COMPARISON OF PENCIL BEAM AND COLLAPSED CONE ALGORITHMS, IN RADIOTHERAPY TREATMENT PLANNING FOR 6 AND 10 MV PHOTON
Abstract
Background: In radiotherapy treatment, the calculation of radiation dose distribution in target volumelead to an optimum set of planning parameters. This worked has been aimed to compare two photon
beam dose calculation algorithms in the Oncentra Treatment Planning system for Varian Linear
Accelerator, to assure the quality of treatment planning. Methods: Monitor Units to be delivered on
normalization depth in patient has been calculated using the pencil beam and collapsed cone algorithms
for two photon energies 6 and 10 MV. The percentage depth dose and beam profiles for 21 treatment
fields, for both the calculation systems have been compared for both photon energies. Results: The
percentage depth doses and beam profiles for both calculation systems are comparable in large field
sizes as well as central axis field settings. The doses at normalization depth deviate for some field
settings, but in central axis large field sizes the difference in within tolerance limits. Conclusion: Both
calculation algorithms are in close agreement in most of the field settings (mainly in central axis fields),
within tolerance level. The difference is relatively greater in small field sizes and off-axis field settings.
Keywords: Radiotherapy, treatment planning, dose distribution, pencil beam, collapsed cone
References
Podgorsak EB. Radiation Oncology Physics: a handbook for
teachers and students. Vienna: IAEA; 2005.
Mohan R, Chui C, Lidofsky L. Differential pencil beam dose
computation model for photons calculations. Med Phys
;13(1):64-73.
Murray DC, Hoban PW, Metcalfe PE, Round WH. 3-D
superposition for radiotherapy treatment planning using fast
Fourier transforms. Aust Phys Eng Sci Med 1989;12:128-37.
Boyer AL, Zhu YP, Wang L, Francois P. Fast Fourier transform
convolution calculations of x-ray dose distributions in
homogeneous media. Med Phys 1989;16:248-53.
J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad 2010;22(3)
http://www.ayubmed.edu.pk/JAMC/PAST/22-3/Buzdar.pdf
Ahnesjo A, Collapsed cone convolution of radiant energy for
photon dose calculation in heterogeneous media. Med. Phys
;16:577-92.
Metcalfe PE, Hoban PW, Murray DC, Round WH. Beam
Hardening of 10 MV radiotherapy x-rays: Analysis using a
convolution/superposition method. Phys Med Biol
;35:1533-49.
Traberg Hansen A, Petersen JB, Høyer M, Christensen JJ.
Comparison of two dose calculation methods applied to
extracranial stereotactic radiotherapy treatment planning.
Radiother Oncol 2005;77(1):96-8.
Nisbet A, Beange I, Vollmar HS, Irvine C, Morgan A, Thwaites
DI. Dosimetric verification of a commercial collapsed cone
algorithm in simulated clinical situations. Radiother Oncol
;73(1):79-88.
Hasenbalg F, Neuenschwander H, Mini R, Born EJ. Collapsed
cone convolution and analytical anisotropic algorithm dose
calculations compared to VMC++ Monte Carlo simulations in
clinical cases. Phys Med Biol 2007;52:3679-91.
Dobler B, Walter C, Knopf A, Fabri D, Loeschel R, Polednik M,
et al. Optimization of extracranial stereotactic radiation therapy
of small lung lesions using accurate dose calculation algorithms.
Radiat Oncol 2006;1:45.
Carlsson Tedgren A, Ahnesjo A, Optimization of the
computational efficiency of a 3D, collapsed cone dose calculation
algorithm for brachytherapy. Med Phys 2008;35:1611-8.
Treutwein M, Bogner L, Electron fields in clinical application. A
comparison of pencil beam and Monte Carlo algorithm.
Strahlenther Onkol 2007;183:454-8.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Journal of Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad is an OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL which means that all content is FREELY available without charge to all users whether registered with the journal or not. The work published by J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad is licensed and distributed under the creative commons License CC BY ND Attribution-NoDerivs. Material printed in this journal is OPEN to access, and are FREE for use in academic and research work with proper citation. J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad accepts only original material for publication with the understanding that except for abstracts, no part of the data has been published or will be submitted for publication elsewhere before appearing in J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. The Editorial Board of J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad makes every effort to ensure the accuracy and authenticity of material printed in J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. However, conclusions and statements expressed are views of the authors and do not reflect the opinion/policy of J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad or the Editorial Board.
USERS are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.
AUTHORS retain the rights of free downloading/unlimited e-print of full text and sharing/disseminating the article without any restriction, by any means including twitter, scholarly collaboration networks such as ResearchGate, Academia.eu, and social media sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Scholar and any other professional or academic networking site.