Dosimetric Algorithm to Reproduce Isodose Curves Obtained from a LINAC

• Published in: Computational and mathematical methods in medicine Vol. 2014; no. 2014; pp. 1 - 8
• Main Authors: Estrada Espinosa, Julio Cesar, Martínez Ovalle, Segundo Agustín, Pereira Benavides, Cinthia Kotzian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cairo, Egypt Hindawi Puplishing Corporation 01.01.2014; Hindawi Publishing Corporation
• Subjects: Algorithms; Calibration; Computer Simulation; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Monte Carlo Method; Particle Accelerators; Phantoms, Imaging; Photons; Radiation Dosage; Radiation, Ionizing; Radiometry - methods; Radiotherapy Dosage; Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted - methods; Reproducibility of Results; Software; Time Factors; Water - chemistry
• ISSN: 1748-670X; 1748-6718
• DOI: 10.1155/2014/849505

In this work isodose curves are obtained by the use of a new dosimetric algorithm using numerical data from percentage depth dose (PDD) and the maximum absorbed dose profile, calculated by Monte Carlo in a 18 MV LINAC. The software allows reproducing the absorbed dose percentage in the whole irradiated volume quickly and with a good approximation. To validate results an 18 MV LINAC with a whole geometry and a water phantom were constructed. On this construction, the distinct simulations were processed by the MCNPX code and then obtained the PDD and profiles for the whole depths of the radiation beam. The results data were used by the code to produce the dose percentages in any point of the irradiated volume. The absorbed dose for any voxel’s size was also reproduced at any point of the irradiated volume, even when the voxels are considered to be of a pixel’s size. The dosimetric algorithm is able to reproduce the absorbed dose induced by a radiation beam over a water phantom, considering PDD and profiles, whose maximum percent value is in the build-up region. Calculation time for the algorithm is only a few seconds, compared with the days taken when it is carried out by Monte Carlo.