Program Information
Deriving Electron Contamination Spectra From Pure and Clinical Photon Beams
C Smit*, F du Plessis , University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa
Presentations
SU-E-T-238 (Sunday, July 12, 2015) 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM Room: Exhibit Hall
Purpose: To extract the electron contamination energy spectra for an Elekta Precise Linac, based on pure photon and measured clinical beam percentage depth dose data. And to include this as an additional source in isource 4 in DOSXYZnrc.
Methods: A pure photon beam was simulated for the Linac using isource 4 in the DOSXYZnrc Monte Carlo (MC) code. Percentage depth dose (PDD) data were extracted afterwards for a range of field sizes (FS). These simulated dose data were compared to actual measured dose PDD data, with the data normalized at 10 cm depth. The resulting PDD data resembled the electron contamination depth dose. Since the dose fall-off is a strictly decreasing function, a method was adopted to derive the contamination electron spectrum. Afterwards this spectrum was used in a DOSXYZnrc MC simulation run to verify that the original electron depth dose could be replicated.
Results: Various square aperture FS's for 6, 8 and 15 megavolt (MV) photon beams were modeled, simulated and compared to their respective actual measured PDD data. As FS increased, simulated pure photon depth-dose profiles shifted deeper, thus requiring electron contamination to increase the surface dose. The percentage of electron weight increased with increase in FS. For a FS of 15x15 cm², the percentage electron weight is 0.1%, 0.2% and 0.4% for 6, 8 and 15 MV beams respectively.
Conclusion: From the PDD results obtained, an additional electron contamination source was added to the photon source model so that simulation and measured PDD data could match within 2 % / 2 mm gamma-index criteria. The improved source model could assure more accurate simulations of surface doses.
Funding Support, Disclosures, and Conflict of Interest: This research project was funded by the South African Medical Research Council (MRC) with funds from National Treasury under its Economic Competitiveness and Support package.
Contact Email: