Technical Note: Design and commissioning of a water phantom for proton dosimetry in magnetic fields

Purpose To design and commission a water phantom suitable for constrained environments and magnetic fields for magnetic resonance (MR)-guided proton therapy. Methods A phantom was designed, to enable precise, remote controlled detector positioning in water within the constrained environment of a magnet for MR-guided proton therapy. The phantom consists of a PMMA enclosure whose outer dimensions of 81x40x12.5cm3 were chosen to optimize space usage inside the 13.5-cm bore gap of the magnet. The moving mechanism is based on a low-height H-shaped non-ferromagnetic belt drive, driven by stepper motors located outside of the magnetic field. The control system and the associated electronics were designed in house, with similar features as available in commercial water phantoms. Reproducibility as well as accuracy of the phantom positioning were tested using a high-precision Leica AT 402 laser tracker. Laterally integrated depth dose curves and lateral beam profiles at three depths were acquired repeatedly for a 148.2 MeV proton beam in water. Results The phantom was successfully operated with and without applied magnetic fields. For complex movements, a positioning uncertainty within 0.16 mm was found with an absolute accuracy typically below 0.3 mm. Laterally integrated depth dose curves agreed within 0.1 mm with data taken using a commercial water phantom. The lateral beam offset determined from beam profile measurements agreed well with data from Monte Carlo simulations. Conclusion The phantom is optimally suited for detector positioning and dosimetric experiments within constrained environments in high magnetic fields.