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R Rajapakshe

Publications and source records attributed to R Rajapakshe.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Extension of CadPlan algorithm to model the dose distribution under a motorized wedge.

The CadPlan treatment planning system models the dose distribution in the non-wedge direction under a wedged field by converting the wedge thickness to an equivalent water thickness. The algorithm estimates the off-axis ratio (OAR) in the non-wedged direction using the open field OAR at a depth deeper by this equivalent water thickness. This model has been shown to work well for a Siemens Mevatron KD-2 Linac. However, the motorized wedge of the Elekta (formerly Philips) accelerators is tapered off-axis to give a flat dose profile in the non-wedged direction. The CadPlan model assumes that the wedge has a uniform thickness in the non-wedged direction and so cannot model the off-axis dose for the motorized wedge. For a 4 MV beam of a SL75/5 accelerator this leads to a 7% overestimate and a 9% underestimate of the OAR under the thin and thick edge of the wedge respectively. For 6 and 18 MV beams of a SL20 accelerator and a 6 MV beam of a SL75/5 accelerator, the model underestimates the OAR in the order of 10% under the thick end of the wedge. We have shown that by appropriate modification of the effective water thickness values at off-axis distances, the algorithm models the OAR in the non-wedged direction to within 2.5% of the measured values for the 4, 6 and 18 MV beams, for the Elekta motorized wedge.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1998

The use of an electronic portal imaging system to measure portal dose and portal dose profiles.

The dosimetric characteristics of a scanning liquid-filled ionization chamber (SLIC) electronic portal imaging device have been investigated. To assess the system's response in relation to incident radiation beam intensity, a series of characteristic curves are obtained for various field sizes and nominal energies of 6 and 10 MV photons. The response of the imaging system is dependent on incident radiation intensity and can be described to within 1% accuracy on central axis using a square root function. Portal dose measurements with the SLIC at the plane of the detector, on central axis of the beam using homogeneous attenuating phantom materials show that the imaging system is capable of measuring the portal (transmission) dose to within 3% of the ionization chamber results for homogeneous material. For two-dimensional dosimetry applications, the system is calibrated with a 10 cm Perspex block used as beam flattening material on the detector cassette to correct for variations in individual ion chamber sensitivity and the effect of nonuniform beam profiles produced by the flattening filter. Open and wedged dose profiles measured with the SLIC agreed with ion chamber measured profiles to within 3.5% accuracy.

Biophysical Phenomena↗
PubMed1996

A quality control test for electronic portal imaging devices.

A quality control (QC) test suitable for routine daily use has been developed for video based electronic portal imaging devices. It provides an objective and quantitative test for acceptable image quality on the basis of the high contrast spatial resolution and the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR). The test uses a phantom consisting of five sets of high-contrast rectangular bar patterns with spatial frequencies of 0.1, 0.2, 0.25, 0.4, and 0.75 lp/mm. Data obtained during a one month calibration period were used to determine a critical frequency fc for the relative square wave modulation transfer function and a critical contrast-to-noise ratio (CNRc). Subsequent measurements indicating significant deviations from these critical values result in warning messages to the operator indicating potential problems in system performance. Measurements over a period of two years show that the QC test provides a sensitive indication of imaging performance.

Biophysical Phenomena↗
PubMed1996

Assessing radiation and light field congruence with a video based electronic portal imaging device.

Projected light fields are used on treatment simulators and teletherapy treatment units to delineate the size and position of the radiation beam. Any discrepancy between these fields will lead to a systematic field placement error, with possibly serious implications with regard to the accuracy of the delivered dose distribution in the patient. Conventionally, film has been used for regular quality control tests of light and radiation field congruence, but this is a time consuming method and is not suitable for daily checks. A new method is described that uses a specially designed test phantom, a video-based electronic portal imaging device and a personal computer to test for radiation and light field congruence on treatment accelerators. This method consists of aligning the test phantom in the light field of a treatment linac and acquiring an electronic portal image. A computer program then automatically analyzes the image and determines the degree of congruence between the two fields. The final result of the test is a go, warning, or no go decision depending on the extent of misalignment between the light and radiation fields. Two algorithms were tested for reproducibility (<0.4 mm), sensitivity to noise (<0.2 mm), and positional accuracy (<0.4 mm) and are shown to give results comparable to the conventional film method. Daily testing of field congruence over a period of 84 days demonstrated differences in the results determined by the two algorithms of less than 0.1 +/- 0.2 mm (standard deviation) at 6 MV and 0.22 +/- 0.13 mm at 23 MV. Routine testing is possible as the effort and time required are minimal, and the test can be performed during daily routine start-up procedures.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1994

Optimization of metal/phosphor screens for on-line portal imaging.

Studies were conducted to determine the optimal metal/phosphor screen for on-line video verification of radiation treatment portals. Screens were evaluated for luminance and spatial resolution as a function of composition and thickness at 6- and 23-MV x-ray energies. A new video technique was used to determine modulation transfer functions. Gd2O2S was found to be the most efficient (brightest) phosphor for this application. Luminance was found to vary linearly with phosphor thickness up to a thickness of 500 mg/cm2. Metal plates made of iron, brass, copper, lead, and sintered tungsten of various thicknesses were also tested for luminance and resolution with Gd2O2S phosphor. Brightness peaked at about 2-mm thickness for most metals. Significant contributions to the brightness were found to come from x rays interacting with the phosphor itself.

Evaluation Studies as Topic↗
PubMed1994

Pseudocorrelation: a fast, robust, absolute, grey-level image alignment algorithm.

A new image alignment algorithm--pseudocorrelation--has been developed based on the application of Monte Carlo techniques to the calculation of a cross-correlation integral for grey-scale images. It has many advantages over cross-correlation: it is at least a factor of 10 faster than fast-Fourier-transform-based cross-correlation, and requires 8 times less memory. Its high speed allows for the search space of geometric transformations between images to include magnification and rotation as well as translations without the search time becoming too long. It allows noise to be taken into account, making calculation of a robust, absolute probability of good alignment possible. It is relatively insensitive to differences in quality between images. This article describes the pseudocorrelation algorithm in detail and presents the results of tests of the effects of contrast enhancement, resolution differences, and noise on the algorithm's performance. These tests show that the algorithm is well suited to the task of automated alignment of very low contrast images from video electronic portal imaging devices.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1994

Noise analysis in real-time portal imaging. I. Quantization noise.

The limit at which quantization noise becomes dominant in video-based real-time portal imaging has been studied. Quantization noise due to truncation in integer frame averaging is shown to be dominant over the input analog-to-digital converter (A/D) quantization noise, unless image addition is used in video-based real-time portal imaging systems. Portal images acquired with the Newvicon camera by averaging more than 64 frames are found to be dominated by the quantization noise due to truncation. It has shown that the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is limited to 886.8 when using an 8-bit A/D with digital frame averaging, but higher values can be achieved with digital frame addition. It is also shown that digital frame addition together with 16-bit processing can achieve higher contrast resolution than digital frame averaging and 8-bit processing.

Gadolinium↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Monte Carlo optimization of metal/phosphor screens at megavoltage energies.

The physics of imaging with metal/phosphor (Gd2O2S:Tb on brass) screens at megavoltage energies has been investigated using Monte Carlo simulation. It has been found that pair production is a significant contributor to energy deposition for Bremsstrahlung beams with energies greater than 6 MV. The effects of different thicknesses of phosphor and metal have been studied, and it is shown that the metal plays a significant role in establishing electronic equilibrium in the phosphor. The transport of optical photons through the phosphor has been modeled, and was found that only 10% to 20% of the light created in the phosphor escapes from the surface, with much of the loss being due to total internal reflection at the surface. Calculated results have been compared with experimental measurements of screen brightness for different phosphor and metal thicknesses. The SNR of a video electronic portal imaging device (VEPID) has been calculated as a function of x-ray and optical photon detection efficiency. The non-Poisson distribution of energy deposition in the phosphor is an important contributor to the SNR. The results of this paper should serve as a useful guide to the engineering design of future electronic portal imaging systems.

Biophysical Phenomena↗