Monte Carlo Simulation Based Digitally Reconstructed Radiographs

As the use of virtual simulation expands, digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRRs), which mimic conventional simulation films, play an increasingly important role as reference images in the verification of treatment fields. The purpose of our study is to develop an algorithm for computation of digitally reconstructed radiographs based on Monte Carlo simulation that take into account almost all possible physical processes by which photons interact with matter. The Monte Carlo simulation based DRRs have the following features. 1) Account has been taken of almost all possible physical processes of interaction of photons with matter, including a detector (film) response. In principle, this is equivalent to X-ray radiography. 2) Arbitrary photon energies (from diagnostic to therapeutic) can be used to produce DRRs. One can even use electrons as the source. 3) It is easy to produce a double exposure, which mimics the double exposure portal image and may have superior visual appeal for treatment field verification, with weighting within the treatment field.