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Dosimetric characteristics of a thin bolus made of variable shape tungsten rubber for photon radiotherapy

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Abstract

In this study, we aim to clarify the dosimetric characteristics of a real time variable shape rubber containing tungsten (STR) as a thin bolus in 6-MV photon radiotherapy. The percentage depth doses (PDDs) and lateral dose profiles (irradiation field = 10 × 10  cm2) in the water-equivalent phantom were measured and compared between no bolus, a commercial 5-mm gel bolus, and 0.5-, 1-, 2-, and 3-mm STR boluses. The characteristics of the PDDs were evaluated according to relative doses at 1 mm depth (D1mm) and depth of maximum dose (dmax). To determine the distance of the shift caused by the STR bolus, the PDD value at a depth of 100 mm without a bolus was obtained. For each STR thickness, the difference between the depth corresponding to this PDD value and 100 mm was calculated. The penumbra size and width of the 50% dose were evaluated using lateral dose profiles. The D1mm with no bolus, 5-mm gel bolus, and 0.5-, 1-, 2-, and 3-mm STR boluses were 47.6%, 91.5%, 78.2%, 86.6%, 89.3%, and 89.4%, respectively, and the respective dmax values were 15, 10, 13, 12, 11, and 10 mm. The shifting distance of the 0.5-, 1-, 2-, and 3-mm STR boluses were 2.7, 4.4, 4.8, and 4.9 mm, respectively. There were no differences for those in lateral dose profiles. The 1-mm-thick STR thin bolus shifted the depth dose profile by 4.4 mm and could be used as a customized bolus for photon radiotherapy.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Mr. Masafumi Shigita and Mr. Yoshito Kadowaki for their support. We also thank Richard Lipkin, PhD, from Edanz Group (https://en-author-services.edanz.com/ac) for editing a draft of this manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported partly by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI [grant numbers 19K08211, 19K17213].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Physics, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kindai University, 377-2 Onohigashi, Osakasayama, Osaka, 5898511, Japan

    Katsuya Okuhata, Mikoto Tamura & Hajime Monzen

  2. Department of Radiology, Kansai Electric Power Hospital, 2-1-7 Fukushima, Fukushima-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka, 5530003, Japan

    Katsuya Okuhata

  3. Department of Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Kindai University, 377-2 Onohigashi, Osakasayama, Osaka, 5898511, Japan

    Yasumasa Nishimura

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  1. Katsuya Okuhata
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  2. Mikoto Tamura
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  4. Yasumasa Nishimura
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Contributions

KO, HM, and MT designed the study and the analysis. KO performed the measurement and analysis the data. KO, HM, and MT performed interpretation the data. KO, HM, MT, and YN prepared manuscript. All authors collaborated on writing the manuscript, read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hajime Monzen.

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Conflict of interest

Hajime Monzen received a research donation from Hayakawa Rubber Co., Ltd.

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This article does not involve any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Okuhata, K., Tamura, M., Monzen, H. et al. Dosimetric characteristics of a thin bolus made of variable shape tungsten rubber for photon radiotherapy. Phys Eng Sci Med 44, 1249–1255 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13246-021-01059-2

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