SU-E-T-168: Characterization of Neutrons From the TrueBeam Treatment Head

Journal Article · Mon Jun 15 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Medical Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1118/1.4924530· OSTI ID:22545293

Sawkey, D; Svatos, M ^[1]

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1. Varian Oncology Systems, Palo Alto, CA (United States)

Purpose: Calculate neutron production and transport in the TrueBeam treatment head, as input for vault design and phantom dose calculations. Methods: A detailed model of the treatment head, including shielding components off the beam axis, was created from manufacturer’s engineering drawings. Simulations were done with Geant4 for the 18X, 15X, 10X and 10FFF beams, tuned to match measured dose distributions inside the treatment field. Particles were recorded on a 70 cm radius sphere surrounding the treatment head enabling input into simulations of vaults. Results: For the 18X beam, 11×10{sup 9} neutrons/MU were observed. The energy spectrum was a broad peak with average energy 0.37 MeV. With jaws closed, 48% of the neutrons were generated in the primary collimator, 18% in the jaws, 12% in the target, and 10% in the flattening filter. With wide open jaws, few neutrons were produced in the jaws and consequently total neutron production dropped to 8.5×10{sup 9} neutrons/MU. Angular distributions were greatest along the beam axis (12×10{sup 9} neutrons/MU/sr, within 2 deg of the beam axis) and antiparallel to the beam axis (7×10{sup 9} neutrons/MU/sr). Peaks were observed in the neutron energy spectrum, corresponding to elastic scattering resonances in the shielding materials. Neutron production was lower for the other beams studied: 4.1×10{sup 9} neutrons/MU for 15X, 0.38×10{sup 9} neutrons/MU for 10X, and 0.22×10{sup 9} neutrons/MU for 10FFF. Despite dissimilar treatment head geometries and materials, the neutron production and energy spectrum were similar to those reported for Clinac accelerators. Conclusion: Detailed neutron production and leakage calculations for the TrueBeam treatment head were done. Unlike other studies, results are independent of the surrounding vault, enabling vault design calculations.

• OSTI ID: 22545293
• Journal Information: Medical Physics, Vol. 42, Issue 6; Other Information: (c) 2015 American Association of Physicists in Medicine; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-2405
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
ACCELERATORS
BEAMS
CALCULATION METHODS
COLLIMATORS
ELASTIC SCATTERING
ENERGY SPECTRA
ENGINEERING
ENGINEERING DRAWINGS
MANUFACTURERS
MEV RANGE
MUON SPIN RELAXATION
PEAKS
PHANTOMS
RADIATION DOSE DISTRIBUTIONS
RADIATION DOSES
RADIOTHERAPY
SHIELDING
SHIELDING MATERIALS
SIMULATION