TY - JOUR
T1 - Volumetric FLASH dosimetry in vivo using real-time radiacoustic imaging
AU - Bjegovic, Kristina
AU - Whitmore, Lucy
AU - Pandey, Prabodh Kumar
AU - Sun, Leshan
AU - Connell, Luke
AU - Xu, Yifei
AU - Aguilar, Edgardo A.
AU - Velasquez, Brett D.
AU - Schüler, Emil
AU - Xiang, Shawn Liangzhong
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2026 The Author(s). Published on behalf of Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine by IOP Publishing Ltd. Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
PY - 2026/7/14
Y1 - 2026/7/14
N2 - Objective. The main goal of this research is to verify the spatial fidelity of radiacoustic imaging (RAI) as a quantitative dosimetric monitoring tool for FLASH radiotherapy (FLASH-RT) in vivo. FLASH-RT delivers therapeutic radiation at ultra-high instantaneous dose rates (>106 Gy s−1), offering substantial reductions in normal tissue toxicity while maintaining tumor control. However, clinical translation remains limited by the absence of real-time, in vivo dosimetry systems capable of resolving dose delivery at microsecond timescales. Approach. Here, we present an RAI platform that enables volumetric, single-pulse mapping of radiation dose deposition during FLASH-RT in vivo. The system utilizes a 16 × 16 ultrasound transducer matrix array with a model-based reconstruction algorithm to generate quantitative, three-dimensional dose maps with single pulse-level temporal resolution. Main results. In both water phantoms and in vivo murine models, RAI demonstrates high concordance with film dosimetry and TOPAS Monte Carlo simulations (3%/3 mm gamma index pass rates greater than 90% for small fields). Significance. This work establishes RAI as a viable technology for real-time, quantitative electron FLASH dosimetry in vivo for the first time, with the potential to support adaptive delivery, improve treatment safety, and facilitate the clinical translation of FLASH-RT.
AB - Objective. The main goal of this research is to verify the spatial fidelity of radiacoustic imaging (RAI) as a quantitative dosimetric monitoring tool for FLASH radiotherapy (FLASH-RT) in vivo. FLASH-RT delivers therapeutic radiation at ultra-high instantaneous dose rates (>106 Gy s−1), offering substantial reductions in normal tissue toxicity while maintaining tumor control. However, clinical translation remains limited by the absence of real-time, in vivo dosimetry systems capable of resolving dose delivery at microsecond timescales. Approach. Here, we present an RAI platform that enables volumetric, single-pulse mapping of radiation dose deposition during FLASH-RT in vivo. The system utilizes a 16 × 16 ultrasound transducer matrix array with a model-based reconstruction algorithm to generate quantitative, three-dimensional dose maps with single pulse-level temporal resolution. Main results. In both water phantoms and in vivo murine models, RAI demonstrates high concordance with film dosimetry and TOPAS Monte Carlo simulations (3%/3 mm gamma index pass rates greater than 90% for small fields). Significance. This work establishes RAI as a viable technology for real-time, quantitative electron FLASH dosimetry in vivo for the first time, with the potential to support adaptive delivery, improve treatment safety, and facilitate the clinical translation of FLASH-RT.
KW - FLASH radiotherapy
KW - in vivodosimetry
KW - radiacoustic imaging
KW - radiotherapy
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105044107570
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105044107570#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1088/1361-6560/ae7e38
DO - 10.1088/1361-6560/ae7e38
M3 - Article
C2 - 42302829
AN - SCOPUS:105044107570
SN - 0031-9155
VL - 71
JO - Physics in medicine and biology
JF - Physics in medicine and biology
IS - 13
M1 - 135020
ER -