Abstract
Cerenkov light is created in clinical applications involving high-energy radiation such as in radiation therapy. There is considerable interest in using Cerenkov light as a means to perform in vivo dosimetry during radiation therapy; however, a better understanding of the light-to-dose relationship is needed. One such method to solve this relationship is that of a deconvolution formulation, which relies on the Cerenkov scatter function (CSF). The CSF describes the creation of Cerenkov photons by a pencil beam of high-energy radiation, and the subsequent scattering that occurs before emission from the irradiated medium surface. This study investigated the dependence of the CSF on common radiation beam parameters (beam energy and incident angle) and the type of irradiated medium. An analytical equation with fitting coefficients of the CSF was obtained for common beam energies in a stratified skin model and optical phantom. Perturbation analysis was performed to investigate the dependence of the deconvolved Cerenkov images on the full-width at half-maximum and amplitude of the CSF. The irradiated material and beam angle had a large impact on the deconvolution process, whereas the beam energy had little effect.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 105007 |
Journal | Journal of biomedical optics |
Volume | 23 |
Issue number | 10 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 1 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The presented work was funded by a research grant from the University of Minnesota, Department of Radiation Oncology, and the Institute for Engineering in Medicine (IEM). The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).
Keywords
- Cerenkov radiation
- Monte Carlo
- radiation dosimetry
- tissue optics