GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Biophysics Department, D-64291 Darmstadt, Germany.
KEK, Radiation Science, 1-1 Oho, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0801, Japan.
Phys Med Biol. 2021 Apr 23;66(9). doi: 10.1088/1361-6560/abef88.
There is increasing interest in using helium ions for radiotherapy, complementary to protons and carbon ions. A large number of patients were treated withHe ions in the US heavy ion therapy project and novelHe ion treatment programs are under preparation, for instance in Germany and Japan.He ions have been proposed as an alternative toHe ions because the acceleration ofHe is technically less difficult thanHe. In particular, beam contaminations have been pointed out as a potential safety issue forHe ion beams. This motivated a series of experiments withHe ion beams at Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI), Darmstadt. MeasuredHe Bragg curves and fragmentation data in water are presented in this work. Those experimental data are compared with FLUKA Monte Carlo simulations. The physical characteristics ofHe ion beams are compared to those ofHe, for which a large set of data became available in recent years from the preparation work at the Heidelberger Ionenstrahl-Therapiezentrum (HIT). The dose distributions (spread out Bragg peaks, lateral profiles) that can be achieved withHe ions are found to be competitive toHe dose distributions. The effect of beam contaminations onHe depth dose distribution is also addressed. It is concluded thatHe ions can be a viable alternative toHe, especially for future compact therapy accelerator designs and upgrades of existing ion therapy facilities.
人们对使用氦离子进行放射治疗越来越感兴趣，氦离子可以与质子和碳离子互补。在美国重离子治疗项目中，大量患者接受了氦离子治疗，新的氦离子治疗计划正在筹备中，例如在德国和日本。氦离子被提议作为氦离子的替代品，因为氦离子的加速在技术上比氦离子更容易。特别是，束污染被指出是氦离子束的一个潜在安全问题。这促使达姆施塔特的重离子研究协会（GSI）进行了一系列氦离子束实验。本文介绍了在水中测量的氦离子 Bragg 曲线和碎裂数据。这些实验数据与 FLUKA 蒙特卡罗模拟进行了比较。将氦离子束的物理特性与近年来在海德堡离子束治疗中心（HIT）的准备工作中获得的大量氦数据进行了比较。发现可以用氦离子实现的剂量分布（扩展布拉格峰，横向分布）与氦剂量分布具有竞争力。还讨论了束污染对氦深度剂量分布的影响。结论是，氦离子可以作为氦离子的可行替代品，特别是对于未来的紧凑型治疗加速器设计和现有离子治疗设施的升级。
