Dose reconstruction with Compton camera during proton therapy via subset-driven origin ensemble and double evolutionary algorithm

Compton camera-based prompt gamma(PG) imaging has been proposed for range verification during proton therapy. However, a deviation between the PG and dose distributions, as well as the difference between the reconstructed PG and exact values, limit the effectiveness of the approach in accurate range monitoring during clinical applications. The aim of the study was to realize a PG-based dose reconstruction with a Compton camera, thereby further improving the prediction accuracy of in vivo range verification and providing a novel method for beam monitoring during proton therapy. In this paper, we present an approach based on a subset-driven origin ensemble with resolution recovery and a double evolutionary algorithm to reconstruct the dose depth profile(DDP) from the gamma events obtained by a cadmium-zinc-telluride Compton camera with limited position and energy resolution. Simulations of proton pencil beams with clinical particle rate irradiating phantoms made of different materials and the CT-based thoracic phantom were used to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed method. The results show that for the monoenergetic proton pencil beam irradiating homogeneous-material box phantom,the accuracy of the reconstructed DDP was within 0.3 mm for range prediction and within 5.2% for dose prediction. In particular, for 1.6-Gy irradiation in the therapy simulation of thoracic tumors, the range deviation of the reconstructed spreadout Bragg peak was within 0.8 mm, and the relative dose deviation in the peak area was less than 7% compared to the exact values. The results demonstrate the potential and feasibility of the proposed method in future Compton-based accurate dose reconstruction and range verification during proton therapy.

GPU-accelerated three-dimensional reconstruction method of the Compton camera and its application in radionuclide imaging

A novel and fast three-dimensional reconstruction method for a Compton camera and its performance in radionuclide imaging is proposed and analyzed in this study. The conical surface sampling back-projection method with scattering angle correction(CSS-BP-SC) can quickly perform the back-projection process of the Compton cone and can be used to precompute the list-mode maximum likelihood expectation maximization(LM-MLEM). A dedicated parallel architecture was designed for the graphics processing unit acceleration of the back-projection and iteration stage of the CSS-BP-SC-based LM-MLEM. The imaging results of the two-point source Monte Carlo(MC) simulation demonstrate that by analyzing the full width at half maximum along the three coordinate axes, the CSS-BP-SC-based LM-MLEM can obtain imaging results comparable to those of the traditional reconstruction algorithm, that is, the simple back-projection-based LM-MLEM. The imaging results of the mouse phantom MC simulation and experiment demonstrate that the reconstruction results obtained by the proposed method sufficiently coincide with the set radioactivity distribution, and the speed increased by more than 664 times compared to the traditional reconstruction algorithm in the mouse phantom experiment. The proposed method will further advance the imaging applications of Compton cameras.

Development and preliminary results of a large-pixel two-layer LaBr_(3) Compton camera prototype

Lanthanum bromide(LaBr_(3))crystal has a high energy resolution and time resolution and has been used in Compton cameras(CCs)over the past few decades.However,LaBr_(3) crystal arrays are difficult to process because LaBr_(3) is easy to crack and break;thus,few LaBr_(3)-based CC prototypes have been built.In this study,we designed and fabricated a large-pixel LaBr_(3) CC prototype and evaluated its performance with regard to position,energy,and angular resolution.We used two 10×10 LaBr_(3) crystal arrays with a pixel size of 5 mm×5 mm,silicon photomultipliers(SiPMs),and corresponding decoding circuits to construct our prototype.Additionally,a framework based on a Voronoi diagram and a lookup table was developed for list-mode projection data acquisition.Monte Carlo(MC)simulations based on Geant4 and experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of our CC prototype.The lateral position resolution was 5 mm,and the maximum deviation in the depth direction was 2.5 and 5 mm for the scatterer and absorber,respectively.The corresponding measured energy resolu-tions were 7.65%and 8.44%,respectively,at 511 keV.The experimental results of ^(137)Cs point-like sources were consistent with the MC simulation results with regard to the spatial positions and full widths at half maximum(FWHMs).The angular resolution of the fabricated prototype was approximately 6°when a point-like ^(137)Cs source was centrally placed at a distance of 5 cm from the scatterer.We proposed and investigated a large-pixel LaBr_(3) CC for the first time and verified its feasibility for use in accurate spatial positioning of radiative sources with a high angular resolution.The proposed CC can satisfy the requirements of radiative source imaging and positioning in the nuclear industry and medical applications.