A Tracking Compton-Scattering Imaging System for Hadron Therapy Monitoring

Hadron therapy for, e.g., cancer treatment requires an accurate dose deposition (total amount and location). As a consequence, monitoring is crucial for the success of the treatment. Currently employed PET imaging systems are not able to provide information about the deposed dose fast enough to allow stopping the therapy in case of a discordance with the treatment plan. We are currently investigating an imaging system based on a combined Compton scattering and pair creation camera capable of imaging gamma rays up to 50 MeV. The camera would be able to measure the complete spectrum of emitted gamma rays during the therapy session. We have performed Monte Carlo simulations for three different proton beam energies in a typical hadron therapy scenario. They show that the location of the gamma-ray distribution decay and the falloff region of the deposed dose are related. The reconstructed images prove that the proposed system could provide the required imaging and dose location capabilities.