Physics of particles

H. Paganetti PhD
Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School
Introduction
The ideal dose distribution
Dose

ideal

Depth

Dose: Energy deposited Energy/Mass [J/kg] [Gy]

Introduction

Photoelectric Compton Pair

Effect Effect Production
Photon ejects electron Photons scattering Photons above twice
from an atom. from atomic electrons. the electron rest mass
energy can create a
electron positron pair.
g
’
g g g
e q e+
f e-
Z e Z
Introduction

Dose deposition

Electrons
Introduction

Dose

Photons

BEAM

ideal

Depth
Introduction

Also:
Modulation of intensities

© INFN
Introduction
• Photons • Protons
– Charge: 0 – Charge: +1
– Indirect Ionization – Direct Ionization
• Electrons – Mass: 2,000 • me

– Charge: -1
– Direct Ionization
– Mass: 512 keV
Introduction

Dose deposition

Electrons Protons
Introduction

The Bragg curve

Mono-energetic proton beam
120

100

80
Dose [%]

60

40

20

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300

depth [mm]
Introduction

Dose EXTRA DOSE

Photons

BEAM Protons

ideal

Depth

Beam energy controls the range

Protons/Ions – Basic Physics
Electromagnetic energy loss of protons
p p
• Distal distribution e

120
–Ionization
100
–Excitation
80
Dose [%]

60

40 Interaction probability
20
is proportional to
0
proton energy
0 50 100 150 200 250 300

depth [mm]
Protons/Ions – Basic Physics

Bethe-Bloch equation
 dE  2 ne re2 me c 2 z 2   2me c 2  2Tmax  C 
   ln  2  - 2 + 2 zL1 (  ) + 2 z L2 (  ) - 2 -  + G 
2 2

 dx 0 2   I (1 -  2
)  Z 

I : mean excitation energy , material-dependent

 δ : density correction
 C : is the shell correction, important at low energies
 Tmax : maximum energy transfer to an electron
L1 : Barkas correction (z3)
 L2 : Bloch (z4) correction
 G : Mott corrections
Protons/Ions – Basic Physics

Bethe [-Bloch] equation

dE 4p nk Z e
2 é 2mc b
2 4 2 2 ù
- = êln -b ú
2

dx mc b ë I (1- b )
2 2 2
û

 = v/c
Protons/Ions – Basic Physics
area A

N protons

Δx

Dose = fluence × mass stopping power

Protons/Ions – Basic Physics
120

100

80

Dose [%]
60

40

20

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300

40
Radiography depth [mm]

35
Deep seated tumors
30

25
Range (cm)

20 Typical treatments

15

10

5
Eye treatments

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Energy (MeV)
Protons/Ions – Basic Physics

Protons

© GSI
Protons/Ions – Basic Physics 120

100

80

Dose [%]
60

40

20

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300

depth [mm]

• Protons lose their energy in individual

collisions with electrons
• Protons with the same initial energy may have
slightly different ranges:
“Range straggling”
 Protons/Ions – Basic Physics
Beam Range

120

100 100%
90%
80 80%
Dose [%]

60

40

20

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300

depth [mm]

© H. Paganetti “Proton Therapy Physics” Taylor & Francis / CRC Press

Protons/Ions – Basic Physics
Electromagnetic energy loss of protons
p’
• Lateral distribution q
p

Multiple Coulomb scattering (small angles)

Proton Pencil Beam

Protons/Ions – Basic Physics

Multiple Coulomb Scattering

• Protons are deflected in the electric field of
the nuclei. In general, multiple deflections will
occur
• For treatment planning related calculations a
purely Gaussian approximation is a good
approximation, except at the very end of the
range
Protons/Ions – Basic Physics

Multiple Coulomb Scattering

200 MeV
160 MeV
Protons/Ions – Basic Physics

Multiple Coulomb Scattering

4
Protons (148 MeV)
s MCS [mm]

12C-ions (270 MeV/A)

3

0
0 50 100 150
Depth [mm]
Protons/Ions – Basic Physics

Multiple Coulomb Scattering

80/20 Penumbra Comparison
Protons
1.00
80 - 20 % Distance (cm)

0.75
 17 cm

0.50 15 MV Photons
0.25

0.00
15 cm 20 cm 25 cm

Norm alization Depth

 Protons/Ions – Basic Physics

100 Ø 

80
Ø 8 mm
60
Dose

Ø 6 mm
40

Ø 4 mm
20
Ø 2 mm

Depth

© A. Koehler (HCL)
Protons/Ions – Basic Physics

Nuclear interactions of protons

p’
p’
p p g, n

Elastic nuclear collision (large q) Nuclear interaction

Protons/Ions – Basic Physics

Nuclear interactions of protons

• A certain fraction of protons have nuclear
interactions in tissue, mainly with 16O
(about 1% per cm of all protons)
• Nuclear interactions cause a decrease in primary
proton fluence
• Nuclear interactions lead to secondary particles
and thus to local and non-local dose deposition
(neutrons!)
• The dose from nuclear interactions is negligible in
the Bragg peak
Protons/Ions – Basic Physics

Nuclear interactions of protons

Carbon (closed circles)
Oxygen (open circles)

© H. Paganetti “Proton Therapy Physics” Taylor & Francis / CRC Press

Protons/Ions – Basic Physics
Nuclear build-up
Total fluence
Primary fluence
Protons/Ions – Basic Physics
Contribution
total energy in %
deposited primary
protons

secondary
protons

alphas
&
recoils
Protons/Ions – Basic Physics
Nuclear interactions of heavy ions
12C’

12C

Elastic nuclear collision (large q)

4He

12C g, n



Nuclear interaction (fragmentation)

Protons/Ions – Basic Physics
Nuclear interactions of heavy ions

Fragmentation tails

© I. Pshenischnov
Protons/Ions – Basic Physics
Nuclear interactions of heavy ions
Protons/Ions – Basic Physics
Nuclear interactions of heavy ions

© I. Pshenischnov
Clinical dose distributions

Dose

Photons

BEAM Protons

ideal

Depth
Clinical dose distributions

thickness
width

Spread-out Bragg Peak

Clinical dose distributions

Multiple scattering angle and

energy loss for 160 MeV
protons traversing 1 g/cm2
of various materials
Clinical dose distributions

H i g h - D e n s i t y
S t r u c t u r e

T a r g e t
V o l u m e

B e a m C r i t i c a l
S t r u c t u r e

B o d y
S u r f a c e
A p e r t u r e
 Take Home Messages
• Heavy charged particles interact very
differently from photons (used in conventional
radiation therapy)
• The most important interactions are
ionization, Coulomb scattering, and non-
elastic nuclear interactions
• Heavy charged particle treatments are
associated with the reduction of the total
energy deposited in the patient by more than
a factor of 2