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Shielding considerations for tomotherapy
Author(s) -
Robinson D.,
Scrimger J. W.,
Field G. C.,
Fallone B. G.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
medical physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.473
H-Index - 180
eISSN - 2473-4209
pISSN - 0094-2405
DOI - 10.1118/1.1308281
Subject(s) - tomotherapy , electromagnetic shielding , shield , radiation shielding , nuclear engineering , radiation , radiation protection , linear particle accelerator , dosimetry , materials science , medical physics , nuclear medicine , optics , physics , beam (structure) , nuclear physics , radiation therapy , engineering , medicine , radiology , geology , petrology , composite material
Tomotherapy presents an evolutionary modality that holds forth the promise of better dose conformation to tumor volumes with a concomitant reduction in radiation‐induced damage to surrounding normal structures. This delivery technique also presents a new set of radiation protection challenges that impact upon the design of the shielding vault required to house such a unit. A formalism is presented to determine the requisite amounts of shielding for both the primary beam and leakage radiation associated with a generic tomotherapy unit. A comparison is made with the shielding requirements for a conventional linear accelerator operated in a standard manner. Substantial differences in the amount of both primary and secondary shielding are indicated. A tomotherapy primary beam shield is both reduced in width by a factor of almost 10 and increased in thickness by more than a tenth value layer in comparison to a conventional accelerator. Furthermore, the secondary shielding requirements are enhanced by more than two tenth value layers with respect to conventional shielding demands.