Range verification of a clinical proton beam in an abdominal phantom by co-registration of ionoacoustics and ultrasound

Objective. The range uncertainty in proton radiotherapy is a limiting factor to achieve optimum dose conformity to the tumour volume. Ionoacoustics is a promising approach for in situ range verification, which would allow to reduce the size of the irradiated volume relative to the tumour volume. The energy deposition of a pulsed proton beam leads to an acoustic pressure wave (ionoacoustics), the detection of which allows conclusion about the distance between the Bragg peak and the acoustic detector. This information can be transferred into a co-registered ultrasound image, marking the Bragg peak position relative to the surrounding anatomy. Approach. A CIRS 3D abdominal phantom was irradiated with 126 MeV protons at a clinical proton therapy centre. Acoustic signals were recorded on the beam axis distal to the Bragg peak with a Cetacean C305X hydrophone. The ionoacoustic measurements were processed with a correlation filter using simulated filter templates. The hydrophone was rigidly attached to an ultrasound device (Interson GP-C01) recording ultrasound images of the irradiated region. Main results. The time of flight obtained from ionoacoustic measurements were transferred to an ultrasound image by means of an optoacoustic calibration measurement. The Bragg peak position was marked in the ultrasound image with a statistical uncertainty of σ = 0.5 mm of 24 individual measurements depositing 1.2 Gy at the Bragg peak. The difference between the evaluated Bragg peak position and the one obtained from irradiation planning (1.0 mm) is smaller than the typical range uncertainty (≈4 mm) at the given penetration depth (10 cm). Significance. The measurements show that it is possible to determine the Bragg peak position of a clinical proton beam with submillimetre precision and transfer the information to an ultrasound image of the irradiated region. The dose required for this is smaller than that used for a typical irradiation fraction.