Experimental validation of a linac head Geant4 model under a grid computing environment

Abstract

Background and purpose . This work aims to present the strategy to simulate a clinical linear accelerator based on the geometry provided by the manufacturer and summarize the corresponding experimental validation. Simulations were performed with the Geant4 Monte Carlo code under a grid computing environment. The objective of this contribution is reproducing therapeutic dose distributions in a water phantom with an accuracy less than 2%. Materials and methods. A Geant4 Monte Carlo model of an Elekta Synergy linear accelerator has been established, the simulations were launched in a large grid computing platform. Dose distributions are calculated for a 6 MV photon beam with treatment fields ranging from 5 × 5 cm2 to 20 × 20 cm2 at a source—surface distance of 100 cm. Results. A high degree of agreement is achieved between the simulation results and the measured data, with dose differences of about 1.03% and 1.96% for the percentage depth dose curves and lateral dose profiles, respectively. This agreement is evaluated by the gamma index comparisons. Over 98% of the points for all simulations meet the restrictive acceptability criteria of 2%/2 mm. Conclusion. We have demonstrated the possibility to establish an accurate linac head Monte Carlo model for dose distribution simulations and quality assurance. Percentage depth dose curves and beam quality indices are in perfect agreement with the measured data with an accuracy of better than 2%.