Software platform for simulation of a prototype proton CT scanner
Software platform for simulation of a prototype proton CT scanner
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DOI：
10.1002/mp.12107
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发表时间：
2017-03-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.8
通讯作者：
Schulte, Reinhard W.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Giacometti, Valentina;Bashkirov, Vladimir A.;Schulte, Reinhard W.
目的：质子计算机断层扫描（pCT）是一种很有前途的成像技术，可以替代或至少补充X射线CT，以实现更准确的质子治疗计划，因为它允许从质子能量损失测量直接计算质子相对阻止能力。一台带有硅基粒子跟踪系统和五级闪烁能量探测器的质子CT扫描仪已经完成。同时，开发了一个模块化软件平台来表征拟议pCT的性能。方法：模块化pCT软件平台包括（1）基于Geant 4的模拟，对Loma琳达质子治疗射束线和原型质子CT扫描仪进行建模，（2）能量探测器的水等效路径长度（WEPL）校准，以及（3）用于重建被扫描物体的相对阻止本领（RSP）的图像重建算法。在这项工作中，模块化pCT软件平台的每个组件的描述和验证相对于实验数据和基准对理论预测。特别是，RSP重建通过实验扫描、水柱测量和理论计算进行了验证。结果：结果表明，pCT软件平台准确地再现了现有原型pCT扫描仪的性能，实验值和模拟值之间的RSP一致性优于1.5%。经验证的平台是虚拟环境中临床质子CT性能和应用研究的通用工具。该平台是灵活的，可以修改，以模拟尚未存在的版本的pCT扫描仪和更高的质子能量比目前临床上可用的。(C)2017年美国医学物理学家协会
Purpose: Proton computed tomography (pCT) is a promising imaging technique to substitute or at least complement x-ray CT for more accurate proton therapy treatment planning as it allows calculating directly proton relative stopping power from proton energy loss measurements. A proton CT scanner with a silicon-based particle tracking system and a five-stage scintillating energy detector has been completed. In parallel a modular software platform was developed to characterize the performance of the proposed pCT.Method: The modular pCT software platform consists of (1) a Geant4-based simulation modeling the Loma Linda proton therapy beam line and the prototype proton CT scanner, (2) water equivalent path length (WEPL) calibration of the scintillating energy detector, and (3) image reconstruction algorithm for the reconstruction of the relative stopping power (RSP) of the scanned object. In this work, each component of the modular pCT software platform is described and validated with respect to experimental data and benchmarked against theoretical predictions. In particular, the RSP reconstruction was validated with both experimental scans, water column measurements, and theoretical calculations.Results: The results show that the pCT software platform accurately reproduces the performance of the existing prototype pCT scanner with a RSP agreement between experimental and simulated values to better than 1.5%.Conclusions: The validated platform is a versatile tool for clinical proton CT performance and application studies in a virtual setting. The platform is flexible and can be modified to simulate not yet existing versions of pCT scanners and higher proton energies than those currently clinically available. (C) 2017 American Association of Physicists in Medicine