Treatment planning at the neutron facility of the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the hospital of the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia

The method is demonstrated being used at the Fox Chase Cancer Center Hospital Neutron Facility for obtaining accurate computer generated isodose distributions. Their determination is based on the Cunningham code, allowing separate calculations of primary and scatter dose components. Tissue inhomogeneity corrections for the neutron beam will be determined from measurements of the tissue-air ratio in bone equivalent solution and granulated tissue equivalent plastic used to simulate lung tissue. The correction in the dose when the neutron beam enters subcutaneous fat or brain tissue, which have higher hydrogen concentrations than muscle, will be obtained from measurements of tissue-air ratios in liquids (hydrocarbons) with various hydrogen concentrations. Finally, the treatment planning at the neutron facility will take advantage of the three-dimensional perspectives of the internal anatomy of the patient that can be obtained from multi-sectional computer axial tomographic scans. Superimposed on these scans will be the calculated three-dimensional dose distributions.