Physics Settings for Using the Geant4 Toolkit in Proton Therapy

Author

Jarlskog, Christina Zacharatou ; Paganetti, Harald

Author_Institution

Dept. of Radiat. Oncology, Massachusetts Gen. Hosp. & Harvard Med. Sch., Boston, MA

Volume

55

Issue

3

fYear

2008

fDate

6/1/2008 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1018

Lastpage

1025

Abstract

We simulated electromagnetic and nuclear processes induced by clinical proton beams in order to select the physics setting for the 8.1 version of the Geant4 toolkit. A modular physics list was constructed allowing for alternative processes and models to be invoked in the simulations. We validated the Monte Carlo by means of measured depth-dose distributions in water for 86 MeV and 209 MeV beams and measured longitudinal charge profiles in a stack of polyethylene absorbers (multilayer Faraday cup) for a 160 MeV beam. Best agreement between simulation and measurement was found for the standard electromagnetic and binary cascade models of Geant4.

Keywords

Monte Carlo methods; dosimetry; medical computing; proton beams; radiation therapy; Geant4 toolkit 8.1; Monte Carlo simulations; binary cascade models; clinical proton beams; depth-dose distributions; electromagnetic cascade models; electromagnetic processes; electron volt energy 160 MeV; electron volt energy 209 MeV; electron volt energy 86 MeV; longitudinal charge profiles; modular physics list; multilayer Faraday cup; nuclear processes; physics settings; polyethylene absorbers; proton therapy; Charge measurement; Current measurement; Electromagnetic measurements; Medical treatment; Monte Carlo methods; Nonhomogeneous media; Particle beams; Physics; Polyethylene; Protons; Geant4; Monte Carlo; physics validation; proton therapy;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TNS.2008.922816

Filename

4545238