, we mainly focused on the design and simulation of the broad beam produced by a passive double-scattering system in a treatment nozzle. The NEU codes package is a specialized design tool for a passive double-scattering system in proton beam radiotherapy. MCNPX is a general-purpose Monte Carlo radiation transport code. In this research, we used the NEU codes package to design a passive double-scattering system, and we used MCNPX to simulate the transport of protons in the nozzle and a water phantom. We used "mcnp_pstudy" script to create successive input files for different steps in a range modulation wheel for SOBP to overcome the difficulty that MCNPX cannot be used to simulate dynamic geometries. We used "merge_mctal" script, "gridconv" code, and "VB script embedded in Excel" to process the simulation results. We also invoked the plot command of MCNPX to draw the fluence and dose distributions in the water phantom in the form of two-dimensional curves or color contour plots. The simulation results, such as SOBP and transverse dose distribution from MCNPX are basically consistent with the expected results fulfilling the design aim. We concluded that NEU is a powerful design tool for a double-scattering system in a proton therapy nozzle, and MCNPX can be applied successfully in the field of proton beam radiotherapy.

In this work, we have developed a robust daily quality assurance (QA) system for pencil-beam scanning (PBS) dosimetry. A novel phantom and multi-PTV PBS plan were used in conjunction with the Sun Nuclear Daily QA3 multichamber detector array to verify output, range, and spot position. The sensitivity to detect change in these parameters with our designed tests was determined empirically. Associated tolerance levels were established based on these sensitivities and guidelines published in recent American Association of Physics in Medicine (AAPM) task group reports. The output has remained within the 3% tolerance and the range was within ±1mm. Spot position has remained within ±2mm. This daily QA procedure is quick and efficient with the time required for setup and delivery at less than 10 minutes. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Proton therapy with pencil beam scanning technique is a novel technique to treat cancer patients due to its unique biophysical properties. However, a small error in dose calculation may lead towards undesired greater uncertainties in planed doses. This project aims to create a simulation model of Varian ProBeam Compact using the GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulation tool kit. Experimental data from the first clinical ProBeam Compact system at South Florida Proton Therapy Institute was used to validate the simulation model. A comparison was made between the experimental and simulated Integrated Depth-Dose curves using a 2%/2mm gamma index test with 100% of points passing. The beam spot standard deviation sizes (s!) were compared using percent deviation. All simulated s! matched the experimental s! within 2.5%, except 70 and 80 MeV. The model can be used to develop a more comprehensive model as an independent dose verification tool and further investigate dose distribution. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This thesis describes the design of novel magnetic lattices for the transport line and gantry of a charged particle therapy complex. The designs use non-scaling Fixed Field Alternating Gradient (ns-FFAG) magnets and were made as part of the PAMELA project. The main contributions in this thesis are the near-perfect FFAG dispersion suppression design process and the designs of the transport line and the gantry lattices. The primary challenge when designing an FFAG gantry is that particles with different momenta take up different lateral positions within the magnets. This is called dispersion and causes problems at three points: the entrance to the gantry, which must be rotated without distortion of the beam; at the end of the gantry where reduced dispersion is required for entry to the scanning system; and a third of the way through the gantry, where a switch in curvature of the magnets is required. Due to their non-linear fields, dispersion suppression in conventional FFAGs is never perfect. However, as this thesis shows, a solution can be found through manipulation of the field components, meaning near-perfect dispersion suppression can be achieved using ns-FFAG magnets (although at a cost of irregular optics). The design process for an FFAG dispersion suppressor shown in this thesis is a novel solution to a previously unsolved problem. Other challenges in the gantry lattice design, such as height and the control of the optics, are tackled and a final gantry design presented and discussed. The starting point for the transport line is a straight FFAG lattice design. This is optimised and matched to a 45o bend. Fixed field solutions to the problem of extracting to the treatment room are discussed, but a time variable field solution is decided on for practical and patient safety reasons. A matching scheme into the gantry room is then designed and presented.

Proton therapy facilities, as other industrial applications using ionizing radiations, are confronted to radioprotection problems and seek to mitigate the undesirable effects. The aim of this thesis is to study the IBA compact proton therapy center, the Proteus®One in this radioprotection context. The compactness of this system implies important radioprotection issues, mainly the concrete shielding activation where a model allowing to predict and characterize the impact of secondary radiations on the system is required. Numerical simulations using Monte Carlo methods are used and in particular, a benchmark between different existing software has been carried out to validate the use of the Geant4 software in this work. The first part of this thesis focuses on the design of the structural shielding taking into account neutron sources in the model. In particular, the concept of neutron-equivalent source is introduced. In this framework, the quantity and the localization of the generated nuclear waste in concrete are determined. The second part of the work investigates the beam properties and its interactions with matter along the transport beamline. After the analysis of the existing system, a new degrader, which is one of the critical elements for the emission of secondary radiations and for the performances of the device, is proposed. Comparisons between existing (aluminium, graphite, beryllium) and novel (boron carbide and diamond) degrader materials are provided and evaluated against semi-analytical models of multiple Coulomb scattering. The use of diamond with a geometry adaptation allows beam emittance reduction and beam transmission increase. The third part of this thesis considers a complete 3D model of the Proteus®One system. It contributes to acquire a detailed knowledge of the beam properties inside the beamline. This model is validated with experimental data and the assumption of neutron-equivalent source is verified. Finally, maps of proton and neutron interactions are generated to provide a complete mapping of the secondary radiations in the system. These maps can be used to determine dosimetric or radioprotection quantities. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur et technologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished