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M Saiful Huq

Publications and source records attributed to M Saiful Huq.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Dosimetric effects of patient rotational setup errors on prostate IMRT treatments.

The purpose of this work is to determine dose delivery errors that could result from systematic rotational setup errors (DeltaPhi) for prostate cancer patients treated with three-phase sequential boost IMRT. In order to implement this, different rotational setup errors around three Cartesian axes were simulated for five prostate patients and dosimetric indices, such as dose-volume histogram (DVH), tumour control probability (TCP), normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) and equivalent uniform dose (EUD), were employed to evaluate the corresponding dosimetric influences. Rotational setup errors were simulated by adjusting the gantry, collimator and horizontal couch angles of treatment beams and the dosimetric effects were evaluated by recomputing the dose distributions in the treatment planning system. Our results indicated that, for prostate cancer treatment with the three-phase sequential boost IMRT technique, the rotational setup errors do not have significant dosimetric impacts on the cumulative plan. Even in the worst-case scenario with DeltaPhi=3 degrees, the prostate EUD varied within 1.5% and TCP decreased about 1%. For seminal vesicle, slightly larger influences were observed. However, EUD and TCP changes were still within 2%. The influence on sensitive structures, such as rectum and bladder, is also negligible. This study demonstrates that the rotational setup error degrades the dosimetric coverage of target volume in prostate cancer treatment to a certain degree. However, the degradation was not significant for the three-phase sequential boost prostate IMRT technique and for the margin sizes used in our institution.

Body Burden↗
PubMed2006

External beam radiotherapy boosts to reduce the impact caused by edema in prostate permanent seed implants.

In prostate permanent seed implants, it has been shown that edema caused by the surgical procedure decreases dose coverage and hence may reduce treatment efficacy. This reduction in treatment efficacy has been characterized by an increase in tumour cell survival, and biomathematical models have been developed to calculate the tumour cell survival increases in seed implanted prostates of different edema magnitudes and durations. External beam boosts can be utilized to neutralize the negative impact of edema so that originally desired treatment efficacy can be achieved. In this study, a linear quadratic model is used to determine fractionation sizes of the external beam boosts for both (125)I and (103)Pd seed implants. Calculations were performed for prostates of different edema magnitudes and durations, and for tumour cells of different repair rates and repopulation rates.

Brachytherapy↗
PubMed2006

Therapeutic radiation physics primer.

Therapeutic radiological physics is the branch of physics as applied to radiation therapy. Therapeutic radiological physics involves the understanding of the radiation sources, types, and characteristics of radiation, interaction of radiation with matter, and thereafter the deposition of energy in matter. In clinical practice, therapeutic radiological physics deals with the technical tasks of preparing a patient to undergo radiation therapy. These tasks include simulation, patient data acquisition, individualized planning, verification, and dose delivery. The role of a therapeutic radiological physicist is to manage the technical aspects of patient care: providing technical expertise to the development of the institution, recommending and introducing new treatment techniques, and ensuring that all patients undergoing radiation therapy receive the best standard of care.

Health Physics↗
PubMed2006

Modern radiation treatment planning and delivery--from Röntgen to real time.

The field of radiation oncology has advanced exponentially since the discovery of X-rays just over 100 years ago. With the advent of three-dimensional treatment planning, the therapeutic index was increased by dose escalation and more accurate shielding of normal tissues. Now, even greater advances are under way with IMRT, image-guided radiation therapy, delineation and control of organ motion, and real-time imaging. Similarly, the use of particle therapies such as protons has the potential to effect even more accurate dose distributions. Clinical studies investigating these modalities will likely further increase the efficacy of radiation in years to come.

Female↗
PubMed2006

Localizing moving targets and organs using motion-managed CTs.

Respiration-induced target and organ motion impacts the radiotherapy strategies of some cancers. Various methods and techniques have been used to investigate motion-related radiotherapy issues, including retrospective 4-dimensional (4D) computed tomography (CT), prospective gated CT, and breath-hold CT scans. This paper reviews these methods and, particularly, the method using retrospective 4D CT scans, which has been developed at our institution. Some motion studies based on retrospective 4D CT images of patients are also examined. These studies have led to reduced planning target volume (PTV) margins for a number of patients, because the respiratory motion was observed to be minimal or gated radiotherapy was used. Respiratory motion managed CTs and, particularly, retrospective 4D CTs are proving to be useful for measuring soft tissue motion, identifying patients who could benefit from gated radiotherapy, and evaluating the effects of respiratory motion during radiotherapy.

Humans↗
PubMed2006

The US radiation dosimetry standards for 60Co therapy level beams, and the transfer to the AAPM accredited dosimetry calibration laboratories.

This work reports the transfer of the primary standard for air kerma from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to the secondary laboratories accredited by the American Association of Physics in Medicine (AAPM). This transfer, performed in August of 2003, was motivated by the recent revision of the NIST air-kerma standards for 60Co gamma-ray beams implemented on July 1, 2003. The revision involved a complete recharacterization of the two NIST therapy-level 60Co gamma-ray beam facilities, resulting in new values for the air-kerma rates disseminated by the NIST. Some of the experimental aspects of the determination of the new air-kerma rates are briefly summarized here; the theoretical aspects have been described in detail by Seltzer and Bergstrom ["Changes in the U.S. primary standards for the air-kerma from gamma-ray beams," J. Res. Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol. 108, 359-381 (2003)]. The standard was transferred to reference-class chambers submitted by each of the AAPM Accredited Dosimetry Calibration Laboratories (ADCLs). These secondary-standard instruments were then used to characterize the 60Co gamma-ray beams at the ADCLs. The values of the response (calibration coefficient) of the ADCL secondary-standard ionization chambers are reported and compared to values obtained prior to the change in the NIST air-kerma standards announced on July 1, 2003. The relative change is about 1.1% for all of these chambers, and this value agrees well with the expected change in chambers calibrated at the NIST or at any secondary-standard laboratory traceable to the new NIST standard.

Accreditation↗
PubMed2005

A dose verification method using a monitor unit matrix for dynamic IMRT on Varian linear accelerators.

Dosimetry verification is an important step during intensity modulated radiotherapy treatment (IMRT). The verification is usually conducted with measurements and independent dose calculations. However, currently available independent dose calculation methods were developed for step-and-shoot beam delivery methods, and their uses for dynamic multi-leaf collimator (MLC) delivery methods are not efficient. In this study, a dose calculation method was developed to perform independent dose verifications for a dynamic MLC-based IMRT technique for Varian linear accelerators. This method extracts the machine delivery parameters from the dynamic MLC (DMLC) files generated by the IMRT treatment planning system. Based on the parameters a monitor unit (MU) matrix was separately calculated as two terms: direct exposure from the open MLC field and leakage contributions, where the leaf-end leakage contribution becomes more important in higher dose gradient regions. The MU matrix was used to compute the primary dose and the scattered dose with a modified Clarkson technique. The doses computed using the method were compared with both measurement and treatment planning for 14 and 25 plans respectively. An average of less than 2% agreement was observed and the standard deviation was about 1.9%.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2005

Design and implementation of an anthropomorphic quality assurance phantom for intensity-modulated radiation therapy for the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group.

PURPOSE: To design, construct, and evaluate an anthropomorphic phantom for evaluation of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) dose planning and delivery, for protocols developed by the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) and other cooperative groups. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The phantom was constructed from a plastic head-shaped shell and water-equivalent plastics. Internal structures mimic planning target volumes and an organ at risk. Thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) and radiochromic film were used to measure the absolute dose and the dose distribution, respectively. The reproducibility of the phantom's dosimeters was verified for IMRT treatments, and the phantom was then imaged, planned, and irradiated by 10 RTOG institutions. RESULTS: The TLD results from three identical irradiations showed a percent standard deviation of less than 1.6%, and the film-scanning system was reproducible to within 0.35 mm. Data collected from irradiations at 10 institutions showed that the TLD agreed with institutions' doses to within +/-5% standard deviation in the planning target volumes and +/-13% standard deviation in the organ at risk. Shifts as large as 8 mm between the treatment plan and delivery were detected with the film. CONCLUSIONS: An anthropomorphic phantom using TLD and radiochromic film can verify dose delivery and field placement for IMRT treatments.

Benchmarking↗
PubMed2005

Recommendations of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine regarding the impact of implementing the 2004 task group 43 report on dose specification for 103Pd and 125I interstitial brachytherapy.

In March 2004, the recommendations of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) on the interstitial brachytherapy dosimetry using 125I and 103Pd were reported in Medical Physics [TG-43 Update: Rivard et al., 31, 633-674 (2004)]. These recommendations include some minor changes in the dose-calculation formalism and a major update of the dosimetry parameters for eight widely used interstitial brachytherapy sources. A full implementation of these recommendations could result in unintended changes in delivered dose without corresponding revisions in the prescribed dose. Because most published clinical experience with permanent brachytherapy is based upon two widely used source models, the 125I Model 6711 and 103Pd Model 200 sources, in this report we present an analysis of the dosimetric impact of the 2004 TG-43 dosimetry parameters on the history of dose delivery for these two source models. Our analysis indicates that the currently recommended prescribed dose of 125 Gy for Model 200 103Pd implants planned using previously recommended dosimetry parameters [AAPM 103Pd dose prescription: Williamson et al., Med. Phys. 27, 634-642 (2000)] results in a delivered dose of 120 Gy according to dose calculations based on the 2004 TG-43 update. Further, delivered doses prior to October 1997 varied from 113 to 119 Gy for a prescribed dose of 115 Gy compared to 124 Gy estimated by the AAPM 2000 report. For 125I implants using Model 6711 seeds, there are no significant changes (less than 2%). Practicing physicians should take these results into account when selecting the clinically appropriate prescribed dose for 103Pd interstitial implant patients following implementation of the 2004 TG-43 update dose-calculation recommendations. The AAPM recommends that the radiation oncology community review this report and consider whether the currently recommended dose level (125 Gy) needs to be revised.

Anisotropy↗
PubMed2005

Prescription dose in permanent (131)Cs seed prostate implants.

Recently, 131Cs seeds have been introduced for prostate permanent seed implants. This type of seed has a relatively short half-life of 9.7 days and has its most prominent emitted photon energy peaks in the 29-34 keV region. Traditionally, 145 and 125 Gy have been prescribed for 125I and 103Pd seed prostate implants, respectively. Since both the half-life and dosimetry characteristics of 131Cs seed are quite different from those of 125I and 103Pd, the appropriate prescription dose for 131Cs seed prostate implant may well be different. This study was designed to use a linear quadratic radiobiological model to determine an appropriate dose prescription scheme for permanent 131Cs seed prostate implants. In this model, prostate edema was taken into consideration. Calculations were also performed for tumors of different doubling times and for other related radiobiological parameters of different values. As expected, the derived prescription dose values were dependent on type of tumors and types of edema. However, for prostate cancers in which tumor cells are relatively slow growing and are reported to have a mean potential doubling time of around 40 days, the appropriate prescription dose for permanent 131Cs seed prostate implants was determined to be: 127(+5)(-12)Gy if the experiences of 125I seed implants were followed and 121(+0)(-3)Gy if the experiences of 103Pd followed.

Body Burden↗
PubMed2004

Advances in the determination of absorbed dose to water in clinical high-energy photon and electron beams using ionization chambers.

During the last two decades, absorbed dose to water in clinical photon and electron beams was determined using dosimetry protocols and codes of practice based on radiation metrology standards of air kerma. It is now recommended that clinical reference dosimetry be based on standards of absorbed dose to water. Newer protocols for the dosimetry of radiotherapy beams, based on the use of an ionization chamber calibrated in terms of absorbed dose to water, N(D,w), in a standards laboratory's reference quality beam, have been published by several national or regional scientific societies and international organizations. Since the publication of these protocols multiple theoretical and experimental dosimetry comparisons between the various N(D,w) based recommendations, and between the N(D,w) and the former air kerma (NK) based protocols, have been published. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the dosimetry protocols based on these standards and of the intercomparisons of the different protocols published in the literature, discussing the reasons for the observed discrepancies between them. A summary of the various types of standards of absorbed dose to water, together with an analysis of the uncertainties along the various steps of the dosimetry chain for the two types of formalism, is also included. It is emphasized that the NK-N(D,air) and N(D,w) formalisms have very similar uncertainty when the same criteria are used for both procedures. Arguments are provided in support of the recommendation for a change in reference dosimetry based on standards of absorbed dose to water.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2004

Procedures for establishing and maintaining consistent air-kerma strength standards for low-energy, photon-emitting brachytherapy sources: recommendations of the Calibration Laboratory Accreditation Subcommittee of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Low dose rate brachytherapy is being used extensively for the treatment of prostate cancer. As of September 2003, there are a total of thirteen 125I and seven 103Pd sources that have calibrations from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Accredited Dosimetry Calibration Laboratories (ADCLs) of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM). The dosimetry standards for these sources are traceable to the NIST wide-angle free-air chamber. Procedures have been developed by the AAPM Calibration Laboratory Accreditation Subcommittee to standardize quality assurance and calibration, and to maintain the dosimetric traceability of these sources to ensure accurate clinical dosimetry. A description of these procedures is provided to the clinical users for traceability purposes as well as to provide guidance to the manufacturers of brachytherapy sources and ADCLs with regard to these procedures.

Air↗
PubMed2004

Update of AAPM Task Group No. 43 Report: A revised AAPM protocol for brachytherapy dose calculations.

Since publication of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Task Group No. 43 Report in 1995 (TG-43), both the utilization of permanent source implantation and the number of low-energy interstitial brachytherapy source models commercially available have dramatically increased. In addition, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has introduced a new primary standard of air-kerma strength, and the brachytherapy dosimetry literature has grown substantially, documenting both improved dosimetry methodologies and dosimetric characterization of particular source models. In response to these advances, the AAPM Low-energy Interstitial Brachytherapy Dosimetry subcommittee (LIBD) herein presents an update of the TG-43 protocol for calculation of dose-rate distributions around photon-emitting brachytherapy sources. The updated protocol (TG-43U1) includes (a) a revised definition of air-kerma strength; (b) elimination of apparent activity for specification of source strength; (c) elimination of the anisotropy constant in favor of the distance-dependent one-dimensional anisotropy function; (d) guidance on extrapolating tabulated TG-43 parameters to longer and shorter distances; and (e) correction for minor inconsistencies and omissions in the original protocol and its implementation. Among the corrections are consistent guidelines for use of point- and line-source geometry functions. In addition, this report recommends a unified approach to comparing reference dose distributions derived from different investigators to develop a single critically evaluated consensus dataset as well as guidelines for performing and describing future theoretical and experimental single-source dosimetry studies. Finally, the report includes consensus datasets, in the form of dose-rate constants, radial dose functions, and one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) anisotropy functions, for all low-energy brachytherapy source models that met the AAPM dosimetric prerequisites [Med. Phys. 25, 2269 (1998)] as of July 15, 2001. These include the following 125I sources: Amersham Health models 6702 and 6711, Best Medical model 2301, North American Scientific Inc. (NASI) model MED3631-A/M, Bebig/Theragenics model I25.S06, and the Imagyn Medical Technologies Inc. isostar model IS-12501. The 103Pd sources included are the Theragenics Corporation model 200 and NASI model MED3633. The AAPM recommends that the revised dose-calculation protocol and revised source-specific dose-rate distributions be adopted by all end users for clinical treatment planning of low energy brachytherapy interstitial sources. Depending upon the dose-calculation protocol and parameters currently used by individual physicists, adoption of this protocol may result in changes to patient dose calculations. These changes should be carefully evaluated and reviewed with the radiation oncologist preceding implementation of the current protocol.

Air↗