Monte Carlo Modeling of a 6 and 18 MV Varian Clinac Medical Accelerator for In-Field and Out-of-Field Dose Calculations: Development and Validation (original) (raw)
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Nuclear Technology and Radiation Protection
Neutron contamination of radiotherapeutic photon beam occurs when energies higher than 10 MeV are used in radiotherapy. To correctly assess the neutron doses that medical personnel and patients receive, it is highly important to know the spectra of the produced photoneutrons. One of the most common ways to determine such spectrum is to perform Monte Carlo simulations of the accelerator. Major issue in the Monte Carlo modelling is that the manufacturers often does not provide full specifications of the accelerators head, so some parts of the head are omitted from the simulation. Within this paper we present a model that includes head cover compared to the one where it is omitted, as it can often be found in the references. Neutron fluxes, spectra, mean energies and place of origin are compared in isocenter, at the point 1 m above target and the point 1 m aside from the target, in both models. In all the considered planes the flux change was found to be more than 20 %, with a signific...
FLUKA Monte Carlo for Basic Dosimetric Studies of Dual Energy Medical Linear Accelerator
Journal of Radiotherapy, 2014
General purpose Monte Carlo code for simulation of particle transport is used to study the basic dosimetric parameters like percentage depth dose and dose profiles and compared with the experimental measurements from commercial dual energy medical linear accelerator. Varian Clinac iX medical linear accelerator with dual energy photon beams (6 and 15 MV) is simulated using FLUKA. FLAIR is used to visualize and edit the geometry. Experimental measurements are taken for 100 cm source-to-surface (SSD) in 50 × 50 × 50 cm 3 PTW water phantom using 0.12 cc cylindrical ionization chamber. Percentage depth dose for standard square field sizes and dose profiles for various depths are studied in detail. The analysis was carried out using ROOT (a DATA analysis frame work developed at CERN) system. Simulation result shows good agreement in percentage depth dose and beam profiles with the experimental measurements for Varian Clinac iX dual energy medical linear accelerator.
Radioprotection, 2021
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Monte Carlo Estimation of Dose in Heterogeneous Phantom Around 6MV Medical Linear Accelerator
Advances in Science, Technology and Engineering Systems Journal
In this work, we completed a validation of the Varian Clinac IX equipped with the High Definition Multi-Leaf Collimator (HD 120 MLC) instead of the removable jaws, using GATE Monte Carlo Platform version 8.2. We validated the multileaf collimator (MLC) geometry by simulating two dosimetric functions (Percentage Depth Dose (PDD) and Dose Profile (DP)), for 6MV photon beam energy and different field sizes (3x3, 4x4, 6x6, 8x8, 10x10, 12x12, 15x15, and 20x20 cm²). We then compared the results with measurements realized with two detectors, namely the cylindrical ionization chamber and the micro-diode PTW silicon. By applying the Relative Dose Difference method (RDD), we noted a less than 2% and 1% agreement for the field sizes (10x10, 12x12, 15x15, 20x20 cm²) and (3x3, 4x4, 6x6, 8x8 cm²) respectively. Moreover, to evaluate the relevance of Monte Carlo method in a heterogeneous media, particularly in small field sizes (1x1, 2x2, 3x3 cm²), we have simulated three clinical studies based on the Physical Test Objects (PTOs) that are the equivalent slabs of lung and bone included in a water phantom. We noticed that the simulated PDDs exhibit two significant irregularities in the interface between water and lung. To eliminate these phenomena, we have used the "setMaxStepSizeInRegion" parameter implemented in GATE. We also noticed an important difference of 5% corresponding to the small field sizes, between homogeneous and heterogeneous simulated PDDs. We used the RDD method in this case as well. Moreover, we observed a difference between 1-4% between the simulated PDDs and the calculated ones by ECLIPSE Treatment Planning System (TPS). These results indicate that GATE (8.2) is useful in dosimetry with heterogeneous situations as well such as bone and lung.
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Radiation Protection Dosimetry, 2006
In order to simulate radiation transport, various algorithms, codes, and programs have been developed. In this study Monte Carlo N-particle code is used to simulate a medical electron linear accelerator gantry for research purposes. Detailed geometry of the LINAC head and water phantom are modeled and simulated for calculations. Analyses are made for filtered and flattening filter-free (FFF) systems. Percent depth dose and dose profile measurements are calculated with Monte Carlo simulations and compared with experimental and theoretical values for quality assurance of the model. Flux, dose, and spectrum analyses are performed for filtered and FFF systems separately. In this study, it was aimed to run the linear accelerator in a computer environment for different purposes, and this aim was achieved.
Iranian Journal of Radiation Research, 2019
Background: In Southeast Europe medical accelerators are sometimes placed in small vaults originally built for Co treatment unit. In order to meet shielding requirements for high energy photon beams, the wall thickness had to be increased. Since the vaults are already limited in size, instead of adding more concrete, materials with high-Z elements were used. Limited vault size and addition of high-Z elements can contribute to the neutron dose equivalent for both medical personnel and patients. Materials and Methods: The most commonly used empirical equations for estimation of neutron dose equivalent at the maze door in the vault are by Kersey and Wu-McGinley. In order to assess accuracy of these equations, Monte Carlo (MC) simulations of various geometrical and compositional changes of vault were conducted. Neutron ambient dose equivalent (Hn(10)) was observed when dimensions of the vault walls were reduced gradually. Results: The empirical equations gave results with reasonable acc...
Application of a Monte Carlo linac model in routine verifications of dose calculations
Nucleus, 2015
The analysis of some parameters of interest in radiotherapy Medical Physics based on an experimentally validated Monte Carlo model of an Elekta Precise lineal accelerator was performed for 6 and 15 MV photon beams. The simulations were performed using the EGSnrc code. As reference for simulations, the values of the previously obtained optimal beam parameters (energy and FWHM) were used. Deposited dose calculations in water phantoms were done, on typical complex geometries commonly are used in acceptance and quality control tests, such as irregular and asymmetric fi elds. Parameters such as MLC scatter, maximum opening or closing position, and the separation between them were analyzed from calculations in water. Similarly simulations were performed on phantoms obtained from CT studies of real patients, making comparisons of the dose distribution calculated with EGSnrc and the dose distribution obtained from the computerized treatment planning systems used in routine clinical plans. A...
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Physics in Medicine and Biology, 2015
The purpose of this study was to investigate the suitability of a graphics library based model for the assessment of linear accelerator radiation leakage. Transmission through the shielding elements was evaluated using the build-up factor corrected exponential attenuation law and the contribution from the electron guide was estimated using the approximation of a linear isotropic radioactive source. Model parameters were estimated by a fitting series of thermoluminescent dosimeter leakage measurements, achieved up to 100 cm from the beam central axis along three directions. The distribution of leakage data at the patient plane reflected the architecture of the shielding elements. Thus, the maximum leakage dose was found under the collimator when only one jaw shielded the primary beam and was about 0.08% of the dose at isocentre. Overall, we observe that the main contributor to leakage dose according to our model was the electron beam guide. Concerning the discrepancies between the measurements used to calibrate the model and the calculations from the model, the average difference was about 7%. Finally, graphics library modelling is a readily and suitable way to estimate leakage dose distribution on a personal computer. Such data could be useful for dosimetric evaluations in late effect studies.
Medical physics, 2018
Reference dosimetry data can provide an independent second check of acquired values when commissioning or validating a treatment planning system (TPS). The Imaging and Radiation Oncology Core at Houston (IROC-Houston) has measured numerous linear accelerators throughout its existence. The results of those measurements are given here, comparing accelerators and the agreement of measurement versus institutional TPS calculations. Data from IROC-Houston on-site reviews from 2000 through 2014 were analyzed for all Elekta accelerators, approximately 50. For each, consistent point dose measurements were conducted for several basic parameters in a water phantom, including percentage depth dose, output factors, small-field output factors, off-axis factors, and wedge factors. The results were compared by accelerator type independently for 6, 10, 15, and 18 MV. Distributions of the measurements for each parameter are given, providing the mean and standard deviation. Each accelerator's meas...
EURADOS intercomparison exercise on Monte Carlo modelling of a medical linear accelerator
Annali dell'Istituto superiore di sanita
In radiotherapy, Monte Carlo (MC) methods are considered a gold standard to calculate accurate dose distributions, particularly in heterogeneous tissues. EURADOS organized an international comparison with six participants applying different MC models to a real medical linear accelerator and to one homogeneous and four heterogeneous dosimetric phantoms. The aim of this exercise was to identify, by comparison of different MC models with a complete experimental dataset, critical aspects useful for MC users to build and calibrate a simulation and perform a dosimetric analysis. Results show on average a good agreement between simulated and experimental data. However, some significant differences have been observed especially in presence of heterogeneities. Moreover, the results are critically dependent on the different choices of the initial electron source parameters. This intercomparison allowed the participants to identify some critical issues in MC modelling of a medical linear accel...