In-Room Imaging Flashcards
What is IGRT and why is it used?
Image at pre-treatment and delivery stage, leading to an action to improve or verify the accuracy of the treatment.
It prevents geographical misses.
What recommends IGRT?
Cancer Reform Strategy 2007, Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer 2011.
How does MV portal imaging work?
Use treatment beam onto EPID, 1-2MU.
Creates a single or pair of 2D images, or continuous imaging can be performed
How does an EPID work?
Copper conversion layer attenuates beam and produces electrons.
Scintillator produces light.
Photodiode array converts light to charge which is read out.
What are the advantages of MV portal imaging?
Uses treatment beam so simple geometry
Continuous imaging possible
Can do picket fence QA
What are the disadvantages of MV portal imaging?
Poor image contrast, 10-20x lower than DR
Only see bony anatomy
Can’t use antiscatter grid
How does MVCT work?
Take multiple 2D images, reconstructing using filtered back projection. This can be compared to the planning CT.
What are the advantages of MVCT?
3D data
Compare to planning CT
What are the disadvantages of MVCT?
Low contrast
Noisy due to scatter as it’s a conebeam.
How does Tomotherapy Helical MVCT work?
Use the max injector current so the average energy increase in the waveguide is less, leading to a 1MV beam.
Take mulitple 1D projections as the couch moves through the bore using a Xe gas detector from a CT scanner.
What are the advantages of Tomo helical MVCT?
3D imaging
Lower MV beam so better contrast
Fan beam so less scatter and noise
Less artefact fro prosthetics
What are the disadvantages of Tomo helical MVCT?
Detector not designed for MV
Detector designed for different SSD so beam is more unfocused as it goes from centre of beam - get a change in detector response across detector, resulting in double peak detector profile
Worse contrast than kV
Slow acquisition times, gantry rotates at 6RPM
How does Linac kV imaging work?
kV add-ons are put on the linac for Varian and Elekta. These are a kV tube and an EPID without the copper layer.
Siemens uses either modifies the treatment beam or puts a kV tube opposite the treatment head and introduces a flat panel detector.
Can do planar kV images, CBCT, kV pair, kV/MV pair, fluoroscopy
What are the components of the kV tube?
Primary collimator - reduce scatter by restricting field size
kV collimator/blades - 2 pairs of blades to control image size
Norm chamber - photodiode measures output of tube, projections correxted for kV output before reconstruction
kV filter - hardens beam to reduce skin dose and improve HU uniformity and accuracy
Bowtie filter - reduces skin dose, prevents saturation, reduces scatter from patient
What are the advantages of kV imaging?
Good soft tissue contrast
kV, MV pair saves time