Assessment of the induced radioactivity in the treatment room of the heavy‑ion medical machine in Wuwei using PHITS

分类： 核科学技术 >> 辐射物理与技术 提交时间： 2023-05-31

Luo, Ying Hunag, Shengcong Zhang, Hui Mao, Haijun Li, Qiang Dai, Zhongying

摘要： Carbon-ion radiotherapy (CIRT) offers unique physical and biological advantages over photon radiotherapy. However, somematerials and devices in the CIRT treatment room become radioactive under bombardment by therapeutic carbon-ion beamsdue to nuclear reactions, thereby leading to possible radiation hazards to medical staff and additional and unwanted dosesto patients. This study assessed the level of induced radioactivity in the treatment room of the Heavy-Ion Medical Machine(HIMM) in Wuwei. Monte Carlo simulations using PHITS were performed for a conservative case under the conditions ofmaximum beam energy and intensity provided by the HIMM facility. The geometry and configuration of Treatment Room2 of the HIMM facility in Wuwei were adopted. We evaluated the activation of air, the phantom, and the components ofthe beamline, such as the primary collimator (PC), ridge filter (RF), and multileaf collimator (MLC). For air activation,we calculated the medical staff immersion external exposure and inhalation internal exposure caused by the correspondingradionuclides. For phantom activation, we estimated the additional dose to the patients family members owing to secondaryphotons after treatment. In addition, the exemption or non-exemption of the component material activation was assessed.The results showed that external radiation caused by air activation was the main source of the annual effective dose atapproximately 0.5mSv/y. The induced radioactivity exposure to family members of a patient after CIRT was approximately40Sv, sufficiently lower than the public dose limit of 1mSv/a. The induced radioactivity of the PC, RF, and MLC was allabove the exempt levels after the devices were retired, whereas the induced radioactivity of the RS and compensator couldreach the exempt levels after one patient session. Our study indicated that medical staff engaged in CIRT should stay awayfrom the high-dose-rate area of induced radioactivity along the beam direction, shorten the residence time in the treatmentroom as much as possible, and store the activated components in isolation after the equipment is out of use. Thus, this studyprovides guidance for accurately assessing the level of induced radioactivity in the treatment room for CIRT.

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