(Wednesday, 8/1/2018) 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM
Room: Karl Dean Ballroom A2
The use of Monte Carlo -based dose algorithms has become mainstream in the clinic today. Several major commercially available treatment planning systems incorporate Monte Carlo algorithms for photon and electron transport. New delivery technologies, such as the MRI-linac systems include the use of MC-based dose algorithms for treatment planning. It is therefore imperative that physicists acquire knowledge on MC-based dose algorithms, and how they differ with respect to analytical algorithms. This educational session will focus on issues pertaining to statistical uncertainties, dose reporting methods (dose-to-water or medium), and methods for modeling of the treatment head geometry. The AAPM Task Group No. 157 is aimed to provide guidance to clinical physicists on the tasks of acceptance testing and commissioning of MC-based treatment planning systems for photon and electron beam dose calculation. The report describes different types of source models and approaches for generating them, and discusses tradeoffs between accuracy and efficiency in the various source-modeling approaches. In this session, guidelines for acceptance testing of MC-based treatment planning systems will be presented from the clinical standpoint. The specific recommendations on methods and practical procedures to commission clinical source models for treatment planning systems employing MC-based dose algorithms will be discussed with detailed examples.
Learning Objectives:
1. Review the basics of MC-based dose calculation algorithms for photon and electron transport, including discussion of issues different from analytical approaches (e.g. condensed history simulation, statistical uncertainties, dose-to-water and medium, etc.)
2. Discuss AAPM Tg-157 and provide review of source modeling approaches, and guidance on acceptance testing and commissioning of MC-based dose algorithms. Review recommendations related to practical procedures to commission clinical source models for MC-based dose algorithms.
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