Investigation of time-resolved proton radiography using x-ray flat-panel imaging system

Proton beam therapy benefits from the Bragg peak and delivers highly conformal dose distributions. However, the location of the end-of-range is subject to uncertainties related to the accuracy of the relative proton stopping power estimates and thereby the water-equivalent path length (WEPL) along the beam. To remedy the range uncertainty, an in vivo measurement of the WEPL through the patient, i.e. a proton-range radiograph, is highly desirable. Towards that goal, we have explored a novel method of proton radiography based on the time-resolved dose measured by a flat panel imager (FPI). A 226 MeV pencil beam and a custom-designed range modulator wheel (MW) were used to create a time-varying broad beam. The proton imaging technique used exploits this time dependency by looking at the dose rate at the imager as a function of time. This dose rate function (DRF) has a unique time-varying dose pattern at each depth of penetration. A relatively slow rotation of the MW (...

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