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In intracavitary radiotherapy, it is essential to verify the correct location of radiation source among quality control items because an incorrect location will irradiate an unnecessary dose to normal tissues. As a basic study of digital line dosimeters, this study fabricated a unit cell dosimeter based on polycrystalline mercury (II) iodide (HgI2) and compared its performance with a diode. The study result showed that for reproducibility, the relative standard deviation (RSD) was 1.21%, satisfying the RSD evaluation criterion of within 1.5%. Considering linearity, the coefficient of determination R2 showed an excellent result of 0.9997. Regarding the evaluation of distance dependence, it showed a similar trend in general with a difference of 0.035 cm for intensity 50% when compared with the inverse square value. The angular dependence gradually decreased in intensity as the angle increased, showing a difference of up to 25%. This study suggests the applicability of a digital dosimeter for brachytherapy quality control by evaluating the performance of the HgI2 dosimeter. However, to develop it into a quality assurance (QA) dosimeter, correction factor for sensitivity according to angle should be applied. This study on dosimeter for candidate photoconductor materials can be used as basic data in all areas using radiation.

Brachytherapy is a cancer treatment that involves intensively irradiating a tumor by placing a sealed radioactive isotope inside the body. Determining the position of the source through accurate quality assurance (QA) is important, because brachytherapy uses radioactive isotope sources with high dose rates. However, in clinical practice, the source position is determined with the naked eye through the use of a ruler, autoradiograph, video monitor, etc., which yields inaccurate results. Therefore, in this study, a lead (II) iodide (PbI2) based polycrystalline digital dosimeter that can measure the relative dose was developed for the QA of the brachytherapy device, and its applicability was evaluated in terms of reproducibility, linearity, percentage interval distance (PID), and angular dependence. Reproducibility evaluation yielded a relative standard deviation value of 1.41%, which satisfied the evaluation criterion of 1.5%. The linearity evaluation yielded an R2 value of 0.9993, which satisfied the evaluation criterion of 0.9990. The PID evaluation revealed that, as the distance from the source increased, the signal decreased according to the inverse-square law. When the PbI2-based digital dosimeter was rotated up to 45°, a difference of up to 13.20% in the angular dependence was observed. Thus, the dosimeter fabricated in this experiment met all the criteria of the aforementioned evaluations. Therefore, it is considered to be highly applicable as a dosimeter for the QA of brachytherapy devices.

Digital tomosynthesis (DTS) is a geometric tomography technique using a limited-angle scan. It has been popularly used in both medical and industrial x-ray imaging applications. DTS provides the tomographic benefits of computed tomography with reduced dose and time. However, conventional DTS reconstruction based on the computationally cheap filtered back-projection (FBP) method typically produces poor image quality due to limited angular samplings. To overcome these difficulties, iterative reconstruction methods are often used in DTS reconstruction as they have the potential to provide multiplanar images of higher quality than conventional FBP-based methods. However, they require enormous computational cost in the iterative process, which remains an obstacle to practical applications. In this study, we propose a method for effectively reducing limited-angle artifacts in conventional FBP reconstruction, using a state-of-the-art deep learning scheme with a convolutional neural network. Our results indicate that the proposed DTS reconstruction method effectively minimized limited-angle artifacts, thus improving image performance in DTS, and that further it provided good image quality in both sagittal and coronal views (as in computed tomography) as well as in axial view.

To improve the image quality in cone-beam computerized tomography, a detector containing an insulator layer made of parylene-C was utilized in this study. In HgI2 sensors with photoconducting materials, we analyzed the signal based on the thickness of the parylene-C layer and leakage current. In addition, we tried to evaluate the reproducibility of Hgl2 that decreases gradually based on the continuous X-ray study. For the signal-to-noise ratio, we evaluated the photocurrent/darkcurrent (P/D) ratio according to the reduction in the leakage current. Our results indicated a detector reproducibility of 0.82% for a parylene-layer thickness of 18 μm, which represents an improvement of 0.43% over that of a "parylene-free" detector. Compared with the parylene-free sensors, the ones with a parylene layer displayed an approximately linear increase of the P/D ratio with increasing parylene layer thickness. For layers 18 or 20 μm thick this ratio, indicative of image quality, exhibited an improvement of ~ 70 times or more in comparison to a parylene-free sensor.

Recently, cancer has been treated using high dose rates (HDRs), which requires highly reliable treatment plans. In current clinical practice, phosphors are widely used. However, these are of limited use for real-time verification of radiation during HDR brachytherapy; moreover, there is a possibility of electrical error via high-energy radiation because a photodiode is used to detect visible light. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a new dosimeter that can detect gamma rays effectively. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of a lead monoxide- (PbO)-based dosimeter to detect the position of a radioactive source in HDR brachytherapy. It was confirmed that the fabricated PbO dosimeter has sufficient response coincidence, reproducibility, and dose linearity for gamma rays. Based on these results, it is demonstrated that the PbO dosimeter complies with the general requirements of HDR brachytherapy monitoring systems. Thus, the PbO dosimeter is expected to be used commercially in the future.

In the application of radiotherapy to the skin, the need for ensuring the accuracy of surface dose measurements has attracted increasing attention because dose accumulation and inaccurate skin registration during irradiation can compromise patient safety. Here, we develop a dosimeter with mechanical stability against bending by mixing a photoconductive material, HgI2, and silicon rubber binder. We fabricate a film-type unit cell dosimeter and evaluate the device performance in terms of reproducibility and linearity. We also fabricate a flexible array dosimeter to demonstrate the feasibility of accurate surface dose measurements. To evaluate the robustness of the proposed device to bending, an acrylic filter is applied to form a beam, and the signals measured on flat and curved substrates are compared. The reproducibility values of the film-type unit cell dosimeter are 0.6% (SE) at 6 MV and 1.4% (SE) at 15 MV. The linearity values are 0.9999 (R2) at 6 MV and 0.9981 (R2) at 15 MV. The surface dose measurement error rates are 11.073% at 6 MV and 3.318% at 15 MV, demonstrating the feasibility of the flexible array dosimeter.

This study investigated analytic digital tomosynthesis (DTS) reconstruction in partial sampling with a multislit collimator that partially blocks the x-ray beam to the patient during projection data acquisition, thereby reducing excessive radiation dose to patients. Partially-sampled DTS images reconstructed using the analytic filtered-backprojection (FBP) algorithm usually suffer from severe bright-band artifacts around multislit edges of the collimator due to incomplete spatial sampling. In this study, a new prior sinogram interpolation method was introduced to the analytic DTS reconstruction in partial sampling to alleviate such artifacts. To verify the proposed DTS method, we conducted a systematic simulation and investigated image characteristics. Three multislit collimator layouts of C(2/2), C(3/3), and C(4/4) with a 50% duty cycle were designed and used in the simulation. Here C(n/n) denotes a collimator layout that blocks the x-ray beam over n detector pixels vertically with a n-pixel interval. All projections were obtained at a tomographic angle of θ = ±40o and an angle step of Δθ = 2o and used to reconstruct DTS images using the FBP algorithm. Our results indicate that the proposed sinogram interpolation method effectively minimized bright-band artifacts in analytic DTS reconstruction in partial sampling, thus maintaining the image quality.

Recently, high-energy radiation has been widely used in various industrial fields, including the medical industry, and increasing research efforts have been devoted to the development of radiation detectors to be used with high-energy radiation. In particular, nondestructive industrial applications use high-energy radiation for ships and multilayered objects for accurate inspection. Therefore, it is crucial to verify the accuracy of radiation dose measurements and evaluate the precision and reproducibility of the radiation output dose. Representative detectors currently used for detecting the dose in high-energy regions include Si diodes, diamond diodes, and ionization chambers. However, the process of preparing these detectors is complex in addition to the processes of conducting dosimetric measurements, analysis, and evaluation. Furthermore, the minimum size that can be prepared for a detector is limited. In the present study, the disadvantages of original detectors are compensated by the development of a detector made of a mixture of polycrystalline PbI2 and PbO powder, which are both excellent semiconducting materials suitable for detecting high-energy gamma rays and X-rays. The proposed detector shows characteristics of excellent reproducibility and stable signal detection in response to the changes in energy, and was analyzed for its applicability. Moreover, the detector was prepared through a simple process of particle-in-binder to gain control over the thickness and meet the specific value designated by the user. A mixture mass ratio with the highest reproducibility was determined through reproducibility testing with respect to changes in the photon energy. The proposed detector was evaluated for its detection response characteristics with respect to high-energy photon beam, in terms of dose-rate dependence, sensitivity, and linearity evaluation. In the reproducibility assessment, the detector made with 15 wt% PbO powder showed the best characteristics of 0.59% and 0.25% at 6 and 15 MV, respectively. Based on its selection in the reproducibility assessment, the 15 wt% PbO detector showed no dependence on the dose-rate changes, with R-SD < 1%. Finally, a coefficient of determination of 1 in the linearity assessment demonstrated very good linearity with regards to changes in dose. These results demonstrate the applicability and usefulness of the proposed detector made from a mixture of PbI2 and PbO semiconductors.

With the recent market entries of new types of linear accelerators (LINACs) with a multi leaf collimator (MLC) mounted on them, high-precision radiosurgery applying a LINAC to measure high-dose radiation on the target region has been gaining popularity. Systematic and accurate quality assurance (QA) is of vital important for high-precision radiosurgery because of its increased risk of side effects including life-threatening ones such as overexposure of healthy tissues to high-dose radiation beams concentrated on small areas. Therefore, accurate dose and dose-distribution measurements are crucial in the treatment procedure. The accurate measurement of the properties of beams concentrated on small areas requires high-precision dosimeters capable of high-resolution output and dose mapping as well as accurate dosimetry in penumbra regions. In general, the properties of beams concentrated on small areas are measured using thermos luminescent dosimeters (TLD), diode detectors, ion chambers, diamond detectors, or films, and many papers have presented the advantages and disadvantages of each of these detectors for dosimetry. In this study, a solid-state photoconductor dosimeter was developed, and its clinical usability was tested by comparing its relative dosimetric performance with that of a conventional ion chamber. As materials best-suited for radiation dosimeters, four candidates namely lead (II) iodide (PbI2), lead (II) oxide (PbO), mercury (II) iodide (HgI2), and HgI2/ titanium dioxide (TiO2) composite, the performances of which were proved in previous studies, were used. The electrical properties of each candidate material were examined using the sedimentation method, one of the particle-in-binder (PIB) methods, and unit-cell-type prototypes were fabricated. The unit-cell samples thus prepared were cut into specimens of area 1 × 1 cm2 with 400-μ m thickness. The electrical properties of each sample, such as sensitivity, dark current, output current, rising time, falling time, and response delay, were then measured, in addition to the consistency, reproducibility and linearity of each unit-cell. According to the measurement results, HgI2/TiO2 composite outperformed the other candidate materials. A radiation dosimeter with a chamber-type structure was fabricated in this study using a LINAC under accelerating voltages of 6, and 15 MV and compared with a commercial ion chamber. Percent depth dose (PDD) and beam profile were measured on a water phantom at a fixed area of 10 × 10 cm2 by using the fabricated chamber-type dosimeter, and the values were compared with those measured by a commercial ion chamber. Additionally, a homogeneous phantom was fabricated, and the exposure doses of the center points were measured according to a real treatment plan, followed by a comparison of the measured values as relative values. In this paper, we report that the manufactured dosimeter shows similar characteristics in terms of PDD and beam profile and results for the conventional ion chamber. Based on these results, it is demonstrated that the HgI2/TiO2-based dosimeter complies with radiotherapy QA requirements, namely Superior detection characteristics, consistency, dose linearity, reproducibility. Thus, we expect the HgI2/TiO2-based dosimeter to be used commercially in the future.

The most widely used form of radiotherapy to treat tumors uses a linear accelerator, and the apparatus requires regular quality assurance (QA). QA for a linear accelerator demands accuracy throughout, from mock treatment and treatment planning, up to treatment itself. Therefore, verifying a radiation dose is essential to ensure that the radiation is being applied as planned. In current clinical practice, ionization chambers and diodes are used for QA. However, using conventional gaseous ionization chambers presents drawbacks such as complex analytical procedures, difficult measurement procedures, and slow response time. In this study, we discuss the potential of a lead(II) iodide (PbI2)-based radiation dosimeter for radiotherapy QA. PbI2 is a semiconductor material suited to measurements of X-rays and gamma rays, because of its excellent response properties to radiation signals. Our results show that the PbI2-based dosimeter offers outstanding linearity and reproducibility, as well as dose-independent characteristics. In addition, percentage depth dose (PDD) measurements indicate that the error at a fixed reference depth Dmax was 0.3%, very similar to the measurement results obtained using ionization chambers. Based on these results, we confirm that the PbI2-based dosimeter has all the properties required for radiotherapy: stable dose detection, dose linearity, and rapid response time. Based on the evidence of this experimental verification, we believe that the PbI2-based dosimeter could be used commercially in various fields for precise measurements of radiation doses in the human body and for measuring the dose required for stereotactic radiosurgery or localized radiosurgery.

In radiation therapy, accurate radiotherapy treatment plan (RTP) reproduction is necessary to optimize the clinical results. Thus, attempts have recently been made to ensure high RTP reproducibility using image-guide radiation therapy (IGRT) technology. However, the clinical use of digital X-ray equipment requires extended quality assurance (QA) for those devices, since the IGRT device quality determines the precision of intensity-modulated radiation therapy. The study described in this paper was focused on developing a multi-energy PbO dosimeter for IGRT device QA. The Schottky-type polycrystalline PbO dosimeter with a Au/PbO/ITO structure was evaluated by comparing its response coincidence, dose linearity, measurement reproducibility, linear attenuation coefficient, and percent depth dose with those of Si diode and standard ionization chamber dosimeters.

Due to its electronic properties, a cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) detector has been used as a hand-held portable nuclear measurement instrument. However, a CZT detector has low detection efficiency because of a limitation of its single crystal growth. To address its low efficiency, we have constructed a portable four-CZT array based gamma-ray spectrometer consisting of a CZT array, electronics for signal processing and software. Its performance has been characterized in terms of energy resolution and detection efficiency using radioactive sources and nuclear materials. Experimental results showed that the detection efficiency of the four-CZT array based gamma-ray spectrometer was much higher than that of a single CZT detector in the array. The FWHMs of the CZT array were 9, 18, and 21 keV at 185.7, 662, and 1,332 keV, respectively. Some gamma-rays in a range of 100 keV to 200 keV were not clear in a single crystal detector while those from the CZT array system were observed to be clear. The energy resolution of the CZT array system was only slightely worse than those of the single CZT detectors. By combining several single crystals and summing signals from each single detector at a digital electronic circuit, the detection efficiency of a CZT array system increased without degradation of its energy resolution. The technique outlined in this paper shows a very promising method for designing a CZT-based gamma-ray spectroscopy that overcomes the fundamental limitations of a small volume CZT detector.

Lately, cancer has been treated using high-energy radiation, and this requires highly reliable treatment plans. Therefore, a dosimeter with excellent performance, which is capable of precise dose measurement, is critical. In current clinical practices, an ionization chamber and diode utilizing the ionization reaction mechanism are widely used. Several studies have been carried out to determine optimal materials for the detector in a dosimeter to enable diagnostic imaging. Recently, studies with lead monoxide, which was shown to have low drift current and high resolving power at a high bias, were reported with the dosimeter exhibiting a fast response time against incident photons. This research aims to investigate the feasibility of a lead monoxide-based dosimeter for QA (quality assurance) in radiotherapy. In this paper, we report that the manufactured dosimeter shows similar linearity to a silicon diode and demonstrates similar characteristics in terms of PDD (percent depth dose) results for the thimble ionization chamber. Based on these results, it is demonstrated that the lead monoxide-based dosimeter complies with radiotherapy QA requirements, namely rapid response time, dose linearity, dose rate independence. Thus, we expect the lead monoxide-based dosimeter to be used commercially in the future.

For quality assurance in radiation therapy, several types of dosimeters are used such as ionization chambers, radiographic films, thermo-luminescent dosimeter (TLD), and semiconductor dosimeters. Among them, semiconductor dosimeters are particularly useful for in vivo dosimeters or high dose gradient area such as the penumbra region because they are more sensitive and smaller in size compared to typical dosimeters. In this study, we developed and evaluated Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) dosimeters, one of the most promising semiconductor dosimeters due to their high quantum efficiency and charge collection efficiency. Such CdTe dosimeters include single crystal form and polycrystalline form depending upon the fabrication process. Both types of CdTe dosimeters are commercially available, but only the polycrystalline form is suitable for radiation dosimeters, since it is less affected by volumetric effect and energy dependence. To develop and evaluate polycrystalline CdTe dosimeters, polycrystalline CdTe films were prepared by thermal evaporation. After that, CdTeO3 layer, thin oxide layer, was deposited on top of the CdTe film by RF sputtering to improve charge carrier transport properties and to reduce leakage current. Also, the CdTeO3 layer which acts as a passivation layer help the dosimeter to reduce their sensitivity changes with repeated use due to radiation damage. Finally, the top and bottom electrodes, In/Ti and Pt, were used to have Schottky contact. Subsequently, the electrical properties under high energy photon beams from linear accelerator (LINAC), such as response coincidence, dose linearity, dose rate dependence, reproducibility, and percentage depth dose, were measured to evaluate polycrystalline CdTe dosimeters. In addition, we compared the experimental data of the dosimeter fabricated in this study with those of the silicon diode dosimeter and Thimble ionization chamber which widely used in routine dosimetry system and dose measurements for radiation therapy.

An automatic exposure control (AEC) detector is a control device that ensures consistent x-ray image quality and limits patient exposure in digital radiography. Among several kinds of AEC detectors, solid-state sensors offer several advantages such as geometric efficiency due to small thickness, high sensitivity, fast reaction time, and excellent stability. Commercially, the use of single-crystal silicon sensors for AEC detector has grown over time, but is still severely limited by large-area production techniques and mechanically fragile properties. Therefore, our study focused on developing a method of fabricating solid-state sensors that do not suffer from these limitations. The particle-in-binder method was used to fabricate silicon dioxide-based photoconductor films. Because silicon dioxide has a low atomic number and a low work function, it is a suitable material for generating sufficient electron-hole pairs by incident x-rays as well as not negatively affect the image detector of the digital radiography. To verify the feasibility of the silicon dioxide film as an AEC detector, electrical properties such as x-ray transmission and x-ray linearity were measured and compared with those of a commercialized silicon film. Over 90% x-ray transmission was achieved using a 500 μ m silicon dioxide film, which is suitable for an AEC detector. Also, an error below 3% was obtained from both x-ray current and voltage linearity tests. The results of bending tests demonstrated the properties of the silicon dioxide film to be more mechanically strong and stable compared with the commercialized silicon film. These properties were a result of the use of binder materials, which resulted in the flexibility of the film.

The applications of active matrix flat-panel imagers (AMFPIs) in large-area x-ray imaging systems have increased over time but are still severely limited owing to its pixel resolution, complex fabrication processes, and high cost. As a solution, x-ray light valve (XLV) technology was introduced and expected to have a better resolution and contrast ratio than those of AMFPI, owing to its micrometer level of the LC cells and signal amplification by an external light source. The twisting angle of the LC cells was changed by charge carrier signals created in a photoconductor layer against x-rays, and the diagnostic images from XLV were acquired from the transmittance of the external light source. However, there was a possibility that the photoconductor layer may be crystallized or degenerated due to the application of high temperatures for sealing the LC layer during the fabrication process. To solve such problems, polymer-dispersed liquid crystals (PDLCs), which do not need high temperature for the sealing process of the LC layer, are used in this study instead of typical LC cells. A photoconductor and PDLC are combined to develop an x-ray detector. An external light source and optical sensor are used to investigate the light transmission of the PDLC . The PDLCs used in this paper do not need polarizers and are self-adhesive. Hence, the transmittance is very high in the transparent state, which allows for a linear x-ray response and sufficient dynamic range in digital radiography.

The purpose of this study was to measure the accuracy of a three-dimensional surface imaging system (3-D SIS) in comparison to a 3-laser system by analyzing the setup errors obtained from a RANDO Phantom and head and neck cancer patients. The 3-D SIS used for the evaluation of the setup errors was a C-RAD Sentinel. In the phantom study, the OBI setup errors without the thermoplastic mask of the 3-laser system vs. the 3-D SIS were measured. Furthermore, the setup errors with the thermoplastic mask of the 3-laser system vs. the 3-D SIS were measured. After comparison of the CBCT, setup correction about 1 mm was performed in a few cases. The probability of the error without the thermoplastic mask exceeding 1 mm in the 3-laser system vs. the 3-D SIS was 75.00% vs. 35.00% on the X-axis, 80.00% vs. 40.00% on the Y-axis, and 80.00% vs. 65.00% on the Z-axis. Moreover, the probability of the error with the thermoplastic mask exceeding 1 mm in the 3-laser system vs. the 3-D SIS was 70.00% vs. 15.00% on the X-axis, 75.00% vs. 25.00% on the Y-axis, and 70.00% vs. 35.00% on the Z-axis. These results showed that the 3-D SIS has a lower probability of setup error than the 3-laser system for the phantom. For the patients, the setup errors of the 3-laser system vs. the 3-D SIS were measured. The probability of the error exceeding more than 1 mm in the 3-laser system vs. the 3-D SIS was shown to be 81.82% vs. 36.36% on the X-axis, 81.82% vs. 45.45% on the Y-axis, and 86.36% vs. 72.73% on the Z-axis. As a result, the 3-D SIS also exhibited a lower probability of setup error for the cancer patients. Therefore, this study confirmed that the 3-D SIS is a promising method for setup verification.

The recent study of digital X-ray detectors in medical diagnostics has focused on high-resolution image acquisition. Digital X-ray detectors use either a direct or an indirect method of converting X-ray into an electric charge. Indirect systems have low resolution due to blurring of light from the scintillator. In contrast, direct systems have higher resolution than indirect systems, but they are expensive, and systems that have large areas are difficult. This paper proposes a new structure for a non-pixel detector in order to resolve these problems by constructing multiple layers, including photoconductor and liquid crystal (LC) cell layers. First, simulations were conducted to measure changes in the transmittance and electric field of the LC cell under different applied voltages and different thicknesses of a glass layer between the LC and the photoconductor. Subsequently, non-pixel X-ray films having an optimized structure were fabricated using the optimal glass thickness and voltage obtained from the simulation results. In a previous study, X-ray film was fabricated from an LC and a photoconductor by a single integrated production process. In this study, the fabrication process was divided into two steps to prevent damage to the X-ray conversion materials caused by the high temperature used to manufacture the LC cell. The photoconductor layer was fabricated by screen-printing at room temperature on the LC cell. HgI2 was used as the photoconductor material and an aluminum reflective layer was then deposited. The photoconductor was approximately 150–250μm thick. The linear range of LC twisting was acquired by measuring the transmittance-voltage curve; when a voltage of 1.3V to 2.2V is applied to the LC layer, the LC molecules can be twisted by 10%–90%. The charge generated in the photoconductor and the transmission efficiency of the LC were measured using the modulation potential. The results of this study indicate that an LC-based non-pixel detector is feasible for application in digital X-ray systems.

Group 2?6 compounds (e.g., CdTe, CdS, CdSe) are utilized as photoconductors at the bulk level but manufactured as phosphors at the nano-level. Each of these uses has strengths and weaknesses. Here we attempted to fuse the two uses to maximize the strengths of each by using only one compound. We invented an X-ray detector that could function at two different levels -as a photoconductor in the bulk state and as a phosphor at the nano-scale- by hybridizing two different kinds of layer from one compound. This system operates as follows. First, an X-ray is converted to light on the luminescence layer, after which the light is received on the photoconductor layer. This light has the exact wavelength range required on the photoconductor. The quantum size effect refers to the impact of changes in the electronic energy level density according to the size of the crystal in a nano-particle on its optical and electrical characteristics. On account of this effect, two different kinds of layer from one compound can be used by regulating its size. Thus, by controlling the particle size and changing the emission wavelength, the most appropriate absorption wavelength for a photoconductor in the bulk state can be emitted from the nano-phosphor. The conversion efficiency in the hybrid structure is apparently superior to that in the bulk-state single layer. In conclusion, the electrical and optical characteristics of the proposed hybrid structure are superior to those of a conventional structure. These findings confirm the feasibility of a hybrid structure based on the quantum size effect.