Development and Benchmarking of a Monte Carlo Dose Engine for Proton Radiation Therapy

Frontiers in Physics

Jürgen Debus¹  Thomas Tessonnier³  Alfredo Ferrari³  Thomas Haberer³  Benedikt Kopp³  Peter Lysakovski⁵  Judith Besuglow⁶  Stewart Mein⁶  Andrea Mairani⁷ 

[1] Clinical Cooperation Unit Radiation Oncology, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) Core-Center Heidelberg, National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany;Clinical Cooperation Unit Translational Radiation Oncology, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) Core-Center Heidelberg, National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany;Department of Radiation Oncology, Heidelberg Ion Beam Therapy Center (HIT), Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany;Division of Molecular and Translational Radiation Oncology, Heidelberg Faculty of Medicine (MFHD) and Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD), Heidelberg, Germany;Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany;Heidelberg Faculty of Medicine (MFHD) and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg Institute of Radiation Oncology (HIRO), National Center for Radiation Oncology (NCRO), Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD), Heidelberg, Germany;Medical Faculty, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany;Medical Physics, National Centre of Oncological Hadrontherapy (CNAO), Pavia, Italy;

关键词: Monte Carlo (MC);    dose calculation;    radiotherapy;    magnetic field;    proton;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fphy.2021.741453

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Dose calculation algorithms based on Monte Carlo (MC) simulations play a crucial role in radiotherapy. Here, the development and benchmarking of a novel MC dose engine, MonteRay, is presented for proton therapy aiming to support clinical activity at the Heidelberg Ion Beam Therapy center (HIT) and the development of MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)-guided particle therapy. Comparisons against dosimetric data and gold standard MC FLUKA calculations at different levels of complexity, ranging from single pencil beams in water to patient plans, showed high levels of agreement, validating the physical approach implemented in the dose engine. Additionally, MonteRay has been found to match satisfactorily to FLUKA dose predictions in magnetic fields both in homogeneous and heterogeneous scenarios advocating its use for future MRI-guided proton therapy applications. Benchmarked on 150 MeV protons transported on a 2 × 2 × 2 mm3 grid, MonteRay achieved a high computational throughput and was able to simulate the histories of more than 30,000 primary protons per second on a single CPU core.

【 授权许可】

Unknown