Comparison of different MC techniques to evaluate BNCT dose profiles in phantom exposed tovarious neutron fields.
The absorbed dose in BNCT (boron neutron capture therapy) consists of several radiation components with different physical properties and biological effectiveness. In order to assess the clinical efficacy of the beams, determining the dose profiles in tissues, Monte Carlo (MC) simulations are used. This paper presents a comparison between dose profiles calculated in different phantoms using two techniques: MC radiation transport code, MCNP-4C2 and BNCT MC treatment planning program, SERA (simulation environment for radiotherapy application). In this study MCNP is used as a reference tool. A preliminary test of SERA is performed using six monodirectional and monoenergetic beams directed onto a simple water phantom. In order to deeply investigate the effect of the different cross-section libraries and of the dose calculation methodology, monoenergetic and monodirectional beams directed toward a standard Snyder phantom are simulated. Neutron attenuation curves and dose profiles are calculated with both codes and the results are compared.
Durisi
E
E
Experimental Physics Department, University of Torino, Via P. Giuria 1, 10125 Torino, Italy. durisi@to.infn.it
Koivunoro
H
H
Visca
L
L
Borla
O
O
Zanini
A
A
D016754:Boron Neutron Capture Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D009502:Neutrons; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D011880:Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*