@article{ author = {Goswami, B. and Mitra, S. and Banerjee, S. and ShivaB, A. and Nagendran, P. and Kumari, P. and Goswami, P. and Chakraborty, A. and Mukherjee, S.}, title = {RapidArc: Initial experience in high grade glioma}, abstract ={Background: Identify the optimal technique of radiotherapy for patients with high grade glioma. Our initial year of experience with RapidArc radiation therapy. Materials and Methods: Planning CT scans of 50 patients with grade IV glioma were reviewed and three plan sets by 3D Conformal Radiotherapy (3DCRT), Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) and Rapid Arc (RA) were generated and the plans were compared. Results: Planning target Volume (PTV) coverage is comparable. However IMRT and RA give better sparing of critical structures. Treatment time and Monitor Units (MU) for Rapid Arc is much less compared to IMRT. Conclusion: If PTV is near to the Organs at Risk (OAR), then IMRT gives good result in comparison to 3DCRT plans. Rapid Arc is faster than IMRT and 3DCRT for same dose prescription to PTV and constraints of OAR.}, Keywords = {High grade glioma, radiotherapy planning, organ at risk, planning target volume, 3D conformal radiotherapy, intensity modulated radiotherapy, Rapid Arc}, volume = {11}, Number = {4}, pages = {203-206}, publisher = {Dr. Hossein Mozdarani}, title_fa = {}, abstract_fa ={}, keywords_fa = {}, url = {http://ijrr.com/article-1-1099-en.html}, eprint = {http://ijrr.com/article-1-1099-en.pdf}, journal = {International Journal of Radiation Research}, issn = {2322-3243}, eissn = {2345-4229}, year = {2013} } @article{ author = {Fantidis, J.G. and Saitioti, E. and Bandekas, D.V. and Vordos, N.}, title = {Optimised BNCT facility based on a compact D-D neutron generator}, abstract ={Background: Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) is a very promising treatment for patients suffering gliobastoma multiforme, an aggressive type of brain cancer, where conventional radiation therapies fail. Thermal neutrons are suitable for the direct treatment of cancers which are located at near-tissue-surface deep-seated tumors need harder, epithermal neutron energy spectra. Materials and Methods: In this work a BNCT facility based on a compact D–D neutron generator, has been simulated using the MCNP4B Monte Carlo code. The materials considered, for the design of the facility, were chosen according to the EU Directive 2002/95/EC, hence, excluded the use of cadmium and lead. Results: An extensive set of calculations performed with MCNP4B Mote Carlo code have show that the combination of TiF3 which integrates a conic part made of D2O, then followed by a TiF3 layer is the optimum moderator design. The use of BiF3 as spectrum shifter and &gamma rays filter, Titanium as fast neutron filter and Lithium as thermal neutron filter is necessary in order to obtain an epithermal neutron beam with high quality. Conclusion: The simulations show that, even if the neutron flux is below the recommended value for clinical treatment, the proposed facility is a good alternative for clinics which cannot afford to build and maintain a small nuclear reactor.}, Keywords = {Boron neutron capture therapy, epithermal neutron, MCNP4B, D–D neutron generator, ROHS directive}, volume = {11}, Number = {4}, pages = {207-214}, publisher = {Dr. Hossein Mozdarani}, title_fa = {}, abstract_fa ={}, keywords_fa = {}, url = {http://ijrr.com/article-1-1100-en.html}, eprint = {http://ijrr.com/article-1-1100-en.pdf}, journal = {International Journal of Radiation Research}, issn = {2322-3243}, eissn = {2345-4229}, year = {2013} } @article{ author = {Yarahmadi, M. and Nedaie, H.A. and Allahverdi, M. and Asnaashari, Kh. and Sauer, O.A.}, title = {Small photon field dosimetry using EBT2 Gafchromic film and Monte Carlo simulation}, abstract ={Background: Small photon fields are increasingly used in modern radiotherapy especially in intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) treatments. Accurate beam profile and central axis depth doses measurements of such beams are complicated due to the electron disequilibrium. Hence the EBT2 (external beam therapy) Gafchromic film was used for dosimetry of small circular photon beams because of its high spatial resolution. The results of EBT2 film were compared with PinPoint measurements and Monte Carlo calculations. Materials and Methods: Four small field sizes (5, 10, 20 and 30 mm diameters) were produced by circular cones coupled to a Varian Clinac-2100 linear accelerator at 6MV photon beam energy. Experimental measurements were carried out using two dosimeters: The Gafchromic EBT2 film and the 0.015 cm3 PinPoint ionization chamber (PTW, type 31006). The EGSnrc/BEAMnrc code was used to calculate dosimetric parameters for the above small fields. Results: The results showed that the PDD values measured by EBT2 film had maximum local differences 4% and 3% with PinPoint measurements and MC calculations respectively. The measurements of penumbra (80-20%) at 5 cm depth in a water phantom and SSD=100 cm by EBT2 film were up to 0.8 and 0.4 mm smaller than PinPoint measurements and MC calculation respectively. Our results show good agreement between EBT2 film measurements and MC calculation for small field output factors but PinPoint measurements need correction factors. Conclusion: This study showed that the Gafchromic EBT2 film is suitable detector for small field dosimetry especially for penumbra and output factor measurements.}, Keywords = {Small field, dosimetry, Gafchromic EBT2 film, Monte Carlo}, volume = {11}, Number = {4}, pages = {215-224}, publisher = {Dr. Hossein Mozdarani}, title_fa = {}, abstract_fa ={}, keywords_fa = {}, url = {http://ijrr.com/article-1-1101-en.html}, eprint = {http://ijrr.com/article-1-1101-en.pdf}, journal = {International Journal of Radiation Research}, issn = {2322-3243}, eissn = {2345-4229}, year = {2013} } @article{ author = {EsmailiTorshabi, A.}, title = {Investigation of tumor motion influence on applied dose distribution in conventional proton therapy vs. IMPT a 4D Monte Carlo simulation study}, abstract ={Background: in radiation treatment of moving targets located in thorax region of patient body, the delivered dose does not match with the planned treatment, resulting in some over and under dosage in the tumor volume, as a function of motion magnitude and frequency. Several efforts have been done to investigate the target motion effects on dose distribution in the target and surrounding normal tissues. Materials and Methods: in this study a spherical object undergoing periodic motion was considered as target inside a water phantom and its motion magnitude and frequency were adjusted to mimic realistic respiratory patterns. We selected a proton beam for irradiation and considered two different strategies in the simulation procedure to provide 3D target dose coverage: 1- conventional proton therapy using passive dose delivery and 2- IMPT both under respiratory gating technique. Results: in conventional proton therapy, the dose contribution within the normal tissues increases linearly at each gating window increment and in motion gated IMPT the delivered dose to the target and normal tissues strongly depends on the target and beam scanning motion interplay, that results an over and under dosage in target volume. Conclusions: In Conventional Proton Therapy, although the applied dose distribution on dynamic target volume is satisfactory at each gating window size, a significant dose is delivered to the surrounding normal tissues in comparison with same calculation in motion gated IMPT. In order to protect healthy tissues it is very important to use active spot scanning methods in dose delivery, minimized target and beam scanning motion interplay.}, Keywords = {Moving targets, proton therapy, dose distribution, interplay effect}, volume = {11}, Number = {4}, pages = {225-231}, publisher = {Dr. Hossein Mozdarani}, title_fa = {}, abstract_fa ={}, keywords_fa = {}, url = {http://ijrr.com/article-1-1102-en.html}, eprint = {http://ijrr.com/article-1-1102-en.pdf}, journal = {International Journal of Radiation Research}, issn = {2322-3243}, eissn = {2345-4229}, year = {2013} } @article{ author = {Kim, J.K. and Cha, M. and Mukherjee, A. and Wilhelmová, N.}, title = {Spindle trees (Euonymus japonica Thunb.) growing in a polluted environment are less sensitive to gamma irradiation}, abstract ={Background: Spindle trees (Euonymus japonica Thunb.) growing in an industrial complex area containing pollutants is chronically injured thus need to build up their resistance. Antioxidant enzymes and cell membrane stability have been widely used to differentiate stress tolerance. Materials and Methods: Leaves of spindle trees from a clean control area (Kijang) and an industrial area (Onsan) where is one of the heavily polluted areas in Korea were subsequently irradiated with 0, 50 and 100 Gy of gamma rays from a 60Co isotopic source, and evaluated for the level of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione reductase (GR) and lipid peroxidation (LPO). Results: Air pollution-stressed plants showed better adaptation to ionizing radiation (IR) stress and are better protected from the oxidative damage, and rapidly up-regulate their antioxidative systems. The adaptive plants growing in the polluted area are less sensitive to consecutive oxidative stresses such as gamma rays, having a higher capacity of resistance to ionizing radiation, compared to the samples taken from the clean area. Conclusion: Air pollution-stressed plants showed lesser changes in the level of antioxidant enzymes after irradiation due to their enhanced antioxidant capacity. The enzymatic differences in plants irradiated with gamma rays can be used as biochemical end-points for environmental monitoring.}, Keywords = {Spindle tree, oxidative stress, ionizing radiation, antioxidant enzymes, membrane stability, environmental monitoring}, volume = {11}, Number = {4}, pages = {233-243}, publisher = {Dr. Hossein Mozdarani}, title_fa = {}, abstract_fa ={}, keywords_fa = {}, url = {http://ijrr.com/article-1-1103-en.html}, eprint = {http://ijrr.com/article-1-1103-en.pdf}, journal = {International Journal of Radiation Research}, issn = {2322-3243}, eissn = {2345-4229}, year = {2013} } @article{ author = {Sadri, L. and Khosravi, H.R. and Setayeshi, S.}, title = {Assessment and evaluation of patient doses in adult common CT examinations towards establishing national diagnostic reference levels}, abstract ={Background: Patient radiation doses from computed tomography (CT) are increasing due to the number of CT examinations performed every day. The aim of this study was assess and evaluate patient radiation doses for adult’s common CT examinations to derive local diagnostic guidance levels for common CT examinations. Materials and Methods: Volume and weighted computed tomography dose index (CTDIvol,w) and dose length product (DLP) of four common CT examinations including head, head sinus, chest, abdomen and pelvis were measured for 8 different CT scanners using standard head and body phantoms. The image quality of acquired scan images were assessed according to European Commission (EC) image quality criteria guidelines. Results: The mean measured CTDIw for head base head cerebrum, head sinus, chest and abdomen-pelvis were 71.8, 29.7, 35.8, 9.8 and 12.9 mGy, respectively. The DLP for head, head sinus, chest and abdomen-pelvis were 500, 371, 225 and 482 mGy.cm. The results of our study were shown more patient doses in terms of DLP for head sinus in compare with other studies while CTDIw values for head base and sinus were higher than EC measurements. Conclusion: The great variations of CTDIw and DLP observed among hospitals and relatively high values of DLP in some centers are evidence that radiation doses of patients from CT examinations is not fully optimized. It was concluded that future studies of continues optimization to minimize the dose without affecting image quality are needed.}, Keywords = {CTDIw, CTDIvol, DLP, patient dose in CT, NDRLs}, volume = {11}, Number = {4}, pages = {245-252}, publisher = {Dr. Hossein Mozdarani}, title_fa = {}, abstract_fa ={}, keywords_fa = {}, url = {http://ijrr.com/article-1-1104-en.html}, eprint = {http://ijrr.com/article-1-1104-en.pdf}, journal = {International Journal of Radiation Research}, issn = {2322-3243}, eissn = {2345-4229}, year = {2013} } @article{ author = {Tabar, E. and Kumru, M.N. and İçhedef, M. and Saç, M.M.}, title = {Radioactivity level and the measurement of soil gas radon concentration in Dikili geothermal area, Turkey}, abstract ={Background: The natural radioactivity level and the radon concentration of soil were measured at four important geothermal area located in Dikili geothermal region, Turkey. Materials and Methods: The natural radionuclide content of soil samples were measured by NaI(Tl) gamma spectrometer system and the soil radon concentration were determined using Kodak-Pethe LR-115 Type II Solid State Nuclear Track Detectors (SSNTD). The aim of the study was to investigate the seasonal variation of the radon concentration as well as evaluate the health hazards related to natural activity if any. Results: It was found that the radon concentration of soil gas in the study area ranged from 98-8594 Bq m-3 with an average value of 1920 Bq m-3. The highest radon concentration observed in summer and the lowest concentration measured in winter. The average activity concentrations of 238U, 232Th and 40K were found to be 28.7, 17.6 and 579.2 Bq kg-1, respectively. Towards this, annual effective doses from these radionuclides determined and analyzed. Conclusion: The calculated dose values are not very high and don’t exceed the radioprotection standards suggested by international agencies.}, Keywords = {Radon, soil, natural radioactivity, Dikili, Turkey}, volume = {11}, Number = {4}, pages = {253-261}, publisher = {Dr. Hossein Mozdarani}, title_fa = {}, abstract_fa ={}, keywords_fa = {}, url = {http://ijrr.com/article-1-1105-en.html}, eprint = {http://ijrr.com/article-1-1105-en.pdf}, journal = {International Journal of Radiation Research}, issn = {2322-3243}, eissn = {2345-4229}, year = {2013} } @article{ author = {Dhawal, S.J. and Kulkarni, G.S. and Pawar, S.H.}, title = {Terrestrial background radiation studies in South Konkan, Maharashtra, India}, abstract ={Background: The natural radionuclides are always present in soil and care needs to be taken to minimize the radiation dose to humans. These radionuclides are mostly gamma ray emitting radionuclides which contribute to the radiation dose in long term behavior of radionuclides in soil. Health hazards associated with natural radioactivity are of great concern and it is necessary to assess risk due to them. The most common radionuclides found are 238U, 232Th and 40K. Materials and Methods: The activity concentration of natural radionuclides in the soil samples collected from South Konkan region of Maharashtra, India were analyzed using HPGe based gamma spectrometry. Results: The activity concentrations from the selected villages are found to be ranging from 24.78 ± 0.14 to 76.38 ± 0.31Bq kg-1 for 238U, 30.08 ± 0.14 to 96.18 ± 31Bq kg-1 for 232Th and 105.34 ± 0.24Bq kg-1 to 432.51 ± 0.48Bq kg-1 for 40K. The average absorbed dose rate in air was calculated as 66.89nGy h-1.The annual effective dose rates were varied from 0.27mSv y-1 to 0.85mSv y-1 with an average of 0.49mSv y-1. The mean radium equivalent activity value for soil samples of South Konkan was 144.84 Bq kg-1 which is lower than 370Bqkg-1 of world average. Conclusion: It is observed that the study area is free from hazards of Radium and its progeny nuclides like Radon. The external hazard index for all soil samples from South Konkan was lower than unity denoting that the villages from this study area are safe for human health.}, Keywords = {Absorbed dose rate, annual effective dose, radium equivalent activity, terrestrial radioactivity, gamma spectrometry, South Konkan}, volume = {11}, Number = {4}, pages = {263-270}, publisher = {Dr. Hossein Mozdarani}, title_fa = {}, abstract_fa ={}, keywords_fa = {}, url = {http://ijrr.com/article-1-1106-en.html}, eprint = {http://ijrr.com/article-1-1106-en.pdf}, journal = {International Journal of Radiation Research}, issn = {2322-3243}, eissn = {2345-4229}, year = {2013} } @article{ author = {Ajayi, O.S. and Ibikunle, S.B.}, title = {Radioactivity of surface soils from Oyo state, South Western Nigeria}, abstract ={Background: The activity concentrations of some radionuclides in soil samples collected from 20 locations in 8 major towns in Oyo State, Southwestern Nigeria have been determined by gamma-ray spectrometry technique. Materials and Methods: The activity concentrations were determined using high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector (Canberra Industries Inc.). The outdoor absorbed dose rates in air at about 1.0 m height were estimated from the activity concentrations and dose rate conversion factors for the radionuclides. The annual outdoor effective dose equivalent rates were also estimated for urban and rural areas of the state using the calculated absorbed dose rates in air. Results: Determined specific activity concentrations of the radionuclides ranged from 1±0.4 Bq kg-1 for 137Cs to 1190±30 Bq kg-1 for 40K. The estimated outdoor absorbed dose rates in air varied from 52 nGy h-1 in Egbeda (a rural area) to 414 nGy h-1 in Eruwa (also a rural area). The mean annual outdoor effective dose equivalent for the urban areas in the state was 0.1 mSv y-1 while that of rural areas was 0.3 mSv y-1 with a standard deviation of 0.02 mSv y-1 and 0.3 mSv y-1 respectively. The mean for the study area was 0.2 mSv y-1. Conclusion: The mean annual outdoor effective dose values for the urban and rural areas, for the whole study area are higher than the world average annual outdoor terrestrial radiation value of 0.07 mSv y-1 reported by the United Nations Scientific Committee on Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) for individual members of the public.}, Keywords = {Soil, natural radioactivity, radiation hazard, Oyo state, dose rates}, volume = {11}, Number = {4}, pages = {271-278}, publisher = {Dr. Hossein Mozdarani}, title_fa = {}, abstract_fa ={}, keywords_fa = {}, url = {http://ijrr.com/article-1-1110-en.html}, eprint = {http://ijrr.com/article-1-1110-en.pdf}, journal = {International Journal of Radiation Research}, issn = {2322-3243}, eissn = {2345-4229}, year = {2013} }