Abstract:
A microdensitometer system capable of micrometer resolution for reading radiochromic films, includes: a film holder for supporting a radio chromic film sample; a high-precision scanning stage including a monochromatic light source for illuminating the film sample; a CCD microscope camera for a photographing light from the light source that is transmitted through the film sample; and a microcomputer for analysing data relayed from the CCD microscope camera. The film sample is translated by the scanning stage to enable analysis of the whole film sample.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The invention relates to a microdensitometer system capable of reading radiochromic films with micrometer resolution. Specifically, the invention relates to a system for measuring the transmittance of radiochromic films and correlating the transmittance with the radiation dose imparted on the films.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The ultimate aim of radiation treatment is to deliver a prescribed dose to a well-delineated tumour volume and, at the same time, minimize the radiation dose to the surrounding normal tissues. Verification of the three-dimensional dose distribution around the tumour before treatment is given to a patient is essential to ensure the above aim is achieved. A phantom incorporated with a dose-recording medium is usually used as a surrogate for the patient&#39;s treatment for verification.  
           [0003]    Of all the dose-recording media used, radiochromic films are gaining popularity in dose verification work owing to their advantages over the conventional media. Radiochromic films are films which change from colorless to a bluish color upon ionizing irradiation. The darkness of the blue shade is proportional to the amount of energy deposited on the films. They are insensitive to daylight. There exist two absorption peaks for the exposed films at which the most sensitive measurements can be made. Radiochromic films are self-developing, tissue equivalent; their responses are practically energy and dose-rate independent. They can offer an extremely fine spatial resolution up to 1200 lines/mm due to their grainless nature. In conclusion, radiochromic films are increasingly being used for measuring two-dimensional dose distribution. This is particularly true in intravascular brachytherapy where detailed dosimetry data at 2-5 mm from the source axis is required for prescribing the radiation dose to a patient.  
           [0004]    Radiochromic films need to be read out before any quantitative analysis of the absorbed dose distribution can be made. Currently available two-dimensional densitometers are not primarily designed for reading radiochromic films. There are three major problems associated with those densitometers.  
           [0005]    Firstly, they utilise light sources including lasers, fluorescent lamps and light-emitting diodes that do not have an emission spectrum that matches the absorption spectrum of the radio chromic films. This may compromise the sensitivity of the measurement.  
           [0006]    Secondly, the wavelength of the light source is not changeable. Transmittance measurement taken at a single wavelength suffers from the disadvantages that measuring at the major absorbing peak may saturate at high-doses whereas measuring at the minor absorbing peak may not be sensitive enough to detect low doses.  
           [0007]    Thirdly, those densitometers can only provide a spatial resolution of less than 20 lines/mm due to the size of the light source and photo detection method used.  
           [0008]    Their low spatial resolution is much inferior to the inherent spatial resolution of 1200 lines/mm of the radio chromic films. Those densitometers therefore fail to satisfy the need for measuring dose distributions in micrometer spatial resolution.  
         OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    An object of the present invention is to provide a microdensitometer system which can supply a light source the wavelength of which is changeable and matched to the desired absorption peaks of the radiochromic films for transmittance measurement.  
           [0010]    Another object of the invention is to provide a microdensitometer system capable of analysing images with micrometer resolution by using a CCD-dedicated microscope in conjunction with a digital CCD camera.  
           [0011]    A further object of the present invention is to provide a microdensitometer system that can display the two-dimensional dose distribution recorded on a radiochromic film.  
         DISCLOSURE THE INVENTION  
         [0012]    There is disclosed herein a microdensitometer system capable of micrometer resolution for reading radiochromic films, comprising:  
           [0013]    a film holder for supporting a radio chromic film sample;  
           [0014]    a high-precision scanning stage including a monochromatic light source for illuminating the film sample;  
           [0015]    a CCD microscope camera for a photographing light from the light source that is transmitted through the film sample; and  
           [0016]    a microcomputer for analysing data relayed from the CCD microscope camera;  
           [0017]    whereby the film sample is translated by the scanning stage to enable analysis of the whole film sample.  
           [0018]    Preferably the monochromatic light source is adjustable so as to emit light of a wavelength selected to match precisely the wavelength of an absorption peak of the film sample.  
           [0019]    Preferably the monochromatic light source includes an AC voltage regulated monochromator, a coupling fibre optic cable and a collimating lens.  
           [0020]    Preferably the film holder includes an open area for illumination of the film sample and a plurality of movable rails for anchoring the film sample.  
           [0021]    Preferably the film holder includes two raised borders at opposite corners for spatial indexing of the film sample.  
           [0022]    Preferably the film holder includes two receptacles for spatial calibration reticules.  
           [0023]    Preferably the film holder includes a further six receptacles for small radio chromic film samples for dose-transmittance calibration.  
           [0024]    Preferably two-dimensional dose distribution of the dose image recorded on the radiochromic film sample is displayed on a monitor. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0025]    A preferred form of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a microdensitometer system;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the microdensitometer system showing the layout of various components;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 3 is a photograph of the microdensitometer part of the system;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 4A is a schematic view of the film holder for mounting a film sample;  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 4B is a schematic view of a film holder for mounting calibration films and reticules used for dose calibration and spatial calibration respectively;  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing how micrometer resolution can be accomplished by the present invention;  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 6 is a block diagram explaining the steps in acquiring a two-dimensional dose distribution recorded on a radio chromic film. 
     
    
     LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS IN DRAWINGS  
       [0033]    [0033] 1 : Microdensitometer system  
         [0034]    [0034] 5 : Computer interfaces  
         [0035]    [0035] 9 : Scanning stage  
         [0036]    [0036] 10 : Film holder  
         [0037]    [0037] 11 : CCD-dedicated microscope  
         [0038]    [0038] 12 : Microscope stand  
         [0039]    [0039] 13 : Stepping motor for scanning stage  
         [0040]    [0040] 14 : CCD camera  
         [0041]    [0041] 15 : Thermoelectric cooler  
         [0042]    [0042] 16 : Stepping motor for monochromator  
         [0043]    [0043] 17 : White light source  
         [0044]    [0044] 18 : AC voltage regulator  
         [0045]    [0045] 19 : Microcomputer  
         [0046]    [0046] 20 : Focus control  
         [0047]    [0047] 22 : Fibre optic cable  
         [0048]    [0048] 24 : Film sample  
         [0049]    [0049] 25 : Collimating lens  
         [0050]    [0050] 26 : Monochromator  
         [0051]    [0051] 27 : Focusing mount  
         [0052]    [0052] 28 : Post mount  
         [0053]    [0053] 29 : Grating  
         [0054]    [0054] 30 : Open aluminium frame  
         [0055]    [0055] 32 : Open area  
         [0056]    [0056] 34 : Movable rail  
         [0057]    [0057] 36 : Guide pin  
         [0058]    [0058] 38 : Fixation screw  
         [0059]    [0059] 39 : Raised bounder for alignment  
         [0060]    [0060] 40 : Film holder for calibration  
         [0061]    [0061] 42 : Receptacle for calibration films  
         [0062]    [0062] 44 : Receptacle for calibration reticule  
       DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0063]    Referring to FIG. 1, the microdensitometer system of the present invention is illustrated.  
         [0064]    Microdensitometer system  1  includes a monochromator  26 , a film holder  10  on a high precision scanning stage  9 , a CCD-dedicated microscope  11 , a cooled CCD camera  14 , computer interfaces  5  and a microcomputer  19 . The monochromatic light output from the monochromator  26  is coupled to a collimating lens  24  via a fibre optic cable  22 . The collimating lens  24  is used to convert the divergent beam of light from the fibre optic cable  22  into a parallel beam which trans-illuminates the radiochromic film sample  24  mounted on the film holder  10  from the scanning stage  9  underneath. The magnification and focusing of the film sample is adjusted coarsely by the focusing mount  27  and fine adjustment is done by the focus control  20  of the microscope. The monochromator  26 , the scanning stage  9  and the CCD camera  14  are interfaced to and controlled by the microcomputer  19  via software developed in the present invention.  
         [0065]    Referring to FIG. 2, the white light source  17  used in the monochromator  26  is stabilised by an AC voltage regulator  18  in order to provide a stable output for transmittance measurement. The preferred monochromator  26  is an in-line Fastie-Ebert monochromator with wavelength ranging from 300-800 nm with a readability of: to 0.2 nm and an accuracy of to 0.6 nm. The angle of the grating  29  used in the monochromator  26  is controlled by a stepping motor  16 . The preferred scanning stage  9  is a high-precision motorised X, Y stage (model no. 6600BS) that offers 6″×6″ travel in the respective directions supplied by Conix Research Inc. (Springfield, Oreg.). The X, Y motion is controlled by a stepping motor  13 . The X, Y axis accuracy and resolution are 0.1 _m and 0.05 _m respectively. The X, Y axis repeatability is better than 1 _m. The glass support plate of the stage is removed to avoid interference fringe artefacts otherwise caused by the multiple reflections between the glass plate and scanned film surface. Instead an open film holder  10  that can be secured on the scanning stage  9  for scanning was fabricated. Light transmitted through the film sample is collected by the CCD-dedicated microscope  11  and imaged by the cooled CCD camera  14 . A photograph of the microdensitometer is shown in FIG. 3.  
         [0066]    In this preferred embodiment, the microscope  11  used was a CCD-dedicated microscope (Infinivar™ microscope) manufactured by Infinity Photo-Optical Company (Boulder, Colo.). It has a C-mount to which a CCD camera can be attached. It can focus continuously without blackout from infinity to 9 mm by a half-twist of its focus control  20 . This microscope has no objective lens changes and does not require any additional optics to operate throughout its 40:1 range, which facilitates the routine operation. In order to enable making measurements at low transmittance, a focal compressor was incorporated to reduce the optical and mechanical tubelength to enhance the light efficiency at the expense of magnification power.  
         [0067]    Yet the effective magnification, based on this 112″ format CCD camera and 15″ monitor, still ranges from 190× to 34× corresponding to a field of view of 1.6 to 8.5 mm and it is considered to be adequate for the present application.  
         [0068]    Again in this preferred embodiment, the CCD camera  14  selected was a scientific-grade low noise camera (SPOTTM JR) supplied by Diagnostic Instruments, Inc. (Michigan, N. Dak.). It is a full frame camera that employs a mechanical shutter to control the exposure time and to block the light during charge transfer and readout. The chip used is a grade 2 Kodak KAF 0400 CCD (Rochester, N.Y.). It is a chip of Yz″ format with an array of 768×512 pixels each of size 9/−lm×9/−lm. The pixel size matches the typical resolution of the microscope. This gives an imaging area of 6.9×4.6 mm2. The full-well capacity is 85,000 electrons. The CCD camera is cooled by a thermoelectric cooler with forced air to a temperature of 37 degrees below ambient temperature, that is to −17° C. at a typical laboratory temperature of 20° C., thus making the dark current at about 0.2 electronlpixel/second. The spectral quantum efficiency is about 40% for the range of 660-700 nm, highest amongst other wavelengths.  
         [0069]    This makes the CCD ideally suited for measuring the absorption of the radiochromic films.  
         [0070]    The camera  14  digitises each pixel as it comes off the CCD chip in the camera head. This will give an image of perfect registration of the pixels and minimal noise. The pixel depth used is 12-bit for the present application of which a 4096 grey-scale is considered to be adequate.  
         [0071]    In FIG. 4A, the film holder  10  is shown schematically. Its frame  30  is made of aluminium with an open area of 11.7×11.7 cm2. The film is securely clamped without bulging by movable rails  34  fixed by the guide pins  36  and fixation screws  38  at the four edges of the holder. The holder also has raised border  39  at two opposing corners so that the scanned film can be pushed against to provide spatial indexing for the film. This feature is particularly useful for reproducible film positioning needed for repeated scans when double exposure technique or film registration is used. Films with dimensions smaller than 12.5 cm×12.5 cm can be mounted on a larger paper frame before securing to the holder. Another film holder  40  shown schematically in FIG. 4B was also fabricated. This can accommodate 2 reticules in the receptacles  44  and 6 pieces of calibration films measuring 2×2 cm2 in the receptacles  42  for spatial and transmittance calibration respectively. Both receptacles have an open area  32  through which the analysing light passes.  
         [0072]    Principle of Obtaining Micrometer Resolution  
         [0073]    The capability of the disclosed microdensitometer system in providing micrometer resolution relies on the magnification provided by the microscope in conjunction with the acquisition and simultaneous digitisation of the image by the CCD camera. The principle is illustrated schematically in FIG. 5. Typically an area of 1 mm×1 mm is included in the field of view (FOY) of the microscope. The image formed is acquired and digitised by the CCD camera into a matrix of typically 200×200 pixels. Thus a pixel size of 5 !−lm×5 !−lm which is equivalent to 100 lines/mm can be accomplished.  
         [0074]    The overall resolution is primarily determined by the magnification offered by the microscope and the size of the matrix used in digitisation. Essentially, each pixel in the matrix acts as an individual micro-detector for the transmittance measurement of the area to be investigated.  
         [0075]    Operation  
         [0076]    The acquisition of the two-dimensional dose distribution recorded on a radiochromic film is now described with reference to the operational steps in FIG. 6. Before any quantitative analysis can be made, spatial calibration for the image pixels (steps  00 ,  01 ) and calibration of the transmittance versus known radiation doses at wavelengths of the absorption peaks (steps  10 ,  11 ,  12 ) need to be established. The spatial calibration factor and dose calibration curves for the designated wavelengths are then stored in the microcomputer for later retrieval.  
         [0077]    In step  20 , a radiochromic film with an unknown dose distribution is mounted on the film holder and placed on the high-precision scanning stage. The transmittance of the square region included in the FOV of the microscope is measured initially with a range of wavelength from 600-750 nm. Transmittance images at the wavelengths corresponding to the two absorption peaks are then recorded, digitised by the CCD camera, and stored as two separate sub-matrices in the microcomputer for later processing.  
         [0078]    For each of the two wavelengths, the transmittance measurement is performed several times and the average value is taken to reduce random noise. All other corrections such as dark frame and bias frame corrections which are known to the trade of using CCD as a detector are applied (step  21 ).  
         [0079]    Once the measurement of the square region is accomplished, the film is stepped by the scanning stage (step  22 ) in X or Y direction such that the next square region is adjacent to the previous one and the step  21  is repeated. It should be noted that the range of wavelength between the two previously selected wavelengths may be run for the new 1 mm×1 mm area.  
         [0080]    A possible change in the wavelengths corresponding to the absorption peaks for the second region is noted. This measure-and-step procedure is repeated until the whole area of interest (AOI) is covered. In step  23 , all the sub-matrices are joined according to the spatial order of their corresponding regions to form a matrix of the transmittance values of the whole AOI for each of the two absorption peaks. Finally in step  24 , the transmittance matrices are then transformed into a dose matrix through the corresponding calibration curves. The contouring of the dose values in the AOI will be output in the form of a two-dimensional dose distribution that can then be compared readily to the prescribed dose distribution for the patient.  
         [0081]    All measurements are made in a light-tight enclosure which houses the microdensitometer system in order to eliminate any stray light from entering the CCD camera during image acquisition. All the image and matrix manipulation in the steps  23 - 24  are done by software developed using the Matlab (MathWorks, Inc., Natick, Mass.).  
         [0082]    The foregoing application of this invention is not restricted to radiochromic films. It is readily obvious to one skilled in the art to use the present invention to read any kind of dye films of which the transmittances are spectral dependent. Such films include pressure films used in mechanical and biomechanical tests.