Hendee's Radiation Therapy Physics

Todd Pawlicki, Daniel J. Scanderbeg, George Starkschall

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780470376515
• eBook ISBN: 9781118575277
• Edition: 4
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Radiology, Radiotherapy & Nuclear Medicine

The publication of this fourth edition, more than ten years on from the publication of Radiation Therapy Physics third edition, provides a comprehensive and valuable update to the educational offerings in this field. Led by a new team of highly esteemed authors, building on Dr Hendee's tradition, Hendee's Radiation Therapy Physics offers a succinctly written, fully modernised update.

Radiation physics has undergone many changes in the past ten years: intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) has become a routine method of radiation treatment delivery, digital imaging has replaced film-screen imaging for localization and verification, image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) is frequently used, in many centers proton therapy has become a viable mode of radiation therapy, new approaches have been introduced to radiation therapy quality assurance and safety that focus more on process analysis rather than specific performance testing, and the explosion in patient-and machine-related data has necessitated an increased awareness of the role of informatics in radiation therapy. As such, this edition reflects the huge advances made over the last ten years. This book:

• Provides state of the art content throughout
• Contains four brand new chapters; image-guided therapy, proton radiation therapy, radiation therapy informatics, and quality and safety improvement
• Fully revised and expanded imaging chapter discusses the increased role of digital imaging and computed tomography (CT) simulation
• The chapter on quality and safety contains content in support of new residency training requirements
• Includes problem and answer sets for self-test

This edition is essential reading for radiation oncologists in training, students of medical physics, medical dosimetry, and anyone interested in radiation therapy physics, quality, and safety.

CHAPTER 1
ATOMIC STRUCTURE AND RADIOACTIVE DECAY

---

1. Objectives
2. Introduction
3. Atomic and nuclear structure
   1. Atomic units
   2. Mass defect and binding energy
   3. Electron energy levels
   4. Nuclear stability
4. Radioactive decay
5. Types of radioactive decay
   1. Alpha decay
   2. Beta decay
   3. Gamma emission and internal conversion
6. Radioactive equilibrium
7. Natural radioactivity and decay series
8. Artificial production of radionuclides
9. Summary
10. Problems
11. References

---

---

Objectives

After studying this chapter, the reader should be able to:

• Understand the relationship between nuclear instability and radioactive decay.
• Describe the different modes of radioactive decay and the conditions in which they occur.
• Interpret decay schemes.
• State and use the fundamental equations of radioactive decay.
• Perform elementary computations for sample activities.
• Describe the principles of transient and secular equilibrium.
• Discuss the principles of the artificial production of radionuclides.

---

Introduction

The composition of matter has puzzled philosophers and scientists for centuries. Even today, the mystery continues as strange new particles are detected in high-energy accelerators. Various models proposed to explain the composition and mechanics of matter are useful in certain applications, but invariably fall short in others. One of the oldest models, the atomic theory of matter devised by early Greek philosophers,¹ remains a useful approach to understanding many physical processes, including those important to the study of the physics of radiation therapy. The atomic model is used in this text, but it is important to remember that it is only a model, and that the true composition of matter remains an enigma.

Atomic and nuclear structure

The atom is the smallest unit of matter that possesses the physical and chemical properties characteristic of one of the 118 elements, 92 of which occur naturally and the others are produced artificially. The atom consists of a central positive core, termed the nucleus, surrounded by a cloud of electrons moving in orbits around the nucleus. The nucleus is composed of protons and neutrons, collectively termed nucleons, with a diameter on the order of 10⁻¹⁴ meters (m). Protons are subatomic particles with a mass of 1.6734 × 10⁻²⁷ kilograms (kg) and a positive charge of +1.6 × 10⁻¹⁹ Coulombs. Neutrons are subatomic particles with a mass of 1.6747 × 10⁻²⁷ kg and no electrical charge. The electron cloud surrounding the nucleus has a diameter of about 10⁻¹⁰ m.

Electrons have a mass of 9.108 × 10⁻³¹ kg and a negative charge of –1.6 × 10⁻¹⁹ Coulombs. In the neutral atom, the number of protons in the nucleus is balanced by an equal number of electrons in the surrounding orbits. An atom with a greater or lesser number of electrons than the number of protons is termed a negative or positive ion.

An atom is characterized by the symbol^A_ZX, in which A is the number of nucleons in the nucleus, Z is the number of...

Table of contents

• COVER
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT
• PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION
• PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION
• PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
• PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
• CHAPTER 1 ATOMIC STRUCTURE AND RADIOACTIVE DECAY
• CHAPTER 2 INTERACTIONS OF X RAYS AND GAMMA RAYS
• CHAPTER 3 INTERACTIONS OF PARTICULATE RADIATION WITH MATTER
• CHAPTER 4 MACHINES FOR PRODUCING RADIATION
• CHAPTER 5 MEASUREMENT OF IONIZING RADIATION
• CHAPTER 6 CALIBRATION OF MEGAVOLTAGE BEAMS OF X RAYS AND ELECTRONS
• CHAPTER 7 CENTRAL-AXIS POINT DOSE CALCULATIONS
• CHAPTER 8 EXTERNAL BEAM DOSE CALCULATIONS
• CHAPTER 9 EXTERNAL BEAM TREATMENT PLANNING AND DELIVERY
• CHAPTER 10 THE BASICS OF MEDICAL IMAGING
• CHAPTER 11 DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING AND APPLICATIONS TO RADIATION THERAPY
• CHAPTER 12 TUMOR TARGETING: IMAGE-GUIDED AND ADAPTIVE RADIATION THERAPY
• CHAPTER 13 COMPUTER SYSTEMS
• CHAPTER 14 RADIATION ONCOLOGY INFORMATICS
• CHAPTER 15 PHYSICS OF PROTON RADIATION THERAPY
• CHAPTER 16 SOURCES FOR IMPLANT THERAPY AND DOSE CALCULATION
• CHAPTER 17 BRACHYTHERAPY TREATMENT PLANNING
• CHAPTER 18 RADIATION PROTECTION
• CHAPTER 19 QUALITY ASSURANCE
• CHAPTER 20 PATIENT SAFETY AND QUALITY IMPROVEMENT
• APPENDIX: ANSWERS TO SELECTED PROBLEMS
• INDEX
• EULA