Modern radiotherapy techniques have advanced and become more sophisticated. End-to-end 3D veri ca... more Modern radiotherapy techniques have advanced and become more sophisticated. End-to-end 3D veri cation of the complex radiotherapy dose distribution in an anthropomorphic phantom is important to ensure the accuracy of the treatment delivery. The phantoms typically used are homogenous waterequivalent phantoms and lack of capability to measure the dose in 3D. Therefore, we developed an endto-end 3D radiotherapy dose veri cation system based on MAX-HD anthropomorphic phantom (IMT, Troy, New York) with bespoke intracranial insert for PRESAGE® dosimeter. In this study, several radiotherapy treatment techniques of various levels of complexity, 3D-CRT, IMRT and SRS treatment, were planned for a 20 mm diameter of a spherical target in the brain region and delivered to the phantom. The dosimeters were read out using an in-house optical computed tomography (OCT) imaging system known as 3DmicroHD-OCT. It was found that the measured dose distribution of the PRESAGE® shows good agreement with the measured dose distribution of EBT lm and Monaco TPS with a maximum difference of less than 3% from 3D-CRT, IMRT and SRS treatment planning. The gamma analysis results of PRESAGE® in comparison to EBT lm and Monaco TPS show pass rates of more than 95% for the criteria of 3% dose difference and 3 mm distance-to-agreement. This study proves the capability of PRESAGE® and bespoke MAX-HD phantom in conjunction with the 3DmicroHD-OCT system to measure 3D dose distribution for end-to-end dosimetry veri cation.
Deep inspiration breath-hold radiotherapy (DIBH-RT) reduces cardiac dose by over 50%. However poo... more Deep inspiration breath-hold radiotherapy (DIBH-RT) reduces cardiac dose by over 50%. However poor breath-hold reproducibility could result in target miss which compromises the treatment success. This study aimed to benchmark the accuracy of a Time-of-Flight (ToF) imaging system for monitoring breath-hold during DIBH-RT. The accuracy of an Argos P330 3D ToF camera (Bluetechnix, Austria) was evaluated for patient setup verification and intra-fraction monitoring among 13 DIBH-RT left breast cancer patients. The ToF imaging was performed simultaneously with in-room cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) and electronic portal imaging device (EPID) imaging systems during patient setup and treatment delivery, respectively. Patient surface depths (PSD) during setup were extracted from the ToF and the CBCT images during free breathing (FB) and DIBH using MATLAB (MathWorks, Natick, MA) and the chest surface displacement (CSD) were compared. The mean difference ± standard deviation, correlation...
The quality of treatment delivery as prescribed in radiotherapy is exceptionally important. One e... more The quality of treatment delivery as prescribed in radiotherapy is exceptionally important. One element that helps provide quality assurance is the ability to carry out time-resolved radiotherapy dose measurements. Reports on doped silica optical fibers scintillators using radioluminescence (RL) based radiotherapy dosimetry have indicated merits, especially regarding robustness, versatility, wide dynamic range, and high spatial resolution. Topping the list is the ability to provide time-resolved measurements, alluding to pulse-by-pulse dosimetry. For effective time-resolved dose measurements, high temporal resolution is enabled by high-speed electronics and scintillator material offering sufficiently fast rise and decay time. In the present work, we examine the influence of Ge doping on the RL response of Ge-doped silica optical fiber scintillators. We particularly look at the size of the Ge-doped core relative to the fiber diameter, and its associated effects as it is adjusted from...
To determine the common pattern of findings among suspected infertile women and to relate the fin... more To determine the common pattern of findings among suspected infertile women and to relate the findings with age. A retrospective cross sectional review of 290 reports investigated for infertility from May, 2013 to May, 2014 using a convenient sampling technique. Data capture sheet was used to elicit information and designed to include patient’s age, clinical indication and findings. Out of the total 290 patients’ report reviewed, normal findings were 181 (62.41%), findings classified to be tubal blockage are 33 (11.38%) and those classified under uterine fibroid are 16 (5.52%). From the study, more pathologies can be classified as multiple myoma 5 (1.72%), bilateral tubal adhesion 6 (2.07%), uterine adhesion 24 (8.28%), cervical adhesion 6 (2.07%), cervico-uterine adhesion 7 (2.41%), hydrosalpinx with spillage 10 (3.45%), and rotated uterus 2 (0.69%). The age range of 20-29 has the highest frequency of 136 and the lowest frequency was 12 which were seen in 10-19 years age range. And...
Purpose Each radiotherapy center should have a site‐specific planning target volume (PTV) margins... more Purpose Each radiotherapy center should have a site‐specific planning target volume (PTV) margins and image‐guided (IG) radiotherapy (IGRT) correction protocols to compensate for the geometric errors that can occur during treatment. This study developed an automated algorithm for the calculation and evaluation of these parameters from cone beam computed tomography (CBCT)‐based IG‐intensity modulated radiotherapy (IG‐IMRT) treatment. Methods and materials A MATLAB algorithm was developed to extract the setup errors in three translational directions (x, y, and z) from the data logged by the CBCT system during treatment delivery. The algorithm also calculates the resulted population setup error and PTV margin based on the van Herk margin recipe and subsequently estimates their respective values for no action level (NAL) and extended no action level (eNAL) offline correction protocols. The algorithm was tested on 25 head and neck cancer (HNC) patients treated using IG‐IMRT. Results The ...
Egyptian Journal of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine
Background Reports indicated that numerous factors, including inadequate personnel knowledge, con... more Background Reports indicated that numerous factors, including inadequate personnel knowledge, contributes to insufficient patient data for setting up diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) in developing countries. This study aims to evaluate the knowledge of DRLs as an optimisation tool amongst computed tomography (CT) radiographers in northern Nigeria. This is a quantitative cross-sectional study. A structured questionnaire was devised and distributed on site to sixty-two CT radiographers in northern Nigeria. A total of fifteen questions were included in the questionnaire focusing on DRLs, dose optimisation and dose descriptors generating quantitative data concerning overall CT radiographers’ perceived knowledge and awareness about DRLs. Results A response rate of 77.4% (48/62) was achieved. About 83.3% of the participants declare DRLs awareness, and 37.5% carried out a local dose survey. The percentage correctly perceived knowledge of concepts; DRLs was 45.8%, dose optimisation (42%) ...
The purpose of this study is to develop a method for characterisation of time-of-flight (ToF) ima... more The purpose of this study is to develop a method for characterisation of time-of-flight (ToF) imaging system for application in deep inspiration breath-hold radiotherapy (DIBH-RT). The performance of an Argos 3D P330 ToF camera (Bluetechnix, Austria) was studied for patient surface monitoring during DIBH-RT using a phantom to simulate the intra-patient and inter-patient stability of the camera. Patient setup error was also simulated by positioning the phantom at predefined shift positions (2, 5 and 10 mm) from the isocentre. The localisation accuracy of the phantom was measured using ToF imaging system and repeated using CBCT imaging alone (CBCT) and simultaneously using ToF imaging during CBCT imaging (ToF-CBCT). The mean and SD of the setup errors obtained from each of the imaging methods were calculated. Student t-test was used to compare the mean setup errors. Correlation and Bland-Altman analysis were also performed. The intra-and inter-patient stability of the camera were with...
The need for development of population based nomograms for ultrasound fetal dating cannot be over... more The need for development of population based nomograms for ultrasound fetal dating cannot be overemphasised. The objective of this study was to develop a nomogram of Fetal Neck Circumference (NC) for predicting gestational age for this population. This was a cross sectional prospective study of 203 singleton normal pregnant women of 15–40 weeks’ gestation. Fetal NC was measured the 5th, 50th and 95th centile values were estimated at each week of gestational age, 50th centile values were then compared to Caucasian and African population study to assess variability. A nomogram was derived and NC values showed no statistical significant difference compared to the Caucasians (p = 0.065, 0.257) and African (p = 0.947) population. There was a strong positive significant correlation (r2 = 0.799; p = 0.001) between NC and average gestational age. Method of least square yielded to the equation y = 2.22x + 5.390. NC relationship with BPD (r2 = 0.859; p = 0.001), FL (r2 = 0.842; p = 0.001) and HC (r2 = 0.662; p = 0.001) were also significant and positive. Estimated weekly increase in NC was 0.72 cm. This study derived nomogram for ultrasound measurement of fetal NC in a Northern Nigerian population. However, NC values from this study differ less with an African population than with Caucasian study population.
A "Radiation Alert Inspector" survey meter was the instrument of choice used in measuring and obt... more A "Radiation Alert Inspector" survey meter was the instrument of choice used in measuring and obtaining the indoor ionizing radiation profile placed at 22 selected presumable hotspots of increase radiation (coded A1-A22) as identified by a global positioning system within the Radiology department of Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Asaba. Values obtained from the measurements were converted from micro Sievert per hour (µSv/hr) to mili Sievert per year (mSv/yr). The calculated mean indoor post exposure dose value was in the range of 0.09-0.20 µSv/hr (0.60-2.01 mSv/yr). The highest point with increased radiation dose was found to be in the diagnostic x-ray room (2.01±4.11 mSv/yr), while the lowest point was detected at the intern's common room with a value of 0.60±0.3 mSv/yr. The overall mean of the Mean Indoor Post Exposure (mMIPE) was arrived at 0.88±0.28mSv/yr. Base on the aforementioned findings, it was deduced that radiation level were kept within permissible radiation limit as stipulated by the ICRP and UNSCEAR of 1mSv/yr and thus, FMC Asaba can be said to be Radiologically safe.
PurposeThe aim of this study is to establish clinical evidence regarding the use of magnetic reso... more PurposeThe aim of this study is to establish clinical evidence regarding the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in target volume definition for radiotherapy treatment planning of brain tumours.MethodsPrimary studies were systematically retrieved from six electronic databases and other sources. Studies included were only those that quantitatively compared computed tomography (CT) and MRI in target volume definition for radiotherapy of brain tumours. Study characteristics and quality were assessed and the data were extracted from eligible studies. Effect estimates for each study was computed as mean percentage difference based on individual patient data where available. The included studies were then combined in meta-analysis using Review Manager (RevMan) software version 5.0.ResultFive studies with a total number of 72 patients were included in this review. The quality of the studies was rated strong. The percentages mean differences of the studies were 7·47, 11·36, 30·70, 41·69...
Modern radiotherapy techniques have advanced and become more sophisticated. End-to-end 3D veri ca... more Modern radiotherapy techniques have advanced and become more sophisticated. End-to-end 3D veri cation of the complex radiotherapy dose distribution in an anthropomorphic phantom is important to ensure the accuracy of the treatment delivery. The phantoms typically used are homogenous waterequivalent phantoms and lack of capability to measure the dose in 3D. Therefore, we developed an endto-end 3D radiotherapy dose veri cation system based on MAX-HD anthropomorphic phantom (IMT, Troy, New York) with bespoke intracranial insert for PRESAGE® dosimeter. In this study, several radiotherapy treatment techniques of various levels of complexity, 3D-CRT, IMRT and SRS treatment, were planned for a 20 mm diameter of a spherical target in the brain region and delivered to the phantom. The dosimeters were read out using an in-house optical computed tomography (OCT) imaging system known as 3DmicroHD-OCT. It was found that the measured dose distribution of the PRESAGE® shows good agreement with the measured dose distribution of EBT lm and Monaco TPS with a maximum difference of less than 3% from 3D-CRT, IMRT and SRS treatment planning. The gamma analysis results of PRESAGE® in comparison to EBT lm and Monaco TPS show pass rates of more than 95% for the criteria of 3% dose difference and 3 mm distance-to-agreement. This study proves the capability of PRESAGE® and bespoke MAX-HD phantom in conjunction with the 3DmicroHD-OCT system to measure 3D dose distribution for end-to-end dosimetry veri cation.
Deep inspiration breath-hold radiotherapy (DIBH-RT) reduces cardiac dose by over 50%. However poo... more Deep inspiration breath-hold radiotherapy (DIBH-RT) reduces cardiac dose by over 50%. However poor breath-hold reproducibility could result in target miss which compromises the treatment success. This study aimed to benchmark the accuracy of a Time-of-Flight (ToF) imaging system for monitoring breath-hold during DIBH-RT. The accuracy of an Argos P330 3D ToF camera (Bluetechnix, Austria) was evaluated for patient setup verification and intra-fraction monitoring among 13 DIBH-RT left breast cancer patients. The ToF imaging was performed simultaneously with in-room cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) and electronic portal imaging device (EPID) imaging systems during patient setup and treatment delivery, respectively. Patient surface depths (PSD) during setup were extracted from the ToF and the CBCT images during free breathing (FB) and DIBH using MATLAB (MathWorks, Natick, MA) and the chest surface displacement (CSD) were compared. The mean difference ± standard deviation, correlation...
The quality of treatment delivery as prescribed in radiotherapy is exceptionally important. One e... more The quality of treatment delivery as prescribed in radiotherapy is exceptionally important. One element that helps provide quality assurance is the ability to carry out time-resolved radiotherapy dose measurements. Reports on doped silica optical fibers scintillators using radioluminescence (RL) based radiotherapy dosimetry have indicated merits, especially regarding robustness, versatility, wide dynamic range, and high spatial resolution. Topping the list is the ability to provide time-resolved measurements, alluding to pulse-by-pulse dosimetry. For effective time-resolved dose measurements, high temporal resolution is enabled by high-speed electronics and scintillator material offering sufficiently fast rise and decay time. In the present work, we examine the influence of Ge doping on the RL response of Ge-doped silica optical fiber scintillators. We particularly look at the size of the Ge-doped core relative to the fiber diameter, and its associated effects as it is adjusted from...
To determine the common pattern of findings among suspected infertile women and to relate the fin... more To determine the common pattern of findings among suspected infertile women and to relate the findings with age. A retrospective cross sectional review of 290 reports investigated for infertility from May, 2013 to May, 2014 using a convenient sampling technique. Data capture sheet was used to elicit information and designed to include patient’s age, clinical indication and findings. Out of the total 290 patients’ report reviewed, normal findings were 181 (62.41%), findings classified to be tubal blockage are 33 (11.38%) and those classified under uterine fibroid are 16 (5.52%). From the study, more pathologies can be classified as multiple myoma 5 (1.72%), bilateral tubal adhesion 6 (2.07%), uterine adhesion 24 (8.28%), cervical adhesion 6 (2.07%), cervico-uterine adhesion 7 (2.41%), hydrosalpinx with spillage 10 (3.45%), and rotated uterus 2 (0.69%). The age range of 20-29 has the highest frequency of 136 and the lowest frequency was 12 which were seen in 10-19 years age range. And...
Purpose Each radiotherapy center should have a site‐specific planning target volume (PTV) margins... more Purpose Each radiotherapy center should have a site‐specific planning target volume (PTV) margins and image‐guided (IG) radiotherapy (IGRT) correction protocols to compensate for the geometric errors that can occur during treatment. This study developed an automated algorithm for the calculation and evaluation of these parameters from cone beam computed tomography (CBCT)‐based IG‐intensity modulated radiotherapy (IG‐IMRT) treatment. Methods and materials A MATLAB algorithm was developed to extract the setup errors in three translational directions (x, y, and z) from the data logged by the CBCT system during treatment delivery. The algorithm also calculates the resulted population setup error and PTV margin based on the van Herk margin recipe and subsequently estimates their respective values for no action level (NAL) and extended no action level (eNAL) offline correction protocols. The algorithm was tested on 25 head and neck cancer (HNC) patients treated using IG‐IMRT. Results The ...
Egyptian Journal of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine
Background Reports indicated that numerous factors, including inadequate personnel knowledge, con... more Background Reports indicated that numerous factors, including inadequate personnel knowledge, contributes to insufficient patient data for setting up diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) in developing countries. This study aims to evaluate the knowledge of DRLs as an optimisation tool amongst computed tomography (CT) radiographers in northern Nigeria. This is a quantitative cross-sectional study. A structured questionnaire was devised and distributed on site to sixty-two CT radiographers in northern Nigeria. A total of fifteen questions were included in the questionnaire focusing on DRLs, dose optimisation and dose descriptors generating quantitative data concerning overall CT radiographers’ perceived knowledge and awareness about DRLs. Results A response rate of 77.4% (48/62) was achieved. About 83.3% of the participants declare DRLs awareness, and 37.5% carried out a local dose survey. The percentage correctly perceived knowledge of concepts; DRLs was 45.8%, dose optimisation (42%) ...
The purpose of this study is to develop a method for characterisation of time-of-flight (ToF) ima... more The purpose of this study is to develop a method for characterisation of time-of-flight (ToF) imaging system for application in deep inspiration breath-hold radiotherapy (DIBH-RT). The performance of an Argos 3D P330 ToF camera (Bluetechnix, Austria) was studied for patient surface monitoring during DIBH-RT using a phantom to simulate the intra-patient and inter-patient stability of the camera. Patient setup error was also simulated by positioning the phantom at predefined shift positions (2, 5 and 10 mm) from the isocentre. The localisation accuracy of the phantom was measured using ToF imaging system and repeated using CBCT imaging alone (CBCT) and simultaneously using ToF imaging during CBCT imaging (ToF-CBCT). The mean and SD of the setup errors obtained from each of the imaging methods were calculated. Student t-test was used to compare the mean setup errors. Correlation and Bland-Altman analysis were also performed. The intra-and inter-patient stability of the camera were with...
The need for development of population based nomograms for ultrasound fetal dating cannot be over... more The need for development of population based nomograms for ultrasound fetal dating cannot be overemphasised. The objective of this study was to develop a nomogram of Fetal Neck Circumference (NC) for predicting gestational age for this population. This was a cross sectional prospective study of 203 singleton normal pregnant women of 15–40 weeks’ gestation. Fetal NC was measured the 5th, 50th and 95th centile values were estimated at each week of gestational age, 50th centile values were then compared to Caucasian and African population study to assess variability. A nomogram was derived and NC values showed no statistical significant difference compared to the Caucasians (p = 0.065, 0.257) and African (p = 0.947) population. There was a strong positive significant correlation (r2 = 0.799; p = 0.001) between NC and average gestational age. Method of least square yielded to the equation y = 2.22x + 5.390. NC relationship with BPD (r2 = 0.859; p = 0.001), FL (r2 = 0.842; p = 0.001) and HC (r2 = 0.662; p = 0.001) were also significant and positive. Estimated weekly increase in NC was 0.72 cm. This study derived nomogram for ultrasound measurement of fetal NC in a Northern Nigerian population. However, NC values from this study differ less with an African population than with Caucasian study population.
A "Radiation Alert Inspector" survey meter was the instrument of choice used in measuring and obt... more A "Radiation Alert Inspector" survey meter was the instrument of choice used in measuring and obtaining the indoor ionizing radiation profile placed at 22 selected presumable hotspots of increase radiation (coded A1-A22) as identified by a global positioning system within the Radiology department of Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Asaba. Values obtained from the measurements were converted from micro Sievert per hour (µSv/hr) to mili Sievert per year (mSv/yr). The calculated mean indoor post exposure dose value was in the range of 0.09-0.20 µSv/hr (0.60-2.01 mSv/yr). The highest point with increased radiation dose was found to be in the diagnostic x-ray room (2.01±4.11 mSv/yr), while the lowest point was detected at the intern's common room with a value of 0.60±0.3 mSv/yr. The overall mean of the Mean Indoor Post Exposure (mMIPE) was arrived at 0.88±0.28mSv/yr. Base on the aforementioned findings, it was deduced that radiation level were kept within permissible radiation limit as stipulated by the ICRP and UNSCEAR of 1mSv/yr and thus, FMC Asaba can be said to be Radiologically safe.
PurposeThe aim of this study is to establish clinical evidence regarding the use of magnetic reso... more PurposeThe aim of this study is to establish clinical evidence regarding the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in target volume definition for radiotherapy treatment planning of brain tumours.MethodsPrimary studies were systematically retrieved from six electronic databases and other sources. Studies included were only those that quantitatively compared computed tomography (CT) and MRI in target volume definition for radiotherapy of brain tumours. Study characteristics and quality were assessed and the data were extracted from eligible studies. Effect estimates for each study was computed as mean percentage difference based on individual patient data where available. The included studies were then combined in meta-analysis using Review Manager (RevMan) software version 5.0.ResultFive studies with a total number of 72 patients were included in this review. The quality of the studies was rated strong. The percentages mean differences of the studies were 7·47, 11·36, 30·70, 41·69...
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Papers by Auwal Abubakar