Gamma Knife Simulation Using the MCNP4C Code and the Zubal Phantom and Comparison with Experimental Data

Somayeh Gholami, Alireza Kamali Asl, Seyed Mahmood Aghamiri, Mahmood Allahverdi
2010 Iranian Journal of Medical Physics  
Gamma Knife is an instrument specially designed for treating brain disorders. In Gamma Knife, there are 201 narrow beams of cobalt-60 sources that intersect at an isocenter point to treat brain tumors. The tumor is placed at the isocenter and is treated by the emitted gamma rays. Therefore, there is a high dose at this point and a low dose is delivered to the normal tissue surrounding the tumor. Material and Method: In the current work, the MCNP simulation code was used to simulate the Gamma
more » ... fe. The calculated values were compared to the experimental ones and previous works. Dose distribution was compared for different collimators in a water phantom and the Zubal brain-equivalent phantom. The dose profiles were obtained along the x, y and z axes. Result: The evaluation of the developed code was performed using experimental data and we found a good agreement between our simulation and experimental data. Discussion: Our results showed that the skull bone has a high contribution to both scatter and absorbed dose. In other words, inserting the exact material of brain and other organs of the head in digital phantom improves the quality of treatment planning. This work is regarding the measurement of absorbed dose and improving the treatment planning procedure in Gamma-Knife radiosurgery in the brain.
doi:10.22038/ijmp.2010.7262 doaj:2f71560043cb474496108a18165b909d fatcat:rqpbrznigbfbzj75g67q6wdqia