Affiliations: Department of Radiation Oncology, Peggy and Charles
Stephenson Cancer Center, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center,
Oklahoma City, OK, USA
Note: [] Corresponding author: Salahuddin Ahmad, Department of Radiation
Oncology, Peggy and Charles Stephenson Cancer Center, The University of
Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, 800 N.E. 10th St., OKCC L100,
Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA. Tel.: +1 405 271 3016; Fax: +1 405 271 8297;
E-mail: salahuddin-ahmad@ouhsc.edu
Abstract: In-vivo range verification systems for incident protons recently
utilize positron emission tomography (PET) based on the phenomenon of
positron-emitting nuclei (PEN). However, recent investigations are suggesting
that the range can be verified also from the prompt gamma (PG) photon emissions
generated from proton interactions. In this work we investigate using the
Geant4 Monte Carlo toolkit the clinical viability of a theoretical sequential
detector system to verify the range of protons in proton radiotherapy by the PG
method for simple geometries and beam configurations. The results show a
correlation between selected emitted PG rays and the incident protons range and
suggest that our detector system is capable of in-vivo range monitoring
for energies typical of radiation oncology applications. Future work will
include implementing more realistic scenarios and optimizing current detector parameters.
