A Deconvolution Formulation for Cerenkov Light Dosimetry in Radiation Therapy
2019-06
Loading...
View/Download File
Persistent link to this item
Statistics
View StatisticsJournal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Title
A Deconvolution Formulation for Cerenkov Light Dosimetry in Radiation Therapy
Authors
Published Date
2019-06
Publisher
Type
Thesis or Dissertation
Abstract
Cerenkov light is the visible optical emission of photons that are created by the passage of high-energy charged particles in a dielectric medium. Since its discovery in 1934, Cerenkov light has been paramount to applications of high-energy radiation research. Recently, there has been considerable interest in imaging Cerenkov light during external beam radiation therapy as a means to perform in-vivo dose measurement. However, the exact relationship between Cerenkov light emission and dose deposition is not well characterized. In this thesis, the relationship between radiation beam fluence, dose deposition, and Cerenkov light emission is derived in an integral equation, describing the convolution relationships that exist between these physical parameters. This set of equations contained a convolution kernel called the Cerenkov scatter function (CSF). The CSF was solved with Monte Carlo techniques using the Geant4 architecture for medically-oriented simulations (GAMOS) to simulate radiation-induced optical emissions in an optical phantom and human skin tissue model. The theoretical formulation was experimentally evaluated using an optical phantom irradiated by high-energy photon beams. Next, the limitations and dependence of theoretical formulation were tested through a perturbation analysis performed on the CSF through Monte Carlo simulation. Lastly, the theoretical formulation was extended to clinically-relevant geometries, including curved surfaces, by breaking the limitation of space-invariance of the CSF. The theoretical formulation was found to improve the light-to-dose correspondence in Cerenkov light images, particularly in high dose gradient regions, and has the potential to improve the methods of Cerenkov imaging arising within radiation oncology. Based upon these results, it is expected that the theoretical formulation may be extended for use in a new Cerenkov imaging system which couples patient geometry imaging and measurement of Cerenkov light in-vivo.
Keywords
Description
University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. June 2019. Major: Physics. Advisor: Yoichi Watanabe. 1 computer file (PDF); xii, 146 pages.
Related to
Replaces
License
Collections
Series/Report Number
Funding information
Isbn identifier
Doi identifier
Previously Published Citation
Suggested citation
Brost, Eric. (2019). A Deconvolution Formulation for Cerenkov Light Dosimetry in Radiation Therapy. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/211796.
Content distributed via the University Digital Conservancy may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor. By using these files, users agree to the Terms of Use. Materials in the UDC may contain content that is disturbing and/or harmful. For more information, please see our statement on harmful content in digital repositories.