Experimental realization of dynamic fluence field optimization for proton computed tomography.

Proton computed tomography (pCT) has high accuracy and dose efficiency in producing spatial maps of the relative stopping power (RSP) required for treatment planning in proton therapy. With fluence-modulated pCT (FMpCT), prescribed noise distributions can be achieved, which allows to decrease imaging dose by employing object-specific dynamically modulated fluence during the acquisition. For FMpCT acquisitions we divide the image into region-of-interest (ROI) and non-ROI volumes. In proton therapy, the ROI volume would encompass all treatment beams. An optimization algorithm then calculates dynamically modulated fluence that achieves low prescribed noise inside the ROI and high prescribed noise elsewhere. It also produces a planned noise distribution, which is the expected noise map for that fluence, as calculated with a Monte Carlo simulation. The optimized fluence can be achieved by acquiring pCT images with grids of intensity modulated pencil beams. In this work, we interfaced the control system of a clinical proton beam line to deliver the optimized fluence. Using three phantoms we acquired images with uniform fluence, with a constant noise prescription, and with an FMpCT task. Image noise distributions as well as fluence maps were compared to the corresponding planned distributions as well as to the prescription. Furthermore, we propose a correction method that removes image artifacts stemming from the acquisition with pencil beams having a spatially varying energy distribution that is not seen in clinical operation. RSP accuracy of FMpCT scans was compared to uniform scans and was found to be comparable to standard pCT scans. While we identified technical improvements for future experimental acquisitions, in particular related to an unexpected pencil beam size reduction and a misalignment of the fluence pattern, agreement with the planned noise was satisfactory and we conclude that FMpCT optimized for specific image noise prescriptions is experimentally feasible.

First Measurement of a Long-Lived π

The adapted DIRAC experiment at the CERN PS accelerator observed for the first time long-lived hydrogenlike π^{+}π^{-} atoms, produced by protons hitting a beryllium target. A part of these atoms crossed the gap of 96 mm between the target and a 2.1 µm thick platinum foil, in which most of them dissociated. Analyzing the observed number of atomic pairs, n_{A}^{L}=436_{-61}^{+157}|_{tot}, the lifetime of the 2p state is found to be τ_{2p}=(0.45_{-0.30}^{+1.08}|_{tot})×10^{-11} s, not contradicting the corresponding QED 2p state lifetime τ_{2p}^{QED}=1.17×10^{-11} s. This lifetime value is three orders of magnitude larger than our previously measured value of the π^{+}π^{-} atom ground state lifetime τ=(3.15_{-0.26}^{+0.28}|_{tot})×10^{-15} s. Further studies of long-lived π^{+}π^{-} atoms will allow us to measure energy differences between p and s atomic states and so to discriminate between the isoscalar and isotensor ππ scattering lengths with the aim to check QCD predictions.

Observation of π

The observation of hydrogenlike πK atoms, consisting of π^{-}K^{+} or π^{+}K^{-} mesons, is presented. The atoms are produced by 24 GeV/c protons from the CERN PS accelerator, interacting with platinum or nickel foil targets. The breakup (ionization) of πK atoms in the same targets yields characteristic πK pairs, called "atomic pairs," with small relative momenta Q in the pair center-of-mass system. The upgraded DIRAC experiment observed 349±62 such atomic πK pairs, corresponding to a signal of 5.6 standard deviations. This is the first statistically significant observation of the strange dimesonic πK atom.

200 MeV proton radiography studies with a hand phantom using a prototype proton CT scanner.

Proton radiography has applications in patient alignment and verification procedures for proton beam radiation therapy. In this paper, we report an experiment which used 200 MeV protons to generate proton energy-loss and scattering radiographs of a hand phantom. The experiment used the first-generation proton computed tomography (CT) scanner prototype, which was installed on the research beam line of the clinical proton synchrotron at Loma Linda University Medical Center. It was found that while both radiographs displayed anatomical details of the hand phantom, the energy-loss radiograph had a noticeably higher resolution. Nonetheless, scattering radiography may yield more contrast between soft and bone tissue than energy-loss radiography, however, this requires further study. This study contributes to the optimization of the performance of the next-generation of clinical proton CT scanners. Furthermore, it demonstrates the potential of proton imaging (proton radiography and CT), which is now within reach of becoming available as a new, potentially low-dose medical imaging modality.

Water-equivalent path length calibration of a prototype proton CT scanner.

PURPOSE: The authors present a calibration method for a prototype proton computed tomography (pCT) scanner. The accuracy of these measurements depends upon careful calibration of the energy detector used to measure the residual energy of the protons that passed through the object. METHODS: A prototype pCT scanner with a cesium iodide (CsI(Tl)) crystal calorimeter was calibrated by measuring the calorimeter response for protons of 200 and 100 MeV initial energies undergoing degradation in polystyrene plates of known thickness and relative stopping power (RSP) with respect to water. Calibration curves for the two proton energies were obtained by fitting a second-degree polynomial to the water-equivalent path length versus calorimeter response data. Using the 100 MeV calibration curve, the RSP values for a variety of tissue-equivalent materials were measured and compared to values obtained from a standard depth-dose range shift measurement using a water-tank. A cylindrical water phantom was scanned with 200 MeV protons and its RSP distribution was reconstructed using the 200 MeV calibration. RESULTS: It is shown that this calibration method produces measured RSP values of various tissue-equivalent materials that agree to within 0.5% of values obtained using an established water-tank method. The mean RSP value of the water phantom reconstruction was found to be 0.995 ± 0.006. CONCLUSIONS: The method presented provides a simple and reliable procedure for calibration of a pCT scanner.