Premium
WE‐DE‐BRA‐06: Evaluation of the Imaging Performance of a Novel Water‐Equivalent EPID
Author(s) -
Blake SJ,
Cheng J,
Vial P,
Lu M,
Atakaramians S,
Meikle S,
Kuncic Z
Publication year - 2016
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 - 10.1118/1.4957835
Subject(s) - detective quantum efficiency , optics , optical transfer function , scintillator , image resolution , detector , dosimeter , image guided radiation therapy , medical imaging , materials science , dosimetry , photodiode , spatial frequency , physics , nuclear medicine , radiation , image quality , computer science , medicine , artificial intelligence , image (mathematics)
Purpose: To evaluate the megavoltage imaging performance of a novel, water‐equivalent electronic portal imaging device (EPID) developed for simultaneous imaging and dosimetry applications in radiotherapy. Methods: A novel EPID prototype based on active matrix flat panel imager technology has been developed by our group and previously reported to exhibit a water‐equivalent dose response. It was constructed by replacing all components above the photodiode detector in a standard clinical EPID (including the copper plate and phosphor screen) with a 15 × 15 cm 2 array of plastic scintillator fibers. Individual fibers measured 0.5 × 0.5 × 30 mm 3 . Spatial resolution was evaluated experimentally relative to that of a standard EPID with the thin slit technique to measure the modulation transfer function (MTF) for 6 MV x‐ray beams. Monte Carlo (MC) EPID models were used to benchmark simulated MTFs against the measurements. The zero spatial frequency detective quantum efficiency (DQE(0)) was simulated for both EPID configurations and a preliminary optimization of the prototype was performed by evaluating DQE(0) as a function of fiber length up to 50 mm. Results: The MC‐simulated DQE(0) for the prototype EPID configuration was ∼7 times greater than that of the standard EPID. The prototype's DQE(0) also increased approximately linearly with fiber length, from ∼1% at 5 mm length to ∼11% at 50 mm length. The standard EPID MTF was greater than the prototype EPID's for all spatial frequencies, reflecting the trade off between x‐ray detection efficiency and spatial resolution with thick scintillators. Conclusion: This study offers promising evidence that a water‐equivalent EPID previously demonstrated for radiotherapy dosimetry may also be used for radiotherapy imaging applications. Future studies on optimising the detector design will be performed to develop a next‐generation prototype that offers improved megavoltage imaging performance, with the aim to at least match that of current clinical EPIDs. Funding for this project was provided by an Australian Research Council Linkage Project grant (2015) between The University of Sydney, South Western Sydney Local Health District and Perkin‐Elmer Pty Ltd.