Implementation and workflow for PET monitoring of therapeutic ion irradiation: a comparison of in-beam, in-room, and off-line techniques


Implementation and workflow for PET monitoring of therapeutic ion irradiation: a comparison of in-beam, in-room, and off-line techniques

Shakirin, G.; Braess, H.; Fiedler, F.; Kunath, D.; Laube, K.; Parodi, K.; Priegnitz, M.; Enghardt, W.

Abstract
An independent assessment of the dose delivery in ion therapy can be performed using positron emission tomography (PET). For that a distribution of positron emitters which appear as the result of interaction between ions of the therapeutic beam and the irradiated tissue is measured during or after the irradiation. Three concepts for PET monitoring implemented in various therapy facilities are considered in this paper. The in-beam PET concept relies on the PET measurement performed simultaneously to the irradiation by means of a PET scanner which is completely integrated into the irradiation site. The in-room PET concept allows measurement immediately after irradiation by a standalone PET scanner which is installed very close to the irradiation site. In the off-line PET scenario themeasurement is performed by means of a standalone PET/CT scanner 10–30 min after the irradiation. These three concepts were evaluated according to image quality criteria, integration costs, and their influence onto the workflow of radiotherapy. In-beam PET showed the best performance. However, the integration costs were estimated as very high for this modality. Moreover, the performance of in-beam PET depends heavily on type and duty cycle of the accelerator. The in-room PET is proposed for planned therapy 5 Present address: Philips Research, HTC11, 5656 AE Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
0031-9155/

Keywords: in-beam PET; PET monitoring; ion therapy; in-vivo dosimetry

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-15247
Publ.-Id: 15247