Software platform for simulation of a prototype proton CT scanner
Purpose Proton computed tomography (pCT) is a promising imaging technique to substitute or at least complement x-ray CT for more accurate proton therapy treatment planning as it allows calculating directly proton relative stopping power from proton energy loss measurements. A proton CT scanner with...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2017
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| In: |
Medical physics
Year: 2017, Volume: 44, Issue: 3, Pages: 1002-1016 |
| ISSN: | 2473-4209 |
| DOI: | 10.1002/mp.12107 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, Volltext: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mp.12107 Verlag, Volltext: https://aapm.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/mp.12107 
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| Author Notes: | Valentina Giacometti, Centre for Medical Radiation Physics, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia, Division of Radiation Research, Department of Basic Sciences, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, USA; Vladimir A. Bashkirov, Division of Radiation Research, Department of Basic Sciences, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, USA; Pierluigi Piersimoni, Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California San Francisco, CA, USA; Susanna Guatelli, Centre for Medical Radiation Physics, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia; Tia E. Plautz, Hartmut F.-W. Sadrozinski, Robert P. Johnson, and Andriy Zatserklyaniy, Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, Santa Cruz, CA, USA; Thomas Tessonnier, Department of Radiation Oncology, Heidelberg University Clinic, Heidelberg, Germany, Department of Medical Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München, Munich, Germany; Katia Parodi, Department of Medical Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians Universitä München, Munich, Germany, Heidelberg Ion Beam Therapy Center, Heidelberg, Germany; Anatoly B. Rosenfeld, Centre for Medical Radiation Physics, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia; Reinhard W. Schulte, Division of Radiation Research, Department of Basic Sciences, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, USA, Depar tment of Radiation Oncology, University of California San Francisco, CA, USA |
| Summary: | Purpose Proton computed tomography (pCT) is a promising imaging technique to substitute or at least complement x-ray CT for more accurate proton therapy treatment planning as it allows calculating directly proton relative stopping power from proton energy loss measurements. A proton CT scanner with a silicon-based particle tracking system and a five-stage scintillating energy detector has been completed. In parallel a modular software platform was developed to characterize the performance of the proposed pCT. Method The modular pCT software platform consists of (1) a Geant4-based simulation modeling the Loma Linda proton therapy beam line and the prototype proton CT scanner, (2) water equivalent path length (WEPL) calibration of the scintillating energy detector, and (3) image reconstruction algorithm for the reconstruction of the relative stopping power (RSP) of the scanned object. In this work, each component of the modular pCT software platform is described and validated with respect to experimental data and benchmarked against theoretical predictions. In particular, the RSP reconstruction was validated with both experimental scans, water column measurements, and theoretical calculations. Results The results show that the pCT software platform accurately reproduces the performance of the existing prototype pCT scanner with a RSP agreement between experimental and simulated values to better than 1.5%. Conclusions The validated platform is a versatile tool for clinical proton CT performance and application studies in a virtual setting. The platform is flexible and can be modified to simulate not yet existing versions of pCT scanners and higher proton energies than those currently clinically available. |
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| Item Description: | First published: 17 January 2017 Gesehen am 08.06.2018 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 2473-4209 |
| DOI: | 10.1002/mp.12107 |