Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “CONES”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 595 records · Page 33
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

SU-E-J-151: Dosimetric Evaluation of DIR Mapped Contours for Image Guided Adaptive Radiotherapy with 4D Cone-Beam CT

Purpose: To estimate dosimetric errors resulting from using contours deformably mapped from planning CT to 4D cone beam CT (CBCT) images for image-guided adaptive radiotherapy of locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Ten locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients underwent one planning 4D fan-beam CT (4DFBCT) and weekly 4DCBCT scans. Multiple physicians delineated the gross tumor volume (GTV) and normal structures in planning CT images and only GTV in CBCT images. Manual contours were mapped from planning CT to CBCTs using small deformation, inverse consistent linear elastic (SICLE) algorithm for two scans in each patient. Two physicians reviewed and rated the DIR-mapped (auto) and manual GTV contours as clinically acceptable (CA), clinically acceptable after minor modification (CAMM) and unacceptable (CU). Mapped normal structures were visually inspected and corrected if necessary, and used to override tissue density for dose calculation. CTV (6mm expansion of GTV) and PTV (5mm expansion of CTV) were created. VMAT plans were generated using the DIR-mapped contours to deliver 66 Gy in 33 fractions with 95% and 100% coverage (V66) to PTV and CTV, respectively. Plan evaluation for V66 was based on manual PTV and CTV contours. Results: Mean PTV V66 was 84% (range 75% – 95%) and mean CTV V66 was 97% (range 93% – 100%) for CAMM scored plans (12 plans); and was 90% (range 80% – 95%) and 99% (range 95% – 100%) for CA scored plans (7 plans). The difference in V66 between CAMM and CA was significant for PTV (p = 0.03) and approached significance for CTV (p = 0.07). Conclusion: The quality of DIR-mapped contours directly impacted the plan quality for 4DCBCT-based adaptation. Larger safety margins may be needed when planning with auto contours for IGART with 4DCBCT images. Reseach was supported by NIH P01CA116602.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

SU-E-J-167: Improvement of Time-Ordered Four Dimensional Cone-Beam CT; Image Mosaicing with Real and Virtual Projections

Purpose: In the previous study, we developed time-ordered fourdimensional (4D) cone-beam CT (CBCT) technique to visualize nonperiodic organ motion, such as peristaltic motion of gastrointestinal organs and adjacent area, using half-scan reconstruction method. One important obstacle was that truncation of projection was caused by asymmetric location of flat-panel detector (FPD) in order to cover whole abdomen or pelvis in one rotation. In this study, we propose image mosaicing to extend projection data to make possible to reconstruct full field-of-view (FOV) image using half-scan reconstruction. Methods: The projections of prostate cancer patients were acquired using the X-ray Volume Imaging system (XVI, version 4.5) on Synergy linear accelerator system (Elekta, UK). The XVI system has three options of FOV, S, M and L, and M FOV was chosen for pelvic CBCT acquisition, with a FPD panel 11.5 cm offset. The method to produce extended projections consists of three main steps: First, normal three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction which contains whole pelvis was implemented using real projections. Second, virtual projections were produced by reprojection process of the reconstructed 3D image. Third, real and virtual projections in each angle were combined into one extended mosaic projection. Then, 4D CBCT images were reconstructed using our inhouse reconstruction software based on Feldkamp, Davis and Kress algorithm. The angular range of each reconstruction phase in the 4D reconstruction was 180 degrees, and the range moved as time progressed. Results: Projection data were successfully extended without discontinuous boundary between real and virtual projections. Using mosaic projections, 4D CBCT image sets were reconstructed without artifacts caused by the truncation, and thus, whole pelvis was clearly visible. Conclusion: The present method provides extended projections which contain whole pelvis. The presented reconstruction method also enables time-ordered 4D CBCT reconstruction of organs with non-periodic motion with full FOV without projection-truncation artifacts. This work was partly supported by the JSPS Core-to-Core Program(No. 23003). This work was partly supported by JSPS KAKENHI 24234567.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

SU-E-J-183: Quantifying the Image Quality and Dose Reduction of Respiratory Triggered 4D Cone-Beam Computed Tomography with Patient- Measured Breathing

Purpose: Respiratory triggered four dimensional cone-beam computed tomography (RT 4D CBCT) is a novel technique that uses a patient's respiratory signal to drive the image acquisition with the goal of imaging dose reduction without degrading image quality. This work investigates image quality and dose using patient-measured respiratory signals for RT 4D CBCT simulations instead of synthetic sinusoidal signals used in previous work. Methods: Studies were performed that simulate a 4D CBCT image acquisition using both the novel RT 4D CBCT technique and a conventional 4D CBCT technique from a database of oversampled Rando phantom CBCT projections. A database containing 111 free breathing lung cancer patient respiratory signal files was used to create 111 RT 4D CBCT and 111 conventional 4D CBCT image datasets from realistic simulations of a 4D RT CBCT system. Each of these image datasets were compared to a ground truth dataset from which a root mean square error (RMSE) metric was calculated to quantify the degradation of image quality. The number of projections used in each simulation is counted and was assumed as a surrogate for imaging dose. Results: Based on 111 breathing traces, when comparing RT 4D CBCT with conventional 4D CBCT the average image quality was reduced by 7.6%. However, the average imaging dose reduction was 53% based on needing fewer projections (617 on average) than conventional 4D CBCT (1320 projections). Conclusion: The simulation studies using a wide range of patient breathing traces have demonstrated that the RT 4D CBCT method can potentially offer a substantial saving of imaging dose of 53% on average compared to conventional 4D CBCT in simulation studies with a minimal impact on image quality. A patent application (PCT/US2012/048693) has been filed which is related to this work.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

Library based x-ray scatter correction for dedicated cone beam breast CT

Purpose: The image quality of dedicated cone beam breast CT (CBBCT) is limited by substantial scatter contamination, resulting in cupping artifacts and contrast-loss in reconstructed images. Such effects obscure the visibility of soft-tissue lesions and calcifications, which hinders breast cancer detection and diagnosis. In this work, we propose a library-based software approach to suppress scatter on CBBCT images with high efficiency, accuracy, and reliability. Methods: The authors precompute a scatter library on simplified breast models with different sizes using the GEANT4-based Monte Carlo (MC) toolkit. The breast is approximated as a semiellipsoid with homogeneous glandular/adipose tissue mixture. For scatter correction on real clinical data, the authors estimate the breast size from a first-pass breast CT reconstruction and then select the corresponding scatter distribution from the library. The selected scatter distribution from simplified breast models is spatially translated to match the projection data from the clinical scan and is subtracted from the measured projection for effective scatter correction. The method performance was evaluated using 15 sets of patient data, with a wide range of breast sizes representing about 95% of general population. Spatial nonuniformity (SNU) and contrast to signal deviation ratio (CDR) were used as metrics for evaluation. Results: Since the time-consuming MC simulation for library generation is precomputed, the authors’ method efficiently corrects for scatter with minimal processing time. Furthermore, the authors find that a scatter library on a simple breast model with only one input parameter, i.e., the breast diameter, sufficiently guarantees improvements in SNU and CDR. For the 15 clinical datasets, the authors’ method reduces the average SNU from 7.14% to 2.47% in coronal views and from 10.14% to 3.02% in sagittal views. On average, the CDR is improved by a factor of 1.49 in coronal views and 2.12 in sagittal views. Conclusions: The library-based scatter correction does not require increase in radiation dose or hardware modifications, and it improves over the existing methods on implementation simplicity and computational efficiency. As demonstrated through patient studies, the authors’ approach is effective and stable, and is therefore clinically attractive for CBBCT imaging.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

SU-F-T-680: Radiobiological Analysis of the Impact of Daily Patient Deformation and Setup Variations Through the Use of the Cone Beam CT and Deformable Image Registration in Lung Cancer IMRT

Purpose: To estimate the dose distributions delivered to the patient in each treatment fraction using deformable image registration (DIR) and assess the radiobiological impact of the inter-fraction variations due to patient deformation and setup. Methods: The work is based on the cone beam CT (CBCT) images and treatment plans of two lung cancer patients. Both patients were treated with intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) to 66Gy in 2Gy/fraction. The treatment plans were exported from the treatment planning system (TPS) to the Velocity AI where DIR was performed and the same deformation matrix was used for the deformation of the planned dose distribution and organ contours to each CBCT dataset. A radiobiological analysis was performed based on the radiobiological parameters of the involved organs at risk (OARs) and planning target volume (PTV). Using the complication free tumor control probability (P+) index, differences in P+ were observed between each CBCT as well as between CBCT and planning dose distributions. Results: The optimal CBCT P? values ranged from 91.6 % to 94.8 % for patient #1 and from 88.8 % to 90.6 % for patient #2. At the dose level of the clinical prescription, the CBCT P+ values ranged from 80.3% to 80.7% for patient #1 and from 80.7% to 81.0% for the patient #2. The planning CT P+ values were 81.0% and 80.7% for the two patients, respectively. These differences emphasize the significance of using the radiobiological analysis when assessing changes in the dose distribution due to the tumor motion and lung deformations. Conclusion: Daily setup variations yield to differences in the actual dose delivered versus the planned one. The observed differences were rather small when only looking at the dosimetric comparison of the dose distributions, however the radiobiology analysis was able to detect clinically relevant differences among the studied dose distributions.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

SU-G-IeP4-03: Cone Beam X-Ray Luminescence Computed Tomography Based On Generalized Gaussian Markov Random Field

Purpose: Cone beam X-ray luminescence computed tomography (CB-XLCT), which aims to achieve molecular and functional imaging by X-rays, has recently been proposed as a new imaging modality. However, the inverse problem of CB-XLCT is seriously ill-conditioned, hindering us to achieve good image quality. In this work, a novel reconstruction method based on Bayesian theory is proposed to tackle this problem Methods: Bayesian theory provides a natural framework for utilizing various kinds of available prior information to improve the reconstruction image quality. A generalized Gaussian Markov random field (GGMRF) model is proposed here to construct the prior model of the Bayesian theory. The most important feature of GGMRF model is the adjustable shape parameter p, which can be continuously adjusted from 1 to 2. The reconstruction image tends to have more edge-preserving property when p is slide to 1, while having more noise tolerance property when p is slide to 2, just like the behavior of L1 and L2 regularization methods, respectively. The proposed method provides a flexible regularization framework to adapt to a wide range of applications. Results: Numerical simulations were implemented to test the performance of the proposed method. The Digimouse atlas were employed to construct a three-dimensional mouse model, and two small cylinders were placed inside to serve as the targets. Reconstruction results show that the proposed method tends to obtain better spatial resolution with a smaller shape parameter, while better signal-to-noise image with a larger shape parameter. Quantitative indexes, contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and full-width at half-maximum (FWHM), were used to assess the performance of the proposed method, and confirmed its effectiveness in CB-XLCT reconstruction. Conclusion: A novel reconstruction method for CB-XLCT is proposed based on GGMRF model, which enables an adjustable performance tradeoff between L1 and L2 regularization methods. Numerical simulations were conducted to demonstrate its performance.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

WE-AB-207A-06: Progressive Dose Control for Cone Beam CT with Deformation Assisted Temporal Nonlocal Means Method

Purpose: To reduce cone beam CT (CBCT) imaging dose, we previously proposed a progressive dose control (PDC) scheme to employ temporal correlation between CBCT images at different fractions for image quality enhancement. A temporal non-local means (TNLM) method was developed to enhance quality of a new low-dose CBCT using existing high-quality CBCT. To enhance a voxel value, the TNLM method searches for similar voxels in a window. Due to patient deformation among the two CBCTs, a large searching window was required, reducing image quality and computational efficiency. This abstract proposes a deformation-assisted TNLM (DA-TNLM) method to solve this problem. Methods: For a low-dose CBCT to be enhanced using a high-quality CBCT, we first performed deformable image registration between the low-dose CBCT and the high-quality CBCT to approximately establish voxel correspondence between the two. A searching window for a voxel was then set based on the deformation vector field. Specifically, the search window for each voxel was shifted by the deformation vector. A TNLM step was then applied using only voxels within this determined window to correct image intensity at the low-dose CBCT. Results: We have tested the proposed scheme on simulated CIRS phantom data and real patient data. The CITS phantom was scanned on Varian onboard imaging CBCT system with coach shifting and dose reducing for each time. The real patient data was acquired in four fractions with dose reduced from standard CBCT dose to 12.5% of standard dose. It was found that the DA-TNLM method can reduce total dose by over 75% on average in the first four fractions. Conclusion: We have developed a PDC scheme which can enhance the quality of image scanned at low dose using a DA-TNLM method. Tests in phantom and patient studies demonstrated promising results.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2013

Nonperturbative analysis of field theories quantized on the light cone (Final Scientific Report for ER41087)

The primary focus of the work was the development of methods for the nonperturbative solution of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) in a form that yields wave functions for the eigenstates, from which hadronic properties can be computed. The principal approach was to use a light-front Hamiltonian formulation. In light-front coordinates, t+z/c plays the role of time, with t the ordinary time, z a space direction, and c the speed of light. This leads to a relativistic formulation that retains useful characteristics of nonrelativistic treatments. A bound state of many constituents can be represented by wave functions that define probabilities for each possible arrangement of internal momenta. These functions satisfy integral equations that can be approximated numerically to yield a matrix representation. The matrix problem can be solved by iterative methods. The approximate wave functions can then be used to compute properties of the bound state. Methods have been developed for model theories and gauge theories, including quantum electrodynamics and theories that are supersymmetric. The work has required the development of new numerical algorithms and computer codes for singular integral equations and eigenvalue problems. A key aspect of the work is the construction of practical procedures for nonperturbative regularization and renormalization. Two methods of regularization have been studied. One is the addition of heavy Pauli--Villars (PV) particles to the Lagrangian, with their metrics and couplings tuned to provide the necessary cancellations in the regularization. The other method of regularization is the addition of supersymmetric partners, to extend a theory to a supersymmetric form. The supersymmetric theories were solved by the supersymmetric discrete light-cone quantization (SDLCQ) method. The most significant accomplishments of the project were the SDLCQ calculation of direct evidence for a Maldacena duality conjecture, construction of a practical light-front quantization for QED in an arbitrary covariant gauge, and invention of the light-front coupled-cluster method, designed to eliminate the need for Fock-space truncations.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Cone Penetrometer Load Cell Temperature and Radiation Testing Results

This report summarizes testing activities performed at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to verify the cone penetrometer load cell can withstand the tank conditions present in 241-AN-101 and 241-AN-106. The tests demonstrated the load cell device will operate under the elevated temperature and radiation levels expected to be encountered during tank farm deployment of the device.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
NASA NTRS1962

DEVELOPMENT OF DESIGN STRENGTH LEVELS FOR THE ELASTIC STABILITY OF MONOCOQUE CONES UNDER AXIAL COMPRESSION

Design relationships have been derived for the determination of elastic buckling strength levels for unpressurized monocoque truncated cones under axial compression. Theoretical implications have been considered in the establishment of a semi-empirical analysis leading to the development of probability based design expressions. Data from 170 tests by various investigators were statistically evaluated for the expected mean, 90%, and 99% probability strength levels. Dispersion of data was found to be slightly less than that of monocoque cylinders. Non-linear effects of radius to thickness ratio or strength deterioration with length to radius ratio were not discernible.

AXIAL COMPRESSION↗