Megavoltage CT imaging as a by-product of multileaf collimator leakage.

ABSTRACT

In addition to their potential for the delivery of highly conformal radiation therapy treatments, tomotherapeutic treatments also feature increased potential for verification. For example, megavoltage CT allows one to use the megavoltage linac to generate tomographic images of the patient in the treatment position. This is typically done before or after radiation therapy treatments. However, it is also possible to collect MVCT images entirely during the treatment itself. This process utilizes the leakage radiation through the closed leaves of the Nomos MIMiC MLC, along with slight inefficiencies in treatment delivery, to generate MVCT images during treatment that require neither additional time nor dose. The image quality is limited, yet sufficient to see a patient's external boundary, density differences over 8% for 25.0 mm objects and resolutions of 3.0 mm for high-contrast objects. Such images can potentially be viewed during treatment, used to flag additional CT immediately after the treatment and provide a representation of the patient's exact position during treatment for use with dose reconstruction.