X-Tream quality assurance in synchrotron X-ray microbeam radiation therapy

Authors

Pauline Fournier, University of WollongongFollow
Iwan Cornelius, University of WollongongFollow
Mattia Donzelli, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
Herwig Requardt, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
Christian Nemoz, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
Marco Petasecca, University of WollongongFollow
Elke Brauer-Krisch, European Synchrotron Radiation FacilityFollow
Anatoly B. Rosenfeld, University of WollongongFollow
Michael L. F Lerch, University of WollongongFollow

RIS ID

109787

Publication Details

Fournier, P., Cornelius, I., Donzelli, M., Requardt, H., Nemoz, C., Petasecca, M., Brauer-Krisch, E., Rosenfeld, A. & Lerch, M. (2016). X-Tream quality assurance in synchrotron X-ray microbeam radiation therapy. Journal of Synchrotron Radiation, 23 (5), 1180-1190.

Abstract

Microbeam radiation therapy (MRT) is a novel irradiation technique for brain tumours treatment currently under development at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France. The technique is based on the spatial fractionation of a highly brilliant synchrotron X-ray beam into an array of microbeams using a multi-slit collimator (MSC). After promising pre-clinical results, veterinary trials have recently commenced requiring the need for dedicated quality assurance (QA) procedures. The quality of MRT treatment demands reproducible and precise spatial fractionation of the incoming synchrotron beam. The intensity profile of the microbeams must also be quickly and quantitatively characterized prior to each treatment for comparison with that used for input to the dose-planning calculations. The Centre for Medical Radiation Physics (University of Wollongong, Australia) has developed an X-ray treatment monitoring system (X-Tream) which incorporates a highspatial- resolution silicon strip detector (SSD) specifically designed for MRT. Inair measurements of the horizontal profile of the intrinsic microbeam X-ray field in order to determine the relative intensity of each microbeam are presented, and the alignment of the MSC is also assessed. The results show that the SSD is able to resolve individual microbeams which therefore provides invaluable QA of the horizontal field size and microbeam number and shape. They also demonstrate that the SSD used in the X-Tream system is very sensitive to any small misalignment of the MSC. In order to allow as rapid QA as possible, a fast alignment procedure of the SSD based on X-ray imaging with a low-intensity low-energy beam has been developed and is presented in this publication.