A Novel Treatment Planning Design for Intraoperative Electron Radiation Therapy (IOERT) using an Electronic Board

Abstract

Background: Intraoperative Irradiation Therapy (IORT) refers to the delivery of radiation during surgery and needs the computed- thickness of the target as one of the most significant factors.Objective: This paper aimed to compute target thickness and design a radiation pattern distributing the irradiation uniformly throughout the target.Material and Methods: The Monte Carlo code was used to simulate the experimental setup in this simulation study. The electron flux variations on an electronic board’s metallic layer were studied for different thicknesses of the target tissue and validated with experimental data of the electronic board.Results: Based on the electron number for different Poly Methyl Methacrylate (PMMA) phantom thicknesses at various energies, 6 MeV electrons are suitable to determine the target thickness. Uniformity in radiation and corresponding time for each target were investigated. The iso-dose and percentage depth dose curves show that higher energies are suitable for treatment and distribute uniform radiation throughout the target. Increasing the phantom thickness leads to rising radiation time based on the radiation time corresponding to these energies. The tissue thickness of each section is determined, and the radiation time is managed by scanning the target. Conclusion: Calculation of the thickness of the remaining tissue and irradiation time are needed after incomplete tumor removal in IORT for various remaining tissues. The patients should be protected from overexposure to uniform irradiation of tissues since the radiation dose is prescribed and checked by an oncologist.

Keywords

• intraoperative radiotherapy
• radiation therapy
• radiosurgery
• monte carlo method
• radiotherapy dosage