Study on induced radioactivity and individual dose evaluation in Gantry room for Varian ProBeam Proton Therapy System

Abstract

Proton therapy has emerged as an advantageous modality for tumor radiotherapy due to its favorable physical and biological properties. However, this therapy generates induced radioactivity through nuclear reactions between the primary beam, secondary particles, and surrounding materials. This study focuses on systematically investigating the induced radioactivity in the gantry room during pencil beam scanning, utilizing both experimental measurements and Monte Carlo simulations. Results indicate that patients are the primary source of induced radioactivity, predominantly producing radionuclides such as ¹¹C, ¹³N, and ¹⁵O. Long-term irradiation primarily generates radionuclides like ²²Na, ²⁴Na, and ⁵⁴Mn etc. Additionally, this study estimates the individual doses received by medical workers in the gantry room, the irradiation dose for patient escorts, and the additional dose to patients from residual radiation. Finally, the study offers recommendations to minimize unnecessary irradiation doses to medical workers, patient escorts, and patients.

Keywords: Dose evaluation; Induced radioactivity; Monte-Carlo; Proton.