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A Monte Carlo study of a flattening filter-free linear accelerator verified with measurements.

Dalaryd, Mårten ; Kragl, Gabriele ; Ceberg, Crister LU orcid ; Georg, Dietmar ; McClean, Brendan ; Wetterstedt, Sacha Af ; Wieslander, Elinore LU and Knöös, Tommy LU orcid (2010) In Physics in Medicine and Biology 55(23). p.7333-7344
Abstract
A Monte Carlo model of an Elekta Precise linear accelerator has been built and verified by measured data for a 6 and 10 MV photon beam running with and without a flattening filter in the beam line. In this study the flattening filter was replaced with a 6 mm thick copper plate, provided by the linac vendor, in order to stabilize the beam. Several studies have shown that removal of the filter improves some properties of the photon beam, which could be beneficial for radiotherapy treatments. The investigated characteristics of this new beam included output, spectra, mean energy, half value layer and the origin of scattered photons. The results showed an increased dose output per initial electron at the central axis of 1.76 and 2.66 for the 6... (More)
A Monte Carlo model of an Elekta Precise linear accelerator has been built and verified by measured data for a 6 and 10 MV photon beam running with and without a flattening filter in the beam line. In this study the flattening filter was replaced with a 6 mm thick copper plate, provided by the linac vendor, in order to stabilize the beam. Several studies have shown that removal of the filter improves some properties of the photon beam, which could be beneficial for radiotherapy treatments. The investigated characteristics of this new beam included output, spectra, mean energy, half value layer and the origin of scattered photons. The results showed an increased dose output per initial electron at the central axis of 1.76 and 2.66 for the 6 and 10 MV beams, respectively. The number of scattered photons from the accelerator head was reduced by (31.7 ± 0.03)% (1 SD) for the 6 MV beam and (47.6 ± 0.02)% for the 10 MV beam. The photon energy spectrum of the unflattened beam was softer compared to a conventional beam and did not vary significantly with the off-axis distance, even for the largest field size (0-20 cm off-axis). (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Physics in Medicine and Biology
volume
55
issue
23
pages
7333 - 7344
publisher
IOP Publishing
external identifiers
  • wos:000284261000024
  • pmid:21081829
  • scopus:78650054821
  • pmid:21081829
ISSN
1361-6560
DOI
10.1088/0031-9155/55/23/010
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
15776e05-853f-4676-8cc3-d913539dee34 (old id 1731888)
alternative location
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21081829?dopt=Abstract
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:15:16
date last changed
2022-03-27 23:30:39
@article{15776e05-853f-4676-8cc3-d913539dee34,
  abstract     = {{A Monte Carlo model of an Elekta Precise linear accelerator has been built and verified by measured data for a 6 and 10 MV photon beam running with and without a flattening filter in the beam line. In this study the flattening filter was replaced with a 6 mm thick copper plate, provided by the linac vendor, in order to stabilize the beam. Several studies have shown that removal of the filter improves some properties of the photon beam, which could be beneficial for radiotherapy treatments. The investigated characteristics of this new beam included output, spectra, mean energy, half value layer and the origin of scattered photons. The results showed an increased dose output per initial electron at the central axis of 1.76 and 2.66 for the 6 and 10 MV beams, respectively. The number of scattered photons from the accelerator head was reduced by (31.7 ± 0.03)% (1 SD) for the 6 MV beam and (47.6 ± 0.02)% for the 10 MV beam. The photon energy spectrum of the unflattened beam was softer compared to a conventional beam and did not vary significantly with the off-axis distance, even for the largest field size (0-20 cm off-axis).}},
  author       = {{Dalaryd, Mårten and Kragl, Gabriele and Ceberg, Crister and Georg, Dietmar and McClean, Brendan and Wetterstedt, Sacha Af and Wieslander, Elinore and Knöös, Tommy}},
  issn         = {{1361-6560}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{23}},
  pages        = {{7333--7344}},
  publisher    = {{IOP Publishing}},
  series       = {{Physics in Medicine and Biology}},
  title        = {{A Monte Carlo study of a flattening filter-free linear accelerator verified with measurements.}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/2509857/1748204.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1088/0031-9155/55/23/010}},
  volume       = {{55}},
  year         = {{2010}},
}