EURADOS REM-counter intercomparison at MAASTRO proton therapy centre: comparison with literature data

Gabriele Zorloni, Geert Bosmans, Thomas Brall, Marco Caresana, Marijke De Saint-Hubert, Carles Domingo, Cristian Ferrante, Francesca Ferrulli, Renata Kopec, Johannes Leidner, Vladimir Mares, Racell Nabha, Pawel Olko, Miguel Angel Caballero-Pacheco, Werner Rühm, Marco Silari, Liliana Stolarczyk, Jan Swakoń, Marco Tisi, Sebastian TrinklOlivier Van Hoey, Gloria Vilches-Freixas

    Research outputpeer-review

    Abstract

    The Maastro Proton Therapy Centre is the first European facility housing the Mevion S250i Hyperscan synchrocyclotron. The proximity of the accelerator to the patient, the presence of an active pencil beam delivery system downstream of a passive energy degrader and the pulsed structure of the beam make the Mevion stray neutron field unique amongst proton therapy facilities.
    This paper reviews the results of a rem-counter intercomparison experiment promoted by the European Radiation Dosimetry Group at Maastro and compares them with those at other proton therapy facilities. The Maastro neutron H∗(10) in the room (100–200 μSv/Gy at about 2 m from the isocentre) is in line with accelerators using purely passive or wobbling beam delivery modalities, even though Maastro shows a dose gradient peaked near the accelerator. Unlike synchrotron- and cyclotron-based facilities, the pulsed beam at Maastro requires the employment of rem-counters specifically designed to withstand pulsed neutron fields.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1471-1475
    Number of pages5
    JournalRadiation Protection Dosimetry.
    Volume198
    Issue number19
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Nov 2022

    Cite this