Technical note: A new wedge-shaped ionization chamber component module for BEAMnrc to model the integral quality monitoring system®

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a new component module (CM) namely IQM to accurately model the integral quality monitoring (IQM) system® to be used in the BEAMnrc Monte Carlo (MC) code. The IQM is essentially a double wedge ionization chamber with the central electrode plate bisecting the wedge. The IQM CM allows the user to characterize the double wedge of this ionization chamber and BEAMnrc can then accurately calculate the dose in this CM including its enclosed air regions. This has been verified against measured data.The newly created CM was added into the standard BEAMnrc CMs, and it will be made available through the NRCC website. The BEAMnrc graphical user interface (GUI) and particle ray-tracing techniques were used to validate the IQM geometry. In subsequent MC simulations, the dose scored in the IQM was verified against measured data over a range of square fields ranging from 1 × 1–30 × 30cm2.The IQM system is designed for the present day need for a device that could verify beam output in real-time during treatment. This CM is authentic, and it can serve as a basis for researchers that have an interest in real-time beam delivery checking using wedge-shaped ionization chamber based instruments like the IQM.