Formal quality control for a proton Monte Carlo system in radiation therapy

17th International Conference on the Use of Computers in Radiation Therapy

物理学;计算机科学

Perl, J.^1

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA, United States^1

关键词: Flexible units;    Monte carlo particle transports;    Parameter control;    Particle simulations;    Particle source;    Proton therapy;    Time dependent;    Unit testing;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/489/1/012021/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1742-6596/489/1/012021

学科分类：计算机科学（综合）

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

TOPAS (TOol for PArticle Simulation) is a Monte Carlo particle transport tool being released to a wide variety of proton therapy users worldwide. Because TOPAS provides unprecedented ease in 4D placement of geometry components, beam sources and scoring, including options to place geometry components, beam sources or scorers within each other, Quality Control (QC) for TOPAS is both critical and challenging. All simulation details (geometry, particle sources, scoring, physics settings, time-dependent motions, gating, etc.) are specified in the TOPAS Parameter Control System (which catches many user errors). QC includes Unit and End-to-End Testing. Each code unit is tested (each geometry component, particle source option, scoring option, etc.) and these unit testing procedures are shared with end users so they can reproduce tests. End-to-End testing of several full clinical setups is routinely performed. End-to-End testing presents a challenge since one cannot anticipate all the ways users will combine TOPAS flexible units for their specific project. Automated checking catches geometry overlaps and some other problematic setups, but one can never rule out the potential for problems when users combine units in new setups. QC is ultimately a partnership between the tool developer and the user. Key is that the developer be clear to the end user about what has been tested and what has not.