Čerenkov radiation emission and excited luminescence (CREL) sensitivity during external beam radiation therapy: Monte Carlo and tissue oxygenation phantom studies

Radiotherapy generates Čerenkov radiation emission in tissue, and spectral absorption features appearing in the emission spectrum can be used to quantify blood oxygen saturation (S(t)O(2)) from the known absorptions of hemoglobin. Additionally, the Čerenkov light can be used to excite oxygen-sensitive phosphorescence of probe PtG4, whose emission lifetime directly reports on tissue oxygen partial pressure (pO(2)). Thus, it is feasible to probe both hemoglobin S(t)O(2) and pO(2) using external radiation therapy beam to create as an internal light source in tumor tissue. In this study, the sensitivity and spatial origins of these two signals were examined. Emission was detected using a fiber-optic coupled intensifier-gated CCD camera interfaced to a spectrometer. The phosphorescence lifetimes were quantified and compared with S(t)O(2) changes previously measured. Monte Carlo simulations of the linear accelerator beam were used together with tracking of the optical signals, to predict the spatial distribution and zone sensitivity within the phantom. As the fiber-to-beam distance (FBD) varied from 0 to 30 mm, i.e. the distance from the fiber tip to the nearest side of the radiotherapy beam, the effective sampling depth for CR emission changed from 4 to 29 mm for the wavelengths in the range of 600-1000 nm. For the secondary emission (phosphorescence) the effective sampling depth was determined to be in the range of 9 to 19 mm. These results indicate that sampling of S(t)O(2) and pO(2) in tissue should be feasible during radiation therapy, and that the radiation beam and fiber sampling geometry can be set up to acquire signals that originate as deep as a few centimeters in the tissue.