6MV Photon Beam Commissioning in Varian 2300C/D with BEAM/EGS4 Monte Carlo Code

  • Kim, Sangroh (Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, The Catholic University of Korea) ;
  • Jason W. Sohn (Dept. of Radiation Oncology, Washington University in St. Louis, MO, USA) ;
  • Cho, Byung-Chul (Dept. of Radiation Oncology, Hallym University) ;
  • Suh, Tae-Suk (Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, The Catholic University of Korea) ;
  • Choe, Bo-Yong (Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, The Catholic University of Korea) ;
  • Lee, Hyoung-Koo (Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, The Catholic University of Korea)
  • Published : 2002.09.01

Abstract

The Monte Carlo simulation method is a numerical solution to a problem that models objects interacting with other objects or their environment based upon simple object-object or object-environment relationships. In spite of its great accuracy, It was turned away because of long calculation time to simulate a model. But, it is used to simulate a linear accelerator frequently with the advance of computer technology. To simulate linear accelerator in Monte Carlo simulations, there are many parameters needed to input to Monte Carlo code. These data can be supported by a linear accelerator manufacturer. Although the model of a linear accelerator is the same, a different characteristic property can be found. Thus, we performed a commissioning process of 6MV photon beam in Varian 2300C/D model with BEAM/EGS4 Monte Carlo code. The head geometry data were put into BEAM/EGS4 data. The mean energy and energy spread of the electron beam incident on the target were varied to match Monte Carlo simulations to measurements. TLDs (thermoluminescent dosimeter) and radiochromic films were employed to measure the absorbed dose in a water phantom. Beam profile was obtained in 40cm${\times}$40cm field size and Depth dose was in 10cm${\times}$10cm. At first, we compared the depth dose between measurements and Monte Carlo simulations varying the mean energy of an incident electron beam. Then, we compared the beam profile with adjusting the beam radius of the incident electron beam in Monte Carlo simulation. The results were found that the optimal mean energy was 6MV and beam radius of 0.1mm was well matched to measurements.

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