Abstract:
The main purpose of this study was to estimate a scattered dose of radiation to
the thyroid, breast, lung, ovary and testis both in children and adults undergoing
radiosurgery irradiation. The linear accelerator (Varian Clinac-600SR) is used for
treating disease in the brain. Scattered doses to the organs at risk were measured both
in the organs and on the skin above those organs. The adult RANDO phantom and the
children paraffin wax phantoms age 5 and 10 years were applied to this experiment.
The variation of the locations of intracranial lesion, collimator sizes and directions of
the irradiated beam were studied. This study used TLD-100 rod, the tumor dose 10
Gy, beam energy 6 MV and SAD 100 cm.
The average scattered doses to the organs at risk of the children age 5 years old
with various locations of the intracranial lesion are 267.65 mGy for the thyroid, 22.90
mGy for the lung, 7.83 mGy for the ovary and 7.08 mGy for the testis. The average
scattered doses to the organs at risk of the children age 10 years old are 169.40 mGy
for the thyroid, 19.13 mGy for the lung, 4.95 mGy for the ovary and 4.73 mGy for the
testis. According to the adult phantom, the scattered doses are decreased to be 99.10
mGy for the thyroid, 18.10 mGy for the breast, 7.90 mGy for the lung, 2.13 mGy for
the ovary and 1.47 mGy for the testis. Because for children the distance from the
isocenter to each organ is shorter than the distance for adults, children receive a more
scattered dose and a higher dose of direct irradiation than an adult. However, the
scattered dose on the skin and in the organs are not different except in the thyroid. The
dose on the skin over the thyroid is notably lower than in the thyroid (P-value < 0.05).
In addition, the scattered dose depends on the collimator size, the direction of the
irradiated beam and the distance from the isocenter. The scattered dose increases with
increasing collimator size but decreases when the distance from the isocenter
increases. Moreover, the sagittal irradiated beam contributed radiation doses to the
neck and trunk greater than other beams.
Above all, these results can be used in making a decision for special clinical
treatment (radiosurgery) for the case of young and pregnant patients in order to
eliminate brain tumors and they also can be a guideline to design a treatment plan