Volume 3, Issue 3

Table of contents

Case study

Radiotherapy

STUDY OF THE DISCREPANCY BETWEEN ANALYTICAL CALCULATIONS AND THE OBSERVED BIOLOGICAL EFFECTIVENESS IN PROTON BORON CAPTURE THERAPY (PBCT)

G.A.P. Cirrone, G. Petringa, A. Attili, D. Chiappara, L. Manti, V. Bravatà, D. Margarone, M. Mazzocco, G. Cuttone

Pages: 147–151

DOI: 10.21175/RadJ.2018.03.025

Received: 13 OCT 2018, Received revised: 8 JAN 2019, Accepted: 12 JAN 2019, Published online: 28 FEB 2019

A work recently published experimentally demonstrates an increase in the radiobiological efficacy of clinical proton beams when a tumour is treated in the presence of a concentration of 11B. For the first time, this paper demonstrates the potential role of the p+11B —> 3α (for brevity, p-B) reaction in the biological enhancement of proton therapy effectiveness. The work reports robust experimental data in terms of clonogenic cell survival and chromosomal aberrations and unambiguously shows the presence of an enhancement when cells were exposed to a clinical proton beam subject to treatment with sodium boroncaptate (BSH). Moreover, the greater occurrence of complex-type chromosomal exchanges points to the effect in terms of radiation of a LET (Linear Energy Transfer) greater than that of protons alone, possibly the alpha particles generated by the reaction. At the same time, we emphasized that analytical calculations, performed on the basis of the well-known total production cross-section data, are not able to explain the effect in a macroscopic way, i.e., solely in terms of a trivial increase in the total dose released in the cells by the alpha-particles. In this paper, thanks to simulations and analytical calculations, we will discuss the theoretically expected alpha-particle yield and the corresponding LET and RBE (Relative Biological Effectiveness) increase related to the 11B presence. We conclude that a mere calculation based on the classical concepts of integral dose and average LET and RBE cannot be used to justify the observed radiobiological phenomena. We therefore suggest that micro- and nano-dosimetric aspects must be taken into account.
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    PMid: 26840945

Original research papers

Radiation in Medicine

DOSE COEFFICIENTS FOR MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES AND ANTIBODY FRAGMENTS LABELED BY ZIRCONIUM-89

M.V. Zhukovsky, Hesham M.H. Zakaly

Pages: 152–158

DOI: 10.21175/RadJ.2018.03.026

Received: 5 JUN 2018, Received revised: 22 NOV 2018, Accepted: 27 NOV 2018, Published online: 28 FEB 2019

The purpose was to assess the behavior of monoclonal antibodies (MAb) and their fragments labeled by 89Zr after injecting them into the human body for the purpose of positron emission tomography (PET), as well as to assess absorbed doses in organs and tissues with maximum radiation exposure. The biokinetic model has been built on the base reference data about the behavior of MAb and their fragments and on the literature data on the excretion of chelate complexes from the human body. The cumulative activity of 89Zr in organs and tissues per Bq of administered activity was calculated. For the most exposed organs, average absorbed doses for organs and tissues were calculated. The organs which had the highest doses, when 89Zr was injected into the human body associated with intact monoclonal antibodies, are the spleen, the liver, and the heart wall. The estimated doses on these organs are 1.69, 1.48 and 1.08 mGy/MBq, respectively. When the injection associated with the fragments of monoclonal antibodies is considered, the most exposed organs are the kidneys with the doses of 0.939 mGy/MBq for F(ab’)) and 0.920 mGy/MBq for F(ab')2.
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Radiation Protection

SAFETY CULTURE AS A KEY ISSUE OF RADIATION SAFETY IN MEDICAL ACTIVITIES WITH IONIZING RADIATION SOURCES

Liudmуla Aslamova, Ielyzaveta Kulich, Oleg Nasvit, Nadiia Melenevska

Pages: 159–164

DOI: 10.21175/RadJ.2018.03.027

Received: 28 JUN 2018, Received revised: 11 DEC 2018, Accepted: 16 DEC 2018, Published online: 28 FEB 2019

The term ‘Safety Culture’ was first defined in 1986. Nowadays it is introduced into all areas of activities with ionizing radiation sources. The importance of Safety Culture for medical applications mirrors rapid penetration of cutting-edge technologies in the field of medical equipment, hence the need to involve extremely competent personnel. Medical physicist and doctor bear joint responsibility for the quality of healthcare services. In Ukraine, it is increasingly recognized that national education system combined with formal certification schemes for the recognition of the expertise and competence play an important role to ensure the professionalism of individual practitioners in medical physics. National regulatory framework needs to be amended and updated to ensure an effective introduction of ‘Safety Culture’ into professional and regulation practice.
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Radiation Detectors

TEMPERATURE STABILIZATION OF SiPM-BASED GAMMA-RADIATION SCINTILLATION DETECTORS

Viktors Ivanovs, S. Gushchin, Valerijs Ivanovs, V. Fjodorovs, D. Kuznecovs, A. Loutchanski, V. Ogorodniks

Pages: 165–171

DOI: 10.21175/RadJ.2018.03.028

Received: 15 JUN 2018, Received revised: 4 DEC 2018, Accepted: 8 DEC 2018, Published online: 28 FEB 2019

Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) coupled with various scintillators are currently used as gamma-radiation detectors for different applications. Many tasks require the ability to use detectors in environments with varying operating temperatures. However, the profound dependences of the characteristics of both SiPMs and scintillators on temperature make it difficult to use these detectors in such environmental conditions. The gain of an SiPM increases with increases in bias voltage, and it decreases with increases in temperature; however, the scintillator’s light yield may increase and/or decrease with temperature, depending on the type of scintillator used. Such temperature dependence makes it necessary to use special techniques for the stabilization of the detector parameters. We proposed and tested a method and an electronic module for compensating for the temperature instabilities of the gain of an SiPM and the light output of BGO and CsI(Tl) scintillators. Our method is based on the application of the SiPM biasing power supply that is controlled and managed by the microprocessor. The calibration data of the temperature dependence of a photo peak (662 keV) are stored in the microprocessor memory. The exact value of the bias voltage for each temperature is calculated by the formula of the 5th-degree polynomial. This method achieved a high accuracy of the photo peak position stabilization in the tested operation temperature range (-20⁰C - +50⁰C). The test results of the SiPM-based gamma-radiation BGO and CsI(Tl) scintillation detectors as well as the results of their practical applications in medical surgical probes are presented.
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Radiation Detectors

METAL THIN-FILM DOSIMETRY TECHNOLOGY FOR THE ULTRA-HIGH PARTICLE FLUENCE ENVIRONMENT OF THE FUTURE CIRCULAR COLLIDER AT CERN

Georgi Gorine, Giuseppe Pezzullo, Michael Moll, Mar Capeans, Katja Väyrynen, Mikko Ritala, Didier Bouvet, Federico Ravotti, Jean-Michel Sallese

Pages: 172–177

DOI: 10.21175/RadJ.2018.03.029

Received: 15 JUN 2018, Received revised: 30 NOV 2018, Accepted: 1 DEC 2018, Published online: 28 FEB 2019

The Future Circular Collider (FCC) design study aims to assess the physics potential and technical feasibility of a new synchrotron accelerator expected to reach an energy level of 100 TeV colliding proton beams circulating in a 100 km tunnel located in the Geneva area in Switzerland. Inside the FCC detectors, over the 10 years of scheduled operation, unprecedented radiation levels will presumably exceed several tens of MGy with more than 1017 particles/cm2. Current dosimetry technologies, such as silicon pin diodes, are not capable of integrating this particle fluence, thus requiring a new type of sensor to be used as dosimeter in future irradiation facilities and, at a later stage, in the FCC accelerator. As a solution for the Ultra High Fluence monitoring, we have focused our research on metal nanolayers. The technology consists of thin film resistive structures deposited on silicon wafers, where sensitivity to displacement damage, measurable in a variation of their electrical properties, can be trimmed by variating geometrical (thickness, W, L) and physical (material) properties of the nanolayers. The first prototypes of these new dosimeters have been fabricated at EPFL Centre of Micronanotechnology, and specific high-fluence irradiation tests (with gamma, protons, neutrons) have been carried out in several facilities inside and outside CERN. In this paper, after presenting the process flow for the fabrication of these dosimeters, we show the results of annealing tests performed on devices previously irradiated with 23 GeV protons. These measurements suggest the occurrence of an oxidation process that was enhanced by the radiation damage.
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Radiation Effects

PROTON IRRADIATION EFFECTS ON SINGLE-PHOTON AVALANCHE DIODES

F. Di Capua, M. Campajola, D. Fiore, C. Nappi, E. Sarnelli, V. Izzo

Pages: 178–184

DOI: 10.21175/RadJ.2018.03.030

Received: 3 JUL 2018, Received revised: 12 DEC 2018, Accepted: 31 DEC 2018, Published online: 28 FEB 2019

In this paper, we investigated the discrete switching of the Dark Count Rate between two or more levels in Single-Photon Avalanche Diode devices. This phenomenon, known as Random Telegraph Signal, is related to the density and distribution of defects in the semiconductor lattice and oxides. In this paper, we focused on a test chip containing SPADs with different architectures designed and implemented in 150-nm CMOS technology. The occurrence probability of the Random Telegraph Signal for proton-irradiated devices has been measured as a function of temperature for different SPAD layouts.
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Radiation Effects

GENETIC EFFECTS AFTER HEAVY ION IRRADIATION OF HAPLOID AND DIPLOID YEAST CELLS

Natalia Koltovaya, Ksenia Lyubimova, Nadya Zhuchkina

Pages: 185–189

DOI: 10.21175/RadJ.2018.03.031

Received: 23 NOV 2018, Received revised: 2 FEB 2019, Accepted: 10 FEB 2019, Published online: 28 FEB 2019

We have investigated the biological effects induced by different accelerated ions (4He, 11B, 12C, 15N, and 20Ne) with different energies and linear energy transfers (LETs) and determined their relative biological effectiveness (RBE) for lethal damage and gene mutations. In particular, base pair substitution induction by ionizing radiation in haploid and diploid yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been studied. We have detected the GC-AT transition in the haploid strain and the AT-TA transversion in the diploid strain. The RBE dependence on LET for lethal mutations is described by a curve with a local maximum at LET of about 100 keV/μm. It is shown that the mutation frequency increases with increasing the dose up to 1000 Gy for diploid cells irradiated by different ions. A decrease in RBE with increasing LET has been observed for diploid cells. However, for haploid cells irradiated at doses of up to 100 Gy, the curves seem to have a plateau. The RBE dependence on LET for haploid cells is different and also has a plateau. But for substitution induction in haploid cells, an ion beam with a high LET (177 keV/μm) is less mutagenic than the one with a low LET (44–127 keV/μm). Therefore, we have obtained different biological effects of accelerated ions for haploid and diploid cells.
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Radiotherapy

THE FOOT EXPERIMENT: FRAGMENTATION MEASUREMENTS IN PARTICLE THERAPY

A. Alexandrov et al.

Pages: 190–196

DOI: 10.21175/RadJ.2018.03.032

Received: 15 JUN 2018, Received revised: 5 DEC 2018, Accepted: 8 DEC 2018, Published online: 28 FEB 2019

Charged Particle Therapy (CPT) is a powerful radiotherapy technique for the treatment of deep-seated tumours characterized by a large dose released in the Bragg peak area (corresponding to the tumour region) and a small dose delivered to the surrounding healthy tissues. The precise measurement of the fragments produced in the nuclear interactions of charged particle beams with patient tissues is a crucial task to improve the clinical treatment plans. The FOOT (FragmentatiOn Of Target) experiment is an international project, funded by the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), aimed to study the dose released by the tissues and particle beams fragmentation. The target (16O, 12C) fragmentation induced by 150-400 MeV/n proton beams will be studied via the inverse kinematic approach, where 16O and 12C therapeutic beams collide on graphite and hydrocarbon target to provide the cross section on Hydrogen. A table-top detector is being developed and it includes a drift chamber as a beam monitor upstream of the target to measure the beam direction, a magnetic spectrometer based on silicon pixel and strip detectors, a scintillating crystal calorimeter able to stop the heavier produced fragments, and a ∆E detector, with TOF capability, for the particle identification. A setup based on the concept of the “Emulsion Cloud Chamber”, coupled with the interaction region of the electronic FOOT setup, will complement the physics program by measuring lighter charged fragments to extend the angular acceptance up to about 70 degrees. In this work, the experimental design and the requirements of the FOOT experiment will be discussed and preliminary results on the emulsion spectrometer tests will be presented.
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Microwave, Laser, RF
and UV radiations

ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD EXPOSURE FROM TELECOMMUNICATION SOURCES IN AREAS WITH “SENSITIVE” BUILDINGS AND PLACES

I. Topalova, Ts. Shalamanova, V. Zaryabova, M. Israel

Pages: 197–201

DOI: 10.21175/RadJ.2018.03.033

Received: 14 JUN 2018, Received revised: 17 NOV 2018, Accepted: 1 DEC 2018, Published online: 28 FEB 2019

There is a significant increase in the use of mobile communications services and it is expected that this growth will continue with the introduction of new generations of technology standards such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), for example. The exposure from environmental sources in urban areas is formed mainly by broadcasting antennas, and base stations for mobile communications. The large number of telecommunication sources placed in the urban areas provoked serious concerns about possible health effects, considering the exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF). Particular attention has been paid to the so-called “critical” or “sensitive” areas around hospitals, schools, kindergartens, etc. Hence, there is a need of adequate exposure assessment of the electromagnetic field levels in some selected high populated urban areas especially around hospitals, schools, kindergartens to ensure that the power density levels are well below the prescribed threshold limits. The report presents an exposure assessment of electromagnetic field emitted by telecommunication sources (base stations) which has been performed at selected “sensitive” areas around hospitals, schools, kindergartens, located throughout Sofia. The study is conducted under the BG07 Program: Public Health Initiatives with the financial support of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2009-2014 and the European Economic Area Mechanism, 2009-2014, entitled “Improving control and information systems in risk prevention and healthcare”. Different methods of exposure assessments have been used: in-situ measurements (outdoor spot measurements of electromagnetic field values) using non- frequency selective and frequency selective measurement methods, as well as a broadband EMF monitoring for continuous measurement of the total EMF from all surrounding telecommunication sources that were also provided. The analyses of the measurement results suggest that the exposure levels to RF-EMFs are generally well below the reference levels defined by the national and European legislation. The electromagnetic field levels at the most studied locations are lower (up to 50%) than the limit values according to the Bulgarian legislation and less than 1% of the limit values according to the European legislation for the frequency band about 900 MHz.
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Biophysics

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF HYPERSPECTRAL VEGETATION INDICES FOR REMOTE ESTIMATION OF LEAF CHLOROPHYLL CONTENT AND PLANT STATUS

Kalinka Velichkova, Dora Krezhova

Pages: 202–208

DOI: 10.21175/RadJ.2018.03.034

Received: 15 JUN 2018, Received revised: 9 DEC 2018, Accepted: 16 DEC 2018, Published online: 28 FEB 2019

Leaf chlorophyll (Chl) content, at the leaf and canopy level, is an important biochemical parameter because of its crucial role in photosynthesis and in plant functioning. Furthermore, it provides an indication of the plant nutritional state and stress. Due to the reliable, rapid, and non-destructive advantages, hyperspectral remote sensing plays a significant role in monitoring and assessing the plant biophysical variables. In this study, a set of Chl-related vegetation indices (VIs) derived from the leaf reflectance data of young pepper plants infected by Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV) were tested for estimating the changes in the Chl content and plant status. Hyperspectral reflectance data were collected by means of a portable fiber-optics spectrometer in the spectral range of 350-1100 nm. The effect of two growth regulators, MEIA (beta-monomethyl ester of itaconic acid) and ВТН (benzo(1,2,3)thiadiazole-7-carbothioic acid-S-methyl ester), on the Chl content and respectively on the development of the viral infection was investigated too. Four categories VIs: normalized difference (ND) VIs; simple ratio (SR) VIs; single-band reflectance or simple difference (SD) VIs, and some other forms of VIs, were tested using statistical analyses (ANOVA and Tukey-Kramer’s tests) to explore their potentials in the Chl content estimation. To enhance the sensitivity of the VIs, modified VIs were tested in some other combinations of narrow bands. The statistical analyses showed that the Modified Red Edge Simple Ratio (MRESR) index, Vogelmann Red Edge index (VREI1), and Pigment index (PI) were most sensitive to the Chl content changes. The Normalized Difference VI (NDVI) and Triangular Vegetation Index (TVI) turned out to be insensitive to Chl variations. The rest of the VIs were responsible for Chl variations but with less sensitivity.
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