Medical Physics Software – Shaun Marshall

Gafchromautomatic

*Screenshot of Gafchomautomatic user interface, with embedded scanned image processing with specialized overlays for selective analytical techniques.*

The Task-Group 43 (TG-43) assessment is widely used for brachytherapy treatment planning and source calibration (10 CFR 35 compliance). Image analysis software such as ImageJ and MATLAB offer a number of functions for reconstructing linear and radial image contrast of an irradiated radiochromatic film such as Gafchrom. Few freely-accessible codes provide a complete automation or guided tour of a TG-43 assessment of an image file. MATLAB was chosen for the creation of a comprehensive contrast assessment program given its widespread use in academia and steadily advancing free-software counterparts Octave and FreeMAT.

Gafchromautomatic is a pilot graphical frontend for image optical density assessment which uses a coarse-grain peak search algorithm and facilitates manual adjustments. Fully labeled plots of major contours, optical density vs. angle, and optical density versus radius can be customized in place and saved. Separate analyses for each of color channel can also be produced. This code is freely available on GitHub and has been found to work on MATLAB version 2014a and later. I am currently interested in adding text from TG-43 protocol into windows and help messages to create a standalone guided analysis. I would also like to see this code ported to an open-source software such as Octave to enable completely free usage by clinicians and academics.

📰 Publications using Gafchromautomatic

Nicholas Borges, David Medich, John Munro. Adapting Gafchromic Film for Measuring the Tg-43 Parameters of HDR Brachytherapy Sources. American Brachytherapy Society Annual Conference. May 2015.

RadCtrlCheck

Fall 2015 Applied Diagnostics Physics at Boston Children’s Hospital. Left to right: Dr. Don-Soo Kim, Danielle Beaulieu, Andrew Daudelin, Minh Tri Ho Thanh, Sashi Poudel, Shaun Marshall; photo taken by Nicholas Borges.

In 2015, I took a graduate course in Applied Diagnostic Medical Physics taught by Dr. Don-Soo Kim, Affiliate Assistant Professor at WPI and Diagnostic Medical Physicist at Boston Children’s Hospital. During this course I received hands-on training with equipment throughout the Radiology unit and completed a capstone project to enhance radiation safety of medical physics personnel.

Screenshot of RadCtrlCheck displaying cropped and corrected photo of x-ray calibration. The x-ray intensifying screen generates a green glow when irradiated to provide an optical measure of area of exposure, which the app swiftly analyzes.

RadCtrlCheck (Radiation Control Check) is a a medical x-ray radiographic collimator compliance check app for Android. It automates the calculation process of ensuring medically-licensed x-ray sources comply with 105 CMR 120.406(A).

Please see my ResearchGate Page for RadCtrlCheck to download the APK installer or the GitHub page for source code.