Teletherapy Physics – session 2

Alan McWilliam

alan.mcwilliam@christie.nhs.uk

The Christie NHS

NHS Foundation Trust
 Contents

1. Beam quality measures

2. Electron beam physics
a) Electron dose deposition
b) Electron depth dose
c) Surface dose and build-up
d) Electron isodose plots
e) Irregular surfaces

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NHS Foundation Trust
 1. Beam quality measures

1. Beam quality measures

2. Electron beam physics
a) Electron dose deposition
b) Electron depth dose
c) Surface dose and build-up
d) Electron isodose plots
e) Irregular surfaces

The Christie NHS

NHS Foundation Trust
 20
TPR 10

1. Beam Quality Measures

• Half Value Layer (HVL): that thickness of the

attenuator that attenuates the photon beam intensity to 50% of
its original value
• D80: the depth of the 80% depth dose for a 10 × 10 cm2 field
at an SSD of 100 cm
• PDD ratios
• PDD(5)/PDD(10) or PDD(10)/PDD(20)
• TPR(20,10) or Quality Index

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Example: Energy Spectrum for
Clinical 8MV Photon Beam
0.18
Relative Number of Photons

0.16

0.14

0.12

0.10

0.08

0.06

0.04

0.02

0.00
0 2 4 6 8

Energy (MV)

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 TPR(20,10) - Quality Index

100cm
10cm

10cm

Quality index (QI) = Reading at 20 cm depth / Reading at 10 cm depth

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Clinical Values of TPR(20,10)

Nominal Photon TPR 20,10

Energy (MV)
4 0.638
6 0.678
8 0.719
18 0.779

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 2. Electron beam physics

1. Beam quality measures

2. Electron beam physics
a) Electron dose deposition
b) Electron depth dose
c) Surface dose and build-up
d) Electron isodose plots
e) Irregular surfaces

The Christie NHS

NHS Foundation Trust
 2(a). Electron dose deposition

1. Beam quality measures

2. Electron beam physics
a) Electron dose deposition
b) Electron depth dose
c) Surface dose and build-up
d) Electron isodose plots
e) Irregular surfaces

The Christie NHS

NHS Foundation Trust
2(a). Electron dose deposition

e-
e-

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NHS Foundation Trust
 2(b). Electron depth dose

1. Beam quality measures

2. Electron beam physics
a) Electron dose deposition
b) Electron depth dose
c) Surface dose and build-up
d) Electron isodose plots
e) Irregular surfaces

The Christie NHS

NHS Foundation Trust
 2(b). Electron Depth Dose

high surface
dose
%dd

sharp fall-off

50%

practical range
of electrons Bremsstrahlung
tail

R50 Rp depth

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 The Christie NHS
NHS Foundation Trust
 20
TPR 10

• % surface dose for electron beams increases

with electron energy
• The depth of peak dose increases with
electron energy – higher energy electrons
scatter less easily

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 Typical Electron PDD data
Depth Energy
of dose (MeV)
(cm)
4 8 10 12 14 20

Peak
0.6 1.5 2.3 2.5 3 2.5-3.5
Dose
90% 0.9 2.3 3.1 3.6 4.7 6.5
85% 1.0 2.5 3.3 3.8 4.9 6.9

50% 1.4 3.1 4.1 4.8 6.0 8.5

10% 1.9 3.9 5.2 6.0 7.4 10.4

Rp(cm) 1.7 3.8 4.7 5.9 7.0 10.1

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 20
TPR 10

• When the distance between the central axis and the

field edge is more than the lateral range of scattered
electrons, lateral scatter equilibrium exists and the
depth dose for a specific electron energy will be
essentially independent of the field dimensions.

• With decreasing field size the decreasing degree of

lateral electronic equilibrium will be present at the
central axis, and the depth dose and output factors
will show large sensitivity to field shape and size.

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 Change in
Electron
Depth Dose
with Field
Size

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 2(c). Surface dose and build-up

1. Beam quality measures

2. Electron beam physics
a) Electron dose deposition
b) Electron depth dose
c) Surface dose and build-up
d) Electron isodose plots
e) Irregular surfaces

The Christie NHS

NHS Foundation Trust
 20
TPR 10

2(c). Surface Dose and Build Up

• % surface dose for electron beams increases

with electron energy - At lower energies, electrons are
scattered more easily and through larger angles - dose builds up
more rapidly and over a shorter distance - ratio of surface dose
to maximum dose is therefore lower for lower energy electrons
than for higher energy electrons.
• The depth of peak dose increases with electron
energy – higher energy electrons scatter less easily

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NHS Foundation Trust
2(c). Surface Dose and Build Up

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 Surface Dose

Energy 4 cm x 4 cm 10 cm x 10 cm 15 cm x 15 cm
(MeV)
6 72% 75% 78%
12 85% 88% 90%
20 91% 95% 95%

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 Thickness of lead (mm) required to
reduce transmission

Transmission Initial beam energy (MeV)

4 6 8 10 12 14 17 20

50% 0.8 1.2 1.8 2.2 2.6 2.9 3.8 4.4

10% 1.2 2.1 2.8 3.5 4.1 5.0 7.0 9.0

5% 1.8 3.0 3.7 4.5 5.6 5.6 - -

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 Quick electron PDD sketch

PDD (%)
Depth
PDD 120
(mm)
100

Peak E x 2 (20)* 80

PDD (%)
60
90% E x 3 (30)
40

50% E x 4 (40) 20

0
0 50 100 150
10% E x 5 (50) Depth (mm)

* E = energy in MeV: (20) for 10 MeV

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 2(d). Electron isodose plots

1. Beam quality measures

2. Electron beam physics
a) Electron dose deposition
b) Electron depth dose
c) Surface dose and build-up
d) Electron isodose plots
e) Irregular surfaces

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NHS Foundation Trust
2(d). Electron Isodose Plots

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Isodose rule-of-thumb

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 2(e). Irregular surfaces

1. Beam quality measures

2. Electron beam physics
a) Electron dose deposition
b) Electron depth dose
c) Surface dose and build-up
d) Electron isodose plots
e) Irregular surfaces

The Christie NHS

NHS Foundation Trust
2(e). Irregular surfaces
and surface shielding

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NHS Foundation Trust