title: Partial body irradiation of small laboratory animals with an industrial X-ray tube.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Dedicated precise small laboratory animal irradiation sources are needed for basic cancer research and to meet this need expensive high precision radiation devices have been developed. To avoid such expenses a cost efficient way is presented to construct a device for partial body irradiation of small laboratory animals by adding specific components to an industrial X-ray tube.
  
  
  METHODS
  A custom made radiation field tube was added to an industrial 200 kV X-ray tube. A light field display as well as a monitor ionization chamber were implemented. The field size can rapidly be changed by individual inserts of MCP96 that are used for secondary collimation of the beam. Depth dose curves and cross sectional profiles were determined with the use of a custom made water phantom. More components like positioning lasers, a custom made treatment couch, and a commercial isoflurane anesthesia unit were added to complete the system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  With the accessories described secondary small field sizes down to 10 by 10 mm2 (secondary collimator size) could be achieved. The dosimetry of the beam was constructed like those for conventional stereotactical clinical linear accelerators. The water phantom created showed an accuracy of 1 mm and was well suited for all measurements. With the anesthesia unit attached to the custom made treatment couch the system is ideal for the radiation treatment of small laboratory animals like mice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It was feasible to shrink the field size of an industrial X-ray tube from whole animal irradiation to precise partial body irradiation of small laboratory animals. Even smaller secondary collimator sizes than 10 by 10 mm2 are feasible with adequate secondary collimator inserts. Our custom made water phantom was well suited for the basic dosimetry of the X-ray tube.
authors.affiliation: Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Ambulanzzentrum des UKE GmbH, Bereich Strahlentherapie, Martinistraße 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany. Electronic address: frenzel@uke.uni-hamburg.de.
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Frenzel
authors.affiliation: Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Zentrum für Experimentelle Medizin, Institut für Anatomie und Experimentelle Morphologie, Martinistraße 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Carsten
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Grohmann
authors.affiliation: Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Zentrum für Experimentelle Medizin, Institut für Anatomie und Experimentelle Morphologie, Martinistraße 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schumacher
authors.affiliation: Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Ambulanzzentrum des UKE GmbH, Bereich Strahlentherapie, Martinistraße 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Krüll
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D008904:Miniaturization; D056888:Patient Positioning / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D011874:Radiometry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D061106:Radiotherapy Setup Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D020266:Radiotherapy, Conformal / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D018511:Systems Integration
keywords: Kleintierbestrahlung; Small animal irradiation; Wasserphantom; kV dosimetry; kV-Dosimetrie; water phantom