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Biomedical subjects

D Marre

Publications and source records attributed to D Marre.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

[The impact of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography on the 3D conformal radiotherapy planning in patients with non-small cell lung cancer].

Traditional radiation treatment planning relies on density imaging such as Computed Tomography for anatomic information of various structures of interest including target and normal tissues. However, the difficulties to distinguish malignant from normal tissue on CT slides often leads to inaccurate outlining of the GTV and/or to geographic misses. 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) has shown an increase in both sensitivity and specificity over CT in locoregional staging of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The co registration of FDG-PET images to the data of the CT planning offers the radiation oncologist the possibility to include functional information into the target outlining. For the treatment of patients with NSCLC, it has been shown that the use of FDG-PET images: 1) modified the shape and volume of radiation fields in 22-62% of cases, mainly due to a better nodal staging and distinction of atelectasis from tumor and; 2) significatively reduced the interobserver and intraobserver variability. This paper reviews the results reported in the literature. Challenges and proposed solutions are discussed.

Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung↗

Comparison of p-type commercial electron diodes for in vivo dosimetry.

This paper compares the characteristics of three types of commercial p-type electron diodes specially designed for in vivo dosimetry (Scanditronix EDD2, Sun Nuclear QED 111200-0 and PTW T60010E diodes coupled with a Therados DPD510 dosimeter) in electron fields with energies from 4.5 to 21 MeV, and in conditions similar to those encountered in radiotherapy. In addition to the diodes, a NACP plane parallel ionization chamber and film dosimeters have been used in the experiments. The influence of beam direction on the diode responses (directional effect) was investigated. It was found to be the greatest for the lowest electron beam energy. At 12 MeV and an incidence of +/- 30 degrees, the variation was found to be less than 1% for the Scanditronix and Sun Nuclear diodes and less than 3% for the PTW one. The three diodes exhibited a variation in sensitivity with dose-per-pulse of less than 1% over the range 0.18-0.43 mGy/pulse. The temperature dependence was also studied. The response was linear for the three diodes between 22.2 and 40 degrees C and the sensitivity variations with temperature were (0.25+/-0.01)%/degree C, (0.28+/-0.01)%/degree C, and (0.02 +/-0.01)%/degree C for Scanditronix, Sun Nuclear, and PTW diodes, respectively. Finally the perturbation to the irradiation field induced by the presence of diodes placed at the surface of a homogeneous phantom was investigated and found to be significant, both at the surface and at the depth of maximum dose (several tens of percent) for all three diode types. There is an increase of dose right underneath the diode (close to the surface) and a dose shadow at the depth of maximum. The study shows that electron diodes can be used for in vivo dosimetry provided their characteristics are carefully established before use and taken into consideration at the time of interpretation of the results.

Calibration↗

Energy correction factors of LiF powder TLDs irradiated in high-energy electron beams and applied to mailed dosimetry for quality assurance networks.

Absorbed dose determination with thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) generally relies on calibration in 60Co gamma-ray reference beams. The energy correction factor fCo(E) for electron beams takes into account the difference between the response of the TLD in the beam of energy E and in the 60Co gamma-ray beam. In this work, fCo(E) was evaluated for an LiF powder irradiated in electron beams of 6 to 20 MeV (Varian 2300C/D) and 10 to 50 MeV (Racetrack MM50), and its variation with electron energy, TLD size and nature of the surrounding medium was also studied for LiF powder. The results have been applied to the ESTRO-EQUAL mailed dosimetry quality assurance network. Monte Carlo calculations (EGS4, PENELOPE) and experiments have been performed for the LiF powder (rho = 1.4 g cm3) (DTL937, Philitech, France), read on a home made reader and a PCL3 automatic reader (Fimel, France). The TLDs were calibrated using Fricke dosimetry and compared with three ionization chambers (NE2571, NACP02, ROOS). The combined uncertainties in the experimental fCo(E) factors determined in this work are less than about 0.4% (1 SD), which is appreciably smaller than the uncertainties up to 1.4% (1 SD) reported for other calculated values in the literature. Concerning the Varian 2300C/D beams, the measured fCo(E) values decrease from 1.065 to 1.049 +/- 0.004 (1 SD) when the energy at depth in water increases from 2.6 to 14.1 MeV; the agreement with Monte Carlo calculations is better than 0.5%. For the Racetrack MM50 pulsed-scanned beams, the average experimental value of fCo(E) is 1.071 +/- 0.005 (1 SD) for a mean electron energy at depth Ez ranging from 4.3 to 36.3 MeV: fCo(E) is up to 2% higher for the MM50 beams than for the 2300C/D beams in the range of the tested energies. The energy correction factor for LiF powder (3 mm diameter and 15 mm length) varies with beam quality and type (pulsed or pulsed-scanning), cavity size and nature of the surrounding medium. The fCo(E) values obtained for the LiF powder (3 mm diameter and 15 mm length) irradiated in water, have been applied to the EQUAL external audit network, leading to a good agreement between stated and measured doses, with a mean value of 1.002 +/- 0.022 (1 SD), for 170 beam outputs checked (36 electron beam energies) in 13 'reference' radiotherapy centres in Europe. Such fCo(E) data improve the accuracy of the absorbed dose TLD determination in electron beams, justifying their use for quality control in radiotherapy.

Calibration↗

Monte Carlo calculations of the ionization chamber wall correction factors for 192Ir and 60Co gamma rays and 250 kV x-rays for use in calibration of 192Ir HDR brachytherapy sources.

As in the method for the calibration of 192Ir high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy sources, the ionization chamber wall correction factor A(w), is needed for 192Ir and 60Co gamma rays and 250 kV x-rays. This factor takes into account the variation in chamber response due to the attenuation of the photon beam in the chamber wall and build-up cap and the contribution of scattered photons. Monte Carlo calculations were performed using the EGS4 code system with the PRESTA algorithm, to calculate the A(w) factor for 51 commercial ionization chambers and build-up caps exposed to the typical energy spectrum of 192Ir and 60Co gamma rays and 250 kV x-rays. The calculated A(w) correction factors for 192Ir and 60Co sources and 250 kV x-rays agree very well to within 0.1% with published experimental data (the statistical uncertainty is less than 0.1% of the calculated correction factor value). For the 192Ir sources, A(w) varies from 0.973 to 0.993 and for the 250 kV x-rays the minimum value of A(w) for all chambers studied is 0.983. The calculated A(w) correction factors can be used to calculate the air kerma calibration factor of HDR brachytherapy sources, when interpolative methods are considered, contributing to the reduction in the overall uncertainties in the calibration procedure.

Brachytherapy↗

Perturbation corrections for flat and thimble-type cylindrical standard ionization chambers for 60Co gamma rays: Monte Carlo calculations.

The use of an ionization chamber for absorbed dose determinations in a medium requires one to take into account perturbation corrections due to the presence of the chamber cavity in the medium. Evaluation of these corrections for perturbation and their variation with depth in the medium has been performed for a flat cylindrical and a cylindrical (thimble-type) ionization chamber placed in a graphite phantom irradiated by a 60Co gamma beam using Monte Carlo calculations (EGS4 system with correlated sampling variance reduction technique). The results of these calculations agree with published experimental and theoretical data to better than 0.18%, with a statistical uncertainty of less than 0.17%.

Cobalt Radioisotopes↗