Dose exposure to an adult present in the treatment room during pediatric pencil beam scanning proton therapy

This paper was published in Acta Oncologica after the Bigart 2023 conference. The study investigates dose exposures to persons present in the treatment room during proton therapy. Using FLUKA monte carlo simulations first author Johannes Tjelta estimates organ mean equvalent doses and mean body dose, all in the range of tenths of µSv per treatment Gray.

Overall, the study indicates that doses received by persons in the treatment room will be very low, and not associated with any clear risk from radiation exposures. Thus, further studies could be warranted to evaluate if caretakers may be present in the room e.g. during treatment of children with proton therapy