ABSTRACT
BNCT treatment planning can be improved by having the adjoint technique available in the Monte Carlo transport code. In adjoint MC, the simulated particles travel backwards instead of 'forward'. By speeding up the calculations, more beam positions can be investigated and thus a better plan can be composed. In a realistic head phantom with 10 disseminated lesions in the brain, the adjoint method is more favourable than the forward calculations whenever larger beam diameters are applied.
Subject(s)
Boron Neutron Capture Therapy/statistics & numerical data , Brain Neoplasms/radiotherapy , Head , Phantoms, Imaging/statistics & numerical data , Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted/statistics & numerical data , Brain Neoplasms/pathology , Brain Neoplasms/secondary , Humans , Melanoma/pathology , Melanoma/radiotherapy , Melanoma/secondary , Monte Carlo MethodABSTRACT
At the boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) facility in Petten, the Netherlands, (10)B concentrations in biological materials are measured with the prompt gamma ray analyses facility that is calibrated using certified (10)B solutions ranging from 0 to 210 ppm. For this study, newly certified (10)B solutions ranging up to 1972 ppm are added. MCNP simulations of the setup range to 5000 ppm. A second order polynomial (as already used) will fit (10)B-concentrations less than 300 ppm. Above 300 ppm a fitted third order polynomial is needed to describe the calibration curve accurately.
