瓦里安21EX直线加速器多叶准直器维护与维修

0引言 配备多叶准直器（mulli-leaf collimator,MLC）系统的直线加速器能使照射野最大限度地接近肿瘤形状,从而达到最大限度地杀死肿瘤细胞,同时最小程度影响正常组织的目的[1]。由于MLC比挡铅的操作方法更简单快速[2],目前配有MLC的直线加速器在全国各地的放疗科应用越来越广泛[3]。因多叶准直器被安装在医用电子直线加速器的照射机头上,所以部件受辐射比较严重,

医科达Precise医用直线加速器多叶准直器(MLC)维修2例

随着计算机技术的飞速发展和加速器设备的改进,三维适形放射治疗逐渐得到普及,使得靶区和邻近的危及器官的剂量分布有了较大的改善,最大限度地将照射剂量集中到病变（靶区）内,杀灭肿瘤细胞,使周围正常组织和器官减少或免受照射,从而提高了放射治疗的治疗增益比[1]。采用多叶准直器（multileaf collimator，MLC）的调强适形放射治疗（intensity modulated radiation therapy．IMRT）是当前放疗的主流技术之一^[2]。

医科达Synergy直线加速器光学系统故障分析与维修

采用多叶准直器（multileaf collimator,MLC）的调强适形放射治疗（intensity modulated radiation therapy,IMRT）是当前放射治疗的主流技术之一,其通过光学监视系统来影响多叶准直器的控制,最大精度将照射剂量集中到病变内,移除肿瘤细胞,且周围正常组织和器官减少或免受照射。

CT机Collimator详析

X -CT的品牌、型号较多,但不管是什么厂家什么型号的CT ,其Collimator的结构都是大同小异,本文将详细剖析单层CT机的Collimator的结构,讨论一些常见故障,并提出相应解决方法。

铅适形挡块、手动多叶光栅——谁更适合临床适形放疗？

适形放疗是目前开展最活跃的一种放射治疗方法。它可以有效提高肿瘤的靶区剂量．明显减轻靶区周围正常组织的放射性损伤。要实现适形照射野放疗主要有两种方法：利用低熔点铅制作符合肿瘤投照形状的适形铅挡块（Block）．或使用多叶准直器（multi leaf collimator—MLC）形成适形照射野。MLC又分为手动MLC和电动MLC两种。由于电动MLC价格昂贵，维修复杂，目前国内难以普及。作为电动MLC的过渡产品，手动MLC使用手工操作叶片．省去了驱动操作叶片的电子设备，大大降低了成本。近年来手动MLC的使用日渐广泛．有逐渐取代铅挡块技术的趋势。笔者通过实际工作比较认为手动MLC不具备电动MLC的迅捷方便的操控性，也不具备铅块的良好重复性．并存在难以克服的缺陷。

Thermodynamic analysis and simulation for gas baffle entrance collimator of EAST-NBI system based on thermo-fluid coupled method

The world's first full Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak(EAST) is designed with the auxiliary heating method of neutral beam injection(NBI)system. Beam collimators are arranged on both sides of the beam channel for absorbing the divergence beam during the beam transmission process in the EAST-NBI system.The gas baffle entrance collimator(GBEC) is a typical high-heat-flux component located at the entrance of gas baffle. An efficient and accurate analysis of its thermodynamic performance is of great significance to explore the working limit and to ensure safe operation of the system under a high-parameter steady-state condition. Based on the thermo-fluid coupled method, thermodynamic analysis and simulation of GBEC is performed to get the working states and corresponding operating limits at different beam extraction conditions. This study provides a theoretical guidance for the next step to achieve long pulse with highpower experimental operation and has an important reference to ensure the safe operation of the system.

Glycerol effects on optical,weight and geometrical properties of skin tissue

Complex study of glycerol effects on the skin tissue was performed.The change in optical,weight and geometrical parameters of the rat skin under the action of the glycerol solutions was studied ex vivo.Possible mechanisms of the skin optical clearing under the action of glycerol solutions of different concentrations were discussed.The results can be helpful for refinement of models developed to evaluate the effective diffusion coefficients of glycerol in tissues.

Manipulation and optimization of electron transport by nanopore array targets

The transport of sub-picosecond laser-driven fast electrons in nanopore array targets is studied.Attributed to the generation of micro-structured magnetic fields,most fast electron beams are proven to be effectively guided and restricted during the propagation.Different transport patterns of fast electrons in the targets are observed in experiments and reproduced by particle-in-cell simulations,representing two components:initially collimated low-energy electrons in the center and high-energy scattering electrons turning into surrounding annular beams.The critical energy for confined electrons is deduced theoretically.The electron guidance and confinement by the nano-structured targets offer a technological approach to manipulate and optimize the fast electron transport by properly modulating pulse parameters and target design,showing great potential in many applications including ion acceleration,microfocus x-ray sources and inertial confinement fusion.

Dosimetric evaluation of VMAT radiation therapy technique for breast cancer after conservative surgery based on three different types of multileaf collimators

Objective Radiotherapy combined with conservative surgery plays an important role in the treatment of early-stage breast cancer. Volumetric modulated arc therapy(VMAT) has been introduced into clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to investigate the dosimetric effects of different multileaf collimators(MLC) on VMAT radiotherapy plans for treating breast cancer.Methods Fifteen breast cancer patients who were treated using a conventional technique in our department were selected to participate in this retrospective analysis. VMAT plans based on three types of Elekta MLCs [Beam Modulator(BM) with 4-mm leaf width, Agility with 5-mm leaf width and MLCi2 with 10-mm leaf width] were independently generated for each patient. Plan comparisons were performed based on dose-volume histogram(DVH) analysis including dosimetric parameters such as the homogeneity index(HI), conformity index(CI), Dmax, Dmin, and Dmean for the planning treatment volume(PTV), in addition to dose-volume parameters for the organs at risk(OARs). The delivery efficiency of the three types of MLCs was compared in terms of the beam delivery time and the monitor units(MUs) per fraction for each plan. Results Both target uniformity and conformity were improved in plans for Agility and BM MLC compared with the plan using MLCi2. The mean HI decreased from 1.14 for MLCi2 to 1.13 for BM and 1.10 for Agility, while the mean CI increased from 0.68 for MLCi2 to 0.73 for BM and 0.75 for Agility. Furthermore, at both low and high dose levels, smaller volumes of ipsilateral lung, heart, contralateral lung, and breast were irradiated with Agility MLC than with the other two types of MLCs. The delivery time with Agility MLC was reduced by 10.8% and 32.1%, respectively, compared with that for MLCi2 and BM.Conclusion Our results indicate that the Agility MLC exhibits a dosimetric advantage and a significant improvement in delivery efficiency for the treatment of breast cancer using VMAT.

Coherent beam combination of adaptive fiber laser array with tilt-tip and phase-locking control

We present an experimental study on tilt-tip（TT） and phase-locking（PL） control in a coherent beam combination（CBC） system of adaptive fiber laser array.The TT control is performed using the adaptive fiber-optics collimator（AFOC）,and the PL control is realized by the phase modulator（PM）.Cascaded and simultaneous controls of TT and PL using stochastic parallel gradient descent（SPGD） algorithm are investigated in this paper.Two-fiber-laser-,four-fiber-laser-,and six-fiber-laser-arrays are employed to study the TT and PL control.In the cascaded control system,only one high-speed CMOS camera is used to collect beam data and a computer is used as the controller.In a simultaneous control system one high-speed CMOS camera and one photonic detector（PD） are employed,and a computer and a control circuit based on field programmable gate array（FPGA） are used as the controllers.Experimental results reveal that both cascaded and simultaneous controls of TT using AFOC and PL using PM in fiber laser array are feasible and effective.Cascaded control is more effective in static control situation and simultaneous control can be applied to the dynamic control system directly.The control signals of simultaneous PL and TT disturb each other obviously and TT and PL control may compete with each other,so the control effect is limited.

Structured mirror array for two-dimensional collimation of a chromium beam in atom lithography

Direct-write atom lithography,one of the potential nanofabrication techniques,is restricted by some difficulties in producing optical masks for the deposition of complex structures.In order to make further progress,a structured mirror array is developed to transversely collimate the chromium atomic beam in two dimensions.The best collimation is obtained when the laser red detunes by natural line-width of transition 7S3 → 7P40 of the chromium atom.The collimation ratio is 0.45 vertically（in x axis）,and it is 0.55 horizontally（in y axis）.The theoretical model is also simulated,and success of our structured mirror array is achieved.

Application of 2-D Position Sensitive Detector in Spatial Straightness Measurement of Guide Rails

A laser collimating system based on 2-D position sensitive detector (PSD) is presented in this paper. The working principle of PSD is depicted in detail. A calibration device was developed to check the nonlinearity errors of PSD and a multilayer feedforward neural network based on error back-propagation algorithm was used to compensate errors. With the aid of computer-based data acquisition system, an automatic dynamic measuring process was realized. A series of experiments, including comparison tests with laser interferometer, were done to evaluate the performance of the measuring system. The experimental results show that the spatial straightness errors of guide rails can be measured with high accuracy. The maximum differences between the device and laser interferometer are 0.027 mm in Y direction, and 0.053 mm in X direction in the measuring distance of 6 m.

Quantifying lateral penumbra advantages of collimated spot-scanning beam for intensity-modulated proton therapy

Intensity-modulated proton therapy(IMPT)is becoming essential for proton therapy and is under rapid development.However,for IMPT,the lateral penumbra of the spot-scanning proton beam is still an urgent issue to be solved.Patient-specific block collimators(PSBCs),which can block unnecessary doses,play a crucial role in passive scattering delivery technology but are rarely used in spot scanning.One objective of this study is to investigate the lateral penumbra variations of intensity-modulated spot scanning with and without a PSBC.For fields with varying degrees of sharpness and at varying depths in a water phantom,the lateral penumbral widths were calculated using a Monte Carlo-based dose engine from RayStation 6.The results suggest that the lateral penumbral widths can be reduced by more than 30%for uniform target volumes,regardless of whether a range-shifter is used,and that the maximum dose beyond the field edges can be reduced significantly.The results of patient cases show that the doses in organs-at-risk near the edge of the target volume decrease if a PSBC is implemented.This study demonstrates that intensity-modulated spot scanning with a PSBC can effectively reduce the lateral penumbra and block unnecessary doses and is therefore promising for clinical applications in spot-scanning proton therapy.

Design and verification of the HXI collimator on the ASO-S mission

A space-borne hard X-ray collimator,comprising 91 pairs of grids,has been developed for the Hard X-ray Imager(HXI).The HXI is one of the three scientific instruments onboard the first Chinese solar mission:the Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory(ASO-S).The HXI collimator(HXI-C)is a spatial modulation X-ray telescope designed to observe hard X-rays emitted by energetic electrons in solar flares.This paper presents the detailed design of the HXI-C for the qualification model that will be inherited by the flight model.Series tests on the HXI-C qualification model are reported to verify the ability of the HXI-C to survive the launch and to operate normally in on-orbit environments.Furthermore,results of the X-ray beam test for the HXI-C are presented to indirectly identify the working performance of the HXI-C.

Optical clearing mechanisms characterization in muscle

Optical immersion clearing is a technique that has been widely studied for more than two decades and that is used to originate a temporary transparency effect in biological tissues.If applied in cooperation with clinical methods it provides optimization of diagnosis and treatment procedures.This technique turns biological tissues more transparent through two main mechanisms-tissue dehydration and refractive index(RI)matching between tissue compo-nents.Such matching is obtained by partial replacement of interstit ial water by a biocompat ible agent that presents higher RI and it can be completely rever sible by natural rehydration in vrivo or by assisted rehydration in ex vivo tissues.Experimental data to characterize and discriminate between the two mechanisms and to find new ones are necessary.Using a simple method,based on collimated transmittance and thickness measurements made from muscle samples under treatment,we have estimated the diffusion properties of glucose,ethylene glycol(EG)and water that were used to perform such char acterization and discrimination.Comparing these properties with data from literature that characterize their diffusion in water we have observed that musde cell membrane permeability limits agent and water diffusion in the muscle.The same experi-mental data has allowed to calculate the optical dearing(OC)eficiency and make an inter-pretation of the internal changes that occurred in muscle during the treatments.The same methodology can now be used to perform similar studies with other agents and in other tissues in order to solve engineering problems at design of inexpensive and robust technologies for a consider.able improvement of optical tomogr aphic techmiques with better contrast and in depth imaging.

Leakage-Penumbra effect in intensity modulated radiation therapy step-and-shoot dose delivery

AIM: To study the leakage-penumbra(LP) effect with a proposed correction method for the step-and-shoot intensity modulated radiation therapy(IMRT).METHODS: Leakage-penumbra dose profiles from 10 randomly selected prostate IMRT plans were studied. The IMRT plans were delivered by a Varian 21 EX linear accelerator equipped with a 120-leaf multileaf collimator(MLC). For each treatment plan created by the Pinnacle3 treatment planning system,a 3-dimensional LP dose distribution generated by 5 coplanar photon beams,starting from 0o with equal separation of 72 o,was investigated. For each photon beam used in the stepand-shoot IMRT plans,the first beam segment was set to have the largest area in the MLC leaf-sequencing,and was equal to the planning target volume(PTV). The overshoot effect(OSE) and the segment positional errors were measured using a solid water phantom with Kodak(TL and X-OMAT V) radiographic films. Film dosimetric analysis and calibration were carried out using a film scanner(Vidar VXR-16). The LP dose profiles were determined by eliminating the OSE and segment positional errors with specific individual irradiations. RESULTS: A non-uniformly distributed leaf LP dose ranging from 3% to 5% of the beam dose was measured in clinical IMRT beams. An overdose at the gap between neighboring segments,represented as dose peaks of up to 10% of the total BP,was measured. The LP effect increased the dose to the PTV and surrounding critical tissues. In addition,the effectdepends on the number of beams and segments for each beam. Segment positional error was less than the maximum tolerance of 1 mm under a dose rate of 600 monitor units per minute in the treatment plans. The OSE varying with the dose rate was observed in all photon beams,and the effect increased from 1 to 1.3 Gy per treatment of the rectal intersection. As the dosimetric impacts from the LP effect and OSE may increase the rectal post-radiation effects,a correction of LP was proposed and demonstrated for the central beam profile for one of the planned beams. CONCLUSION: We concluded that the measured dosimetric impact of the LP dose inaccuracy from photon beam segment in step-and-shoot IMRT can be corrected.

Systematic study on visible light collimation by nanostructured slits in the metal surface

We present a systematic experimental investigation on visible light collimation by a nanostructured slit flanked with a pair of periodic array of grooves in gold thin film. A wide variety of aspects are considered, such as the polarization state, the transport path of incident light, the groove-groove spacing, the groove width and depth. Our results clearly show that the relationship between the collimation wavelength and the periodicity of the slit-groove structure accords well with the surface plasmon dispersion model proposed by previous researchers. Furthermore, the surface plasmon wave phase retardation effect induced by the surface structure is also verified via the measurement for samples with different groove widths and depths. These results indicate that the detailed geometry of the groove structure has obvious impacts on the collimation effect and the angular distribution of the diffraction light in the subwavelength plasmonic system.

A comparative study between flattening filter-free beams and flattening filter beams in radiotherapy treatment

Flattening filter-free(FFF) beams generated by medical linear particle accelerators(linacs) have recently been used in radiotherapy clinical practice.FFF beams have fundamental physical parameter differences with respect to standard flattening filter(FF) beams,such that the generally used dosimetric parameters and definitions are not always viable.This study investigates dosimetric parameters for use in the quality assurance of FFF beams generated by medical linacs in radiotherapy.The main characteristics of the photon beams are analyzed using specific data generated by a Varian True Beam linac having both FFF and FF beams of 6 and 10 MV(megavolt) energy,respectively.Definitions for dose profile parameters are suggested,starting from the renormalization of the FFF with respect to the corresponding FF beam.From this point,the flatness concept is translated into one of "un-flatness",and other definitions are proposed,maintaining a strict parallelism between FFF and FF parameter concepts.The quality controls used in establishing a quality assurance program when introducing FFF beams into the clinical environment are given,maintaining similarity to those used for standard FF beams,and recommendations for the introduction of FFF beams into clinical radiotherapy application for breast cancer patients are provided as an example for comparison between FFF and FF for dose distribution and coverage for a target volume.Although there are many advantages of using a FFF beam,especially for advanced radiotherapy techniques,there are a few limitations(e.g.,using a relatively higher energy photon beam for stereotactic radiotherapy(SRT),limited speed of current multileaf collimators(MLCs),and off-axis distance-dependent modulation in intensitymodulated radiation therapy(IMRT)) as well as challenges(e.g.,criteria for beam quality evaluation and penumbra,establishment of dosimetry methods,and consequences of photon target burn-up) that need to be addressed for establishing the FFF beam as a viable alternative to the FF beam.