RESUMEN
Objective:To provide reference for establishing the testing method for quality control of neutron beam in boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) equipment in China by testing the radiation characteristic parameters and dosimetry characteristic parameters of epithermal neutron beam in hospital neutron irradiator (IHNI).Methods:By comparing the uncertainties in the result of various test items with the deviation values recommended by the European Joint Research Center (EC-JRC), the feasibility of the relevant of testing method was analyzed and evaluated.Results:The uncertainty in epithermal neutron fluence rate was 2.7%. The uncertainty in ratio of thermal to epithermal neutron fluence rate was 3.1%. The uncertainty in ratio of fast neutron air kerma to epithermal neutron fluence rate was 9.3%. The uncertainty in ratio of gamma air kerma to epithermal neutron fluence rate was 8.7%. The uncertainty in spatial distribution of neutron fluence rate was 2.7%. The uncertainty in thermal neutron fluence rate in phantom was 1.8%. The uncertainty in neutron and gamma-ray dose rate in phantom was 17.1% and 4.0%, respectively.Conclusions:The uncertainty in neutron dose rate measurement result in phantom is higher, and further research is needed to improve the accuracy of the testing method. The uncertainty in the measurement result of other test items is lower, and the accuracy of the test result is expected to meet the allowable deviation value recommended by the European Joint Research Center, and the test method is feasible.
RESUMEN
Simplified dose calculation model with high computation efficiency is often used to generate the dose matrices for beamlets in the inverse planning of the intensity modulate radiation therapy. It is likely that this simplification could degrade the quality of the final treatment plans. This paper is aimed at testing the influence of such simplification in dose calculations of beamlets and accordingly proposing methods to avoid severe degradation of the plans. Two simulation instances were adopted. The primary dose calculation model without involvment of scattering effect was used to generate the dose matrices of beamlets. The differential convolution superposition dose calculation model that well accounts for scattering effect was used to calculate the final dose distributions for given intensity profiles. It is found that the simplification in dose matrices of beamlets degrades the dose levels in the edge area of the targets, however, the degradation could be diminished or even avoided by adding a suitable margin around the targets or by using the multiple-shifted-beamlet-matrices (MSBM) method that was proposed in our previous paper.