Photon scatter kernels for intensity modulating radiation therapy filters.

The most important beam property while optimizing photon therapy is the ability to modulate the intensity of the beam. The use of photon absorbers for intensity modulation of beam profiles requires special attention to be paid to the alteration of beam properties due to scatter and spectral changes, in addition to the desired intensity modulation. In this study the influence of photon scatter in high-density filters irradiated with very narrow photon pencil beams was investigated. A simple analytical relation is developed to quantify the contribution by scattered photons. A scatter kernel was derived by convolving the first Compton scatter distribution with an approximate expression for the second-order scattered photons. The calculations were validated experimentally with film dosimetry and also by using Monte Carlo simulations. Results show that the difference in photon scatter estimation by different methods is relatively small when higher order scattering is accounted for. At 6 MV x-rays the agreement is slightly better than that for 18 MV x-rays results. The simple relation presented in this paper can be used to account for the scattered photon contribution in filter optimization codes to deliver biologically or physically optimized intensity modulated treatments.

Photon scatter in intensity modulating filters evaluated by first Compton scatter and Monte Carlo calculations and experiments in broad beams.

High-atomic-number materials may be used as intensity modulating filters for inverse radiation treatment planning with photon beams. Such filters, when placed in a bremsstrahlung beam, attenuate the primary fluence, but also produce scattered photons that will reach the patient. To account for such effects in the optimization of photon beam intensities a semiempirical method based on narrow and broad beam transmission measurements was used to quantify the number of scattered photons produced in these filters. The method was verified by performing analytical calculations based on first scatter and a Monte Carlo simulation in 6 and 18 MV photon beams. The resultant experimental transmission ratios agree with calculations by these methods within 2 per cent under the experimental conditions investigated. The semiempirical method can thus be used as a basis for preliminary decision-making to select the proper material for intensity modulating filters and can provide a fast method to perform independent quality checks of the calculation accuracy of dose planning systems. Change in beam penetration is of less concern when treatments of target volumes at smaller depths are of interest. A 10 g cm(-2) thick filter made of low-melting-point alloy produces a change in percentage depth dose of less than 2 per cent for depths larger than 10 cm independent of field size. Similarly the scatter correction modifies the dose distribution by less than 5-10 per cent in most cases.

Procedure for accurate fabrication of tissue compensators with high-density material.

An accurate method for producing compensating filters using high-density material (Cerrobend) is described. The procedure consists of two cutting steps in a Styrofoam block: (i) levelling a surface of the block to a reference level; (ii) depth-modulated milling of the levelled block in accordance with pre-calculated thickness profiles of the compensator. The calculated thickness (generated by a dose planning system) can be reproduced within acceptable accuracy. The described compensator thickness manufactured according to this procedure is reproduced to within 0.1 mm, corresponding to a 0.5% change in dose at a beam quality of 6 MV. The results of our quality control checks performed with the technique of stylus profiling measurements show an accuracy of 0.04 mm (1 sigma) in the milling process over an arbitrary profile along the milled-out Styrofoam block.