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Radiation therapy with proton beams allows the deposition of high doses to the tumour while minimising dose to the surrounding tissue. During such treatment the patient is also exposed to secondary radiation which produces an out-of-field dose that affects healthy tissue. The largest contribution to this out-of-field dose comes from neutron radiation; therefore, it is of interest to fully characterise the neutron field in the therapy room with measurements. This is usually done with Bonner sphere spectrometers using active detectors, typically ³He-filled proportional counters, as central thermal neutron sensors. Under the experimental conditions encountered in proton therapy facilities, a proper analysis of the measurements is impossible unless dead time corrections are implemented. In this paper, we present a method using a paralysable dead time model for carrying out such corrections for Bonner sphere measurements with ³He-filled proportional counters and apply it to data taken at the University Proton Therapy Dresden (UPTD) facility in double scattering mode. The neutron events were recorded with time stamps and, based on this time-resolved data, the measured neutron rate distribution was sampled. Since the neutron flux is proportional to the proton flux, the integral neutron flux is directly related to the proton dose. Hence, we were able to estimate the detector dead time from the measured rate distributions recorded for a set of measurements with different proton dose rates. Experimental measurements with different intensities of the proton field show that the corrections are in agreement within 0.5% for measured signal rates smaller than 15×10³ counts per second and do not exceed 1% at 25×10³ counts per second.

Radiation therapy is one of the most used treatment modalities of cancer. While most patients receive photon-therapy, a growing number of patients are treated with particles, mainly protons. Protons offers a more localized dose deposition compared to photon-therapy. This allows to reduce the dose that is applied by the primary beam to the healthy tissue outside the target volume. At the same time, the use of protons leads to a change in the composition of the secondary radiation field, when compared to photons. In most locations, the out-of-field dose is dominated by secondary neutrons. The out-of-field dose varies significantly in shape and size. Currently, there is no established procedure to monitor the secondary neutron dose to the patients. This paper describes the simulation and measurement of the secondary neutron radiation field at the University Dresden Proton Therapy. The simulation uses a detailed model of the beam delivery system, an IBA universal nozzle. The simulations have been validated by a comprehensive set of extended range Bonner sphere spectrometer measurements, with the NEMUS spectrometer operated by the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt. The set of measurements covers all possible machine configurations for the double scattering mode. An excellent agreement between unfolded measurements and simulation predictions is achieved. The data shows that the neutron field is varying strongly on the scale of a human body. This indicates that the use of fluence to dose conversion tables is not justified for neutron dose calculation in patients. Therefore, the presented data is of high importance for future studies of the organ doses in different treatment scenarios.

The analysis of Bonner sphere measurements is typically done using unfolding codes. However, it is very difficult to implement reliable uncertainty propagation in standard unfolding procedures. An alternative approach, which does provide reliable estimates of the uncertainties of neutron spectra leading to rigorous estimates of uncertainties of the dose, is to analyze the data using Bayesian parameter estimation. In this work, we extend previous approaches and apply this method to secondary neutrons from radiation therapy proton beams. This requires introducing a parameterized model which can describe the main features of the neutron spectra. We choose the parameterization based on information that is available from measurements and detailed Monte Carlo simulations. To demonstrate the validity of this approach, we consider the results of an experiment carried out at the experimental hall at the OncoRay proton therapy facility in Dresden.

Radiation therapy is one of the most used treatment modalities of cancer. While most patients receive photon-therapy, a growing number of patients are treated with particles, mainly protons. Protons offers a more localized dose deposition compared to photon-therapy. This allows to reduce the dose that is applied by the primary beam to the healthy tissue outside the target volume. At the same time, the use of protons leads to a change in the composition of the secondary radiation field, when compared to photons. In most locations, the out-of-field dose is dominated by secondary neutrons. The out-of-field dose varies significantly in shape and size. Currently, there is no established procedure to monitor the secondary neutron dose to the patients. This paper describes the simulation and measurement of the secondary neutron radiation field at the University Dresden Proton Therapy. The simulation uses a detailed model of the beam delivery system, an IBA universal nozzle. The simulations have been validated by a comprehensive set of extended range Bonner sphere spectrometer measurements, with the NEMUS spectrometer operated by the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt. The set of measurements covers all possible machine configurations for the double scattering mode. An excellent agreement between unfolded measurements and simulation predictions is achieved. The data shows that the neutron field is varying strongly on the scale of a human body. This indicates that the use of fluence to dose conversion tables is not justified for neutron dose calculation in patients. Therefore, the presented data is of high importance for future studies of the organ doses in different treatment scenarios.

EVIDOS (‘evaluation of individual dosimetry in mixed neutron and photon radiation fields') is an European Commission (EC)-sponsored project that aims at a significant improvement of radiation protection dosimetry in mixed neutron/photon fields via spectrometric and dosimetric investigations in representative workplaces of the nuclear industry. In particular, new spectrometry methods are developed that provide the energy and direction distribution of the neutron fluence from which the reference dosimetric quantities are derived and compared to the readings of dosemeters. The final results of the project will be a comprehensive set of spectrometric and dosimetric data for the workplaces and an analysis of the performance of dosemeters, including novel electronic dosemeters. This paper gives an overview of the project and focuses on the results from measurements performed in calibration fields with broad energy distributions (simulated workplace fields) and on the first results from workplaces in the nuclear industry, inside a boiling water reactor and around a spent fuel transport cask

Particle therapy is a strongly growing field in cancer therapy. More than 60 treatment centres are currently operating worldwide and the total number will reach more than 90 by 2017(1). The majority of the centres uses protons to treat patients. With the increasing importance of particle therapy, the development of application-specific monitoring systems has received a significant boost. On the one side, there are the radio-protection questions like the secondary dose to patients or to radio-sensitive equipment. On the other side, there are the methods that intend to verify the correct application of the treatment dose, during or short after the treatment, like prompt-gamma-imaging or -timing, or PET. For both groups of measurements, a good understanding of the secondary radiation field is crucial. The greatest challenge in determining the secondary radiation field comes from neutrons. The spectra of the neutrons, generated by protons of therapeutic energies, extend far beyond the specification of most commercially available dosimeters. Additionally, the generated neutron fields are spatially non-uniform and in case of passive field formation strongly dependent on the operational setting. Combined with the very limited spatial and spectral resolution of the available neutron detectors, many details of the field cannot be experimentally resolved. Therefore, a dependable measurement of the neutron field requires a detailed simulation of the neutron generation in the treatment system. The talk gives an overview of the passive proton field formation used at the University Proton Therapy Dresden. The challenges in modelling and measuring the resulting neutron fields are discussed. The current status of the simulation model is presented. The predicted neutron fields are also compared to first experimental measurements with a neutron REM meter and an extended Bonner sphere spectrometer. (1) Particle Therapy Co-Operative Group (PTCOG), www.ptcog.ch

This work describes spectral distributions of neutrons obtained as function of energy and direction at four workplace fields at the Krümmel reactor in Germany. Values of personal dose equivalent Hp(10) and effective dose E are determined for different directions of a person's orientation in these fields and readings of personal neutron dosemeters—especially electronic dosemeters—are discussed with respect to Hp(10) and E

Within the EC project EVIDOS (‘Evaluation of Individual Dosimetry in Mixed Neutron and Photon Radiation Fields'), different types of active neutron personal dosemeters (and some passive ones) were tested in workplace fields at nuclear installations in Europe. The results of the measurements which have been performed up to now are summarised and compared to our currently best estimates of the personal dose equivalent Hp(10). Under- and over-readings by more than a factor of two for the same dosemeter in different workplace fields indicate that in most cases the use of field-specific correction factors is required

Within the EC project EVIDOS, double-differential (energy and direction) fluence spectra were determined by means of novel direction spectrometers. By folding the spectra with fluence-to-dose equivalent conversion coefficients, contributions to H*(10) for 14 directions, and values of the personal dose equivalent Hp(10) and the effective dose E for 6 directions of a person's orientation in the field were determined. The results of the measurements and calculations obtained within the EVIDOS project in workplace fields in nuclear installations in Europe, i.e., at Krümmel (boiling water reactor and transport cask), at Mol (Venus research reactor and fuel facility Belgonucléaire) and at Ringhals (pressurised reactor and transport cask) are presented