Real Time Camera for Dose and Density Spatial Profiles

A new type of X-ray camera has been developed which has the potential capability ofsimultaneously measuring in real time the dose and density spatial profiles of irradiated body elementsin a patient undergoing radiation therapy. The camera is positioned in a non-invasive position on thepatients side and detects photons scattered from the patients body. The camera system consists of acompact chamber with a slot aperture at the camera entrance plane, and an array of 100 X-ray detectorsat the camera image plane. Each detector measures the X-ray signal emitted from a correspondingvolume element that is irradiated in the patients body. Accordingly, the signals measured by the 100detectors can provide information about the spatial distribution of the dose and density in the irradiatedvolume elements of the patients body. The goal of this project is to demonstrate that with propercalibration of the detector array, the camera system can function as an on-line, non-invasive, real-timemeasuring system of the dose and density distribution in irradiated body elements. The calibration wouldbe carried out with different sizes of water phantoms and with selected X-ray, gamma-ray, high energyelectron, or high-energy proton therapy beams.