Proton therapy is gaining acceptance as a cancer treatment modality, as it allows for dose deposition to the target volume while sparing the surrounding healthy tissue. This technique is advantageous for craniospinal pediatric patients, as it reduces the radiation side effects that can occur. The purpose of this study is to design an anthropomorphic pediatric spine phantom for use in the evaluation of proton therapy facilities for clinical trial participation by the Imaging and Radiation Oncology Core (IROC) Houston QA Center. It was hypothesized that the designed phantom would evaluate patient simulation, treatment planning and delivery, assuring agreement between the measured and calculated doses within 5%/3mm, with 85% of pixels passing criteria for gamma analysis and also a TLD point dose agreement within 5%. Tissue equivalency was determined by measuring the relative stopping power and Hounsfield unit of potential phantom materials. The materials selected as bone, tissue, and cartilage substitutes were Techron HPV Bearing Grade (RSP 1.3, HU 595.6), solid water (RSP 1.004, HU 16), and blue water (RSP 1.07, HU 86), respectively. The design also incorporates two thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD)-100 capsules and radiochromic film embedded for dose evaluation. CT images of the phantom were acquired and used to create passive scattering and spot scanning treatment plans. Each plan was delivered three times at a dose of 6 Gy. The following attributes were evaluated: absolute dose agreement, distal range, field width, junction match and right/left dose profile alignment. The hypothesis was accepted for the passive scattering plans, making this phantom and delivery technique suitable for use in IROC Houston proton approval process.
","abstract_html":"<p>Proton therapy is gaining acceptance as a cancer treatment modality, as it allows for dose deposition to the target volume while sparing the surrounding healthy tissue. This technique is advantageous for craniospinal pediatric patients, as it reduces the radiation side effects that can occur. The purpose of this study is to design an anthropomorphic pediatric spine phantom for use in the evaluation of proton therapy facilities for clinical trial participation by the Imaging and Radiation Oncology Core (IROC) Houston QA Center. It was hypothesized that the designed phantom would evaluate patient simulation, treatment planning and delivery, assuring agreement between the measured and calculated doses within 5%/3mm, with 85% of pixels passing criteria for gamma analysis and also a TLD point dose agreement within 5%. Tissue equivalency was determined by measuring the relative stopping power and Hounsfield unit of potential phantom materials. The materials selected as bone, tissue, and cartilage substitutes were Techron HPV Bearing Grade (RSP 1.3, HU 595.6), solid water (RSP 1.004, HU 16), and blue water (RSP 1.07, HU 86), respectively. The design also incorporates two thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD)-100 capsules and radiochromic film embedded for dose evaluation. CT images of the phantom were acquired and used to create passive scattering and spot scanning treatment plans. Each plan was delivered three times at a dose of 6 Gy. The following attributes were evaluated: absolute dose agreement, distal range, field width, junction match and right/left dose profile alignment. The hypothesis was accepted for the passive scattering plans, making this phantom and delivery technique suitable for use in IROC Houston proton approval process.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lewis, Dana"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Masters of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Thesis (MS)","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Stephen Kry, PhD.","David Followill, PhD","Anita Mahajan, MD"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-08-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-08-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:50:38Z","subjects":["IROC Proton Spine Phantom","Medicine and Health Sciences"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/utgsbs_dissertations/502","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Stephen Kry, PhD.","David Followill, PhD","Anita Mahajan, MD"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Lewis, Dana"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-08-14T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis (MS)"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Masters of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["IROC Proton Spine Phantom","Medicine and Health Sciences"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/utgsbs_dissertations/502"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Proton therapy is gaining acceptance as a cancer treatment modality, as it allows for dose deposition to the target volume while sparing the surrounding healthy tissue. This technique is advantageous for craniospinal pediatric patients, as it reduces the radiation side effects that can occur. The purpose of this study is to design an anthropomorphic pediatric spine phantom for use in the evaluation of proton therapy facilities for clinical trial participation by the Imaging and Radiation Oncology Core (IROC) Houston QA Center. It was hypothesized that the designed phantom would evaluate patient simulation, treatment planning and delivery, assuring agreement between the measured and calculated doses within 5%/3mm, with 85% of pixels passing criteria for gamma analysis and also a TLD point dose agreement within 5%. Tissue equivalency was determined by measuring the relative stopping power and Hounsfield unit of potential phantom materials. The materials selected as bone, tissue, and cartilage substitutes were Techron HPV Bearing Grade (RSP 1.3, HU 595.6), solid water (RSP 1.004, HU 16), and blue water (RSP 1.07, HU 86), respectively. The design also incorporates two thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD)-100 capsules and radiochromic film embedded for dose evaluation. CT images of the phantom were acquired and used to create passive scattering and spot scanning treatment plans. Each plan was delivered three times at a dose of 6 Gy. The following attributes were evaluated: absolute dose agreement, distal range, field width, junction match and right/left dose profile alignment. The hypothesis was accepted for the passive scattering plans, making this phantom and delivery technique suitable for use in IROC Houston proton approval process.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Development and Implementation of An Anthropomorphic Pediatric Spine Phantom For The Assessment of Craniospinal Irradiation Procedures In Proton Therapy"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Stephen Kry, PhD.","David Followill, PhD","Anita Mahajan, MD"],"dc:creator":["Lewis, Dana"],"dc:date.available":["2014-08-14T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Proton therapy is gaining acceptance as a cancer treatment modality, as it allows for dose deposition to the target volume while sparing the surrounding healthy tissue. This technique is advantageous for craniospinal pediatric patients, as it reduces the radiation side effects that can occur. The purpose of this study is to design an anthropomorphic pediatric spine phantom for use in the evaluation of proton therapy facilities for clinical trial participation by the Imaging and Radiation Oncology Core (IROC) Houston QA Center. It was hypothesized that the designed phantom would evaluate patient simulation, treatment planning and delivery, assuring agreement between the measured and calculated doses within 5%/3mm, with 85% of pixels passing criteria for gamma analysis and also a TLD point dose agreement within 5%. Tissue equivalency was determined by measuring the relative stopping power and Hounsfield unit of potential phantom materials. The materials selected as bone, tissue, and cartilage substitutes were Techron HPV Bearing Grade (RSP 1.3, HU 595.6), solid water (RSP 1.004, HU 16), and blue water (RSP 1.07, HU 86), respectively. The design also incorporates two thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD)-100 capsules and radiochromic film embedded for dose evaluation. CT images of the phantom were acquired and used to create passive scattering and spot scanning treatment plans. Each plan was delivered three times at a dose of 6 Gy. The following attributes were evaluated: absolute dose agreement, distal range, field width, junction match and right/left dose profile alignment. The hypothesis was accepted for the passive scattering plans, making this phantom and delivery technique suitable for use in IROC Houston proton approval process.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/utgsbs_dissertations/502"],"dc:subject":["IROC Proton Spine Phantom","Medicine and Health Sciences"],"dc:title":["Development and Implementation of An Anthropomorphic Pediatric Spine Phantom For The Assessment of Craniospinal Irradiation Procedures In Proton Therapy"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis (MS)"],"thesis:degree_name":["Masters of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:50:38Z"}