Date/Time
Date(s) - 12/13/2012
12:00 pm

PhD Oral Proposal

Abstract:
Radiation dosimetry measures the absorbed dose to matter after exposure to ionizing radiation.  Because even a small amount of radiation can result in serious organ complications, it is important to quantify accurately the dose that a patient will receive from any given radiation procedure before use.  Accurately quantifying the dose from diagnostic imaging modalities, such as CBCT, is of interest because of the added dose from these modalities, which may be quite substantial.  Knowledge of any additional organ dose is important in estimating the risk of specific organ disease and can ultimately lead to changes and improvements in the protocol or use of the modality, depending on the patient and their treatment.  We propose a new dosimeter system, consisting of an array of plastic scintillation detectors (PSDs) coupled to an optical fiber and a charged-coupled device (CCD) camera, for use in the diagnostic radiology energy range, which will be able to quantify this added dose more rapidly, effectively and consistently.   It will be evaluated on a series of different imaging modalities for which it is suitable, especially cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) and four-dimensional (4D) CBCT, using both male and female adult phantoms.  We also propose to quantify the added dose from 4D CBCT, which has not been done to date, and evaluate any relative risk from the modality.