title: Neutron radiation area monitoring system for proton therapy facilities.
abstract: A neutron radiation area monitoring system has been developed for proton accelerator facilities dedicated to cancer therapy. The system comprises commercial measurement equipment, computer hardware and a suite of software applications that were developed specifically for use in a medical accelerator environment. The system is designed to record and display the neutron dose-equivalent readings from 16 to 24 locations (depending on the size of the proton therapy centre) throughout the facility. Additional software applications provide for convenient data analysis, plotting, radiation protection reporting, and system maintenance and administration tasks. The system performs with a mean time between failures of >6 months. Required data storage capabilities and application execution times are met with inexpensive off-the-shelf computer hardware.
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Proton Therapy Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Unit 94, Houston, TX 77030, USA. wnewhaus@mdanderson.org
authors.forename: W D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Newhauser
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Giragosian
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nill
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Titt
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D009502:Neutrons; D010315:Particle Accelerators; D061766:Proton Therapy; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D012984:Software; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D011522:Protons
chemical_list: D011522:Protons