Biomedical subjects

M S Muthuswamy

Publications and source records attributed to M S Muthuswamy.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1999

A method of beam-couch intersection detection.

At the time of treatment planning it would be useful to know whether part of the treatment beam passes through the patient/couch support assembly before it passes through the patient. In the previous work of Yorke, the range of gantry angles leading to beam-couch intersection was found as a function of couch translation for symmetric field sizes and for zero couch rotation. Yorke's method has been extended to include couch rotation, dual independent jaws, and multi-leaf collimator (MLC) field shapes. In addition, the new method is also applicable in the situation of the couch top located above the isocenter. For a clinically treatable, 20 x 20 cm field configuration in a linac, the range of gantry angles leading to beam-couch intersection are different by 6.7 degrees for a couch rotation angle of 25 degrees when compared to no couch rotation. The new method agrees with data within the setup and measurement uncertainties for a variety of field sizes including an oval shaped MLC field, and various couch locations, couch, and collimator rotation angles.

Humans↗

PubMed1998

Measurement of backscatter to the monitor chamber of medical accelerators using target charge.

A simple noninvasive method is described for determining the backscatter to a monitor chamber of a medical accelerator based on the measurement of charge deposited in the target. This method is compared quantitatively to the more elaborate telescopic method for photon beams of 6 MV and 15 MV on linear accelerators having mica and Kapton monitor chambers. The new target charge method gives results consistent with the telescopic method to within 0.3%.

Equipment Design↗

PubMed1998

A mouse bone marrow dosimetry model.

UNLABELLED: Bone marrow is the primary dose-limiting organ in radioimmunotherapy. Athymic nude mouse models are used to guide radioimmunotherapy in humans. In the mouse, the dimensions of the marrow are comparable to the mean range of the beta particles for a wide variety of beta-emitting radionuclides, so local beta energy deposition cannot be assumed. METHODS: We have developed a computer simulation model in which slab, spherical and cylindrical geometries of the bone marrow of the mouse were incorporated. The energy deposition within the marrow was estimated using beta dose point kernels for several beta-emitting radionuclides. RESULTS: The calculated percentages of energy deposited in the mouse marrow using the full geometry were 46%, 24% and 10% for 131I-, 186Re- and 90Y-radiolabeled antibodies, respectively. Assuming a concentration of activity in the marrow of 0.36 times the blood activity concentration, the percentages of energy deposition in the marrow from marrow and whole-body sources were 61%, 40% and 29% for 131I, 186Re and 90Y, respectively. CONCLUSION: This work shows that, even for the lower mean beta energy-emitting radionuclide, such as 131I, accurate computation of the mouse bone marrow dose involves including both the energy loss from beta decays within the marrow and dose contributions from tissue surrounding the marrow.

Animals↗

PubMed1996

A quantitative study of radionuclide characteristics for radioimmunotherapy from 3D reconstructions using serial autoradiography.

PURPOSE: Using 131I-labeled monoclonal antibody (MoAb) data, assess the dosimetrical impact of labeling the same MoAb with 186Re or 90Y, under the assumption that the biodistribution of the radiolabeled MoAb in tumor relative to blood is independent of the radionuclide. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Radial radioactivity and dose-rate distributions at 1, 4, and 7 days postinjection were derived from three dimensional (3D) reconstructions of serial autoradiographs of LS174T human colon cancer xenografts in athymic nude mice treated with a single intraperitoneal administration of 300 microCi 131I-labeled MoAb 17-1A. Bone marrow dose was calculated taking into account energy deposited external to the bone marrow cavity due to the range of the beta particles. RESULTS: For 1 cm diameter tumors, uptake was mostly at the tumor surface for earlier postinjection times, but exhibited comparable activity levels from the surface to the core of the 7-day sample. The computed dose-rate distributions for 186Re and 90Y were more uniform than for 131I, but smaller fractions of the dose were deposited within the tumor volume due to the larger mean energies of 90Y and 186Re beta particles relative to those for 131I. However, when the tumor doses were normalized to the production of equivalent bone marrow doses, in the case of athymic nude mice, the tumor doses were calculated to be 15.3 Gy (131I), 14.1 Gy (186Re), and 12.0 Gy (90Y). For comparison, these calculations were extended to the case of human therapy, yielding tumor doses of 16.7 Gy (131I), 18.2 Gy (186Re), and 13.4 Gy (90Y). CONCLUSION: In the case of colon cancer xenografts where the MoAb uptake is initially concentrated at the tumor surface, we find a decreasing tumor dose per constant bone marrow dose for radionuclides of increasing mean beta energies and decreasing half-lives. However, a radionuclide with larger mean beta energy such as 90Y generates a significantly more uniform dose deposition within the tumor, especially concerning the core of the tumor, compared to 131I. For human therapy, a gamma component adds little to the tumor dose but increases dose to the marrow.

Animals↗

PubMed1996

Flattening-filter-based empirical methods to parametrize the head scatter factor.

Parametrizing the collimator scatter factor, Sc (or head scatter factor), of a linear accelerator by the side of the equivalent square of the collimator setting at the isocenter does not accurately predict the change in Sc when the width and length of a rectangular field are exchanged. We have studied two methods based on measurements of square fields to predict Sc's of rectangular fields more accurately. The first method parametrizes Sc by the side of the equivalent square of the flattening filter region visible from the point of calculation. The Sc's of rectangular fields were predicted to an accuracy of 1% from measurements with square fields. The second method computes Sc of rectangular configurations by integrating radiation that can reach the point of calculation from a point source at the target and a second extended source at the flattering filter. The radial distribution of the extended source at the level of the flattering filter is computed from Sc of square fields measured at the isocenter. Effects of extended distance are modeled by separately performing inverse square law corrections for the two sources. This method also predicted the measured values to within 1% accuracy.

Biometry↗