SU-E-T-142: Effect of the Bone Heterogeneity On the Unflattened and Flattened Photon Beam Dosimetry: A Monte Carlo Comparison

Abstract

Purpose: This study compared the dependence of depth dose on bone heterogeneity of unflattened photon beams to that of flattened beams. Monte Carlo simulations (the EGSnrc-based codes) were used to calculate depth doses in phantom with a bone layer in the buildup region of the 6 MV photon beams. Methods: Heterogeneous phantom containing a bone layer of 2 cm thick at a depth of 1 cm in water was irradiated by the unflattened and flattened 6 MV photon beams (field size = 10×10 cm2). Phase-space files of the photon beams based on the Varian TrueBeam linac were generated by the Geant4 and BEAMnrc codes, and verified by measurements. Depth doses were calculated using the DOSXYZnrc code with beam angles set to 0° and 30°. For dosimetric comparison, the above simulations were repeated in a water phantom using the same beam geometry with the bone layer replaced by water. Results: Our results showed that the beam output of unflattened photon beams was about 2.1 times larger than the flattened beams in water. Comparing the water phantom to the bone phantom, larger doses were found in water above and below the bone layer for both the unflattened and flattened photon beams. When both beams were turned 30°, the deviation of depth dose between the bone and water phantom became larger compared to that with beam angle equal to 0°. Dose ratio of the unflattened and flattened photon beams showed that the unflattened beam has larger depth dose in the buildup region compared to the flattened beam. Conclusion: Although the unflattened photon beam had different beam output and quality compared to the flattened, dose enhancements due to the bone scatter were found similar. However, we discovered that depth dose deviation due to the presence of bone was sensitive to the beam obliquity.