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Will Your Facility Shielding Be Adequate for New Proton Treatment Techniques?

M Martin MSc 1, K Hintenlang PhD 2, N Gupta PhD 2, J Meissner PhD 3, J Smathers PhD 4 10 Therapy Physics, Inc., 20 The Ohio State University, 30 Meissner Consulting GmbH, 40 UCLA

Presentations

(Sunday, 7/14/2019)  

Room: ePoster Forums

Purpose: Shielding for neutron production from passive scattered proton systems has been extensively investigated, and more recently updated for PBS. The introduction of FLASH irradiation and proton arc treatments requires reconsideration of traditional proton shielding methodologies. Facilities designed to accommodate traditional proton beams may satisfy long-term personnel exposure limits, but the brief instantaneous radiation fields produced by these technologies may pose radiation risks that have not been well characterized or considered in the course of regulatory development.

Methods: Regulations and recommendations for defining instantaneous dose rate are highly variable worldwide and internationally accepted benchmarks applicable to these technologies have yet to be accepted within the community. We perform a review of applicable regulations and shielding methodologies used in the proton community to better define their applicability to new technologies.

Results: Techniques that integrate modern quantitative solutions with facility design and clinical workflow are illustrated as a step towards standardizing expectations of both designers and regulatory agencies.

Conclusion: These methods provide a framework allowing the end-user to better understand the unique radiation fields associated with these technologies and the requirements to integrate them with existing, or newly designed, facilities.

Keywords

Shielding, Protons, Treatment Techniques

Taxonomy

TH- External Beam- Particle therapy: Proton therapy - Development (new technology and techniques)

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