Robert Jeraj et al 2002 Phys. Med. Biol. 47 723 doi:10.1088/0031-9155/47/5/303
Robert Jeraj1,2, Attila Sarvary2 and Tomas Kron3,4
Show affiliationsAs an alternative to standard treatment of superficial lesions with surgery and/or superficial/orthovoltage x-ray irradiation, radioactive moulds can be used. However, close proximity of the source to the treatment region leads to significant dose inhomogeneities in the tissue. Analytical and fast numerical methods have been developed that can calculate a corresponding flattening filter that evens out the dose distribution at the surface. Monte Carlo transport calculations were used to enable accurate treatment of the transport through the geometry. It was found that the use of pre-calculated transport parameters like dependence of the attenuation coefficient and scattering with depth is required for fast calculation of the flattening filter shape. Only 1–2 iterations were needed for a successful convergence to the filter shape that flattens out the dose distribution at the surface to within 1%. The developed methods are very general and could be applied with some minor modifications to other problems, where shaping of the irradiation field is required.
87.53.Jw Therapeutic applications, including brachytherapy
87.56.ng Wedges and compensators
87.53.-j Effects of ionizing radiation on biological systems
Issue 5 (7 March 2002)
Received 27 July 2001
Published 15 February 2002
Robert Jeraj et al 2002 Phys. Med. Biol. 47 723
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