Benchmark experiment to verify radiation transport calculations for dosimetry in radiation therapy

• Published in: Zeitschrift für medizinische Physik Vol. 26; no. 3; pp. 209 - 223
• Main Author: Renner, Franziska
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: German
• Published: Germany 01.09.2016
• Subjects: Benchmarking - standards; Computer Simulation; Models, Statistical; Monte Carlo Method; Radiometry - instrumentation; Radiometry - standards; Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted - methods; Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted - standards; Radiotherapy, Conformal - instrumentation; Radiotherapy, Conformal - standards; Reproducibility of Results; Scattering, Radiation; Sensitivity and Specificity; Benchmark; radiotherapy; Dosimetrie; Monte Carlo; dosimetry; Strahlentherapie
• ISSN: 1876-4436
• DOI: 10.1016/j.zemedi.2015.06.009

Monte Carlo simulations are regarded as the most accurate method of solving complex problems in the field of dosimetry and radiation transport. In (external) radiation therapy they are increasingly used for the calculation of dose distributions during treatment planning. In comparison to other algorithms for the calculation of dose distributions, Monte Carlo methods have the capability of improving the accuracy of dose calculations - especially under complex circumstances (e.g. consideration of inhomogeneities). However, there is a lack of knowledge of how accurate the results of Monte Carlo calculations are on an absolute basis. A practical verification of the calculations can be performed by direct comparison with the results of a benchmark experiment. This work presents such a benchmark experiment and compares its results (with detailed consideration of measurement uncertainty) with the results of Monte Carlo calculations using the well-established Monte Carlo code EGSnrc. The experiment was designed to have parallels to external beam radiation therapy with respect to the type and energy of the radiation, the materials used and the kind of dose measurement. Because the properties of the beam have to be well known in order to compare the results of the experiment and the simulation on an absolute basis, the benchmark experiment was performed using the research electron accelerator of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), whose beam was accurately characterized in advance. The benchmark experiment and the corresponding Monte Carlo simulations were carried out for two different types of ionization chambers and the results were compared. Considering the uncertainty, which is about 0.7 % for the experimental values and about 1.0 % for the Monte Carlo simulation, the results of the simulation and the experiment coincide.