Calculation of air-kerma strength and dose rate constant for new BEBIG 60Co HDR brachytherapy source: an EGSnrc

Monte Carlo study

M. Anwarul Islam Department of Physics Jahangirnagar University

Dr. Mir Md. Akramuzzaman1, G.A. Zakaria2, G.H. Hartmann3

Department of Physics, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Gummersbach Academic Teaching Hospital, University of Cologne, Germany. 3 Department of Medical Physics in Radiotherapy, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany.
1 2

Objectives

To calculate the Air kerma strength for BEBIG 60 Co source with Monte Carlo codes To calculate the dose rate constant for BEBIG 60 Co source with the protocol of TG-43 (AAPM) To compare the calculated Air kerma strength with published or measured value

Materials and Method

BEBIG 60Co HDR brachytherapy source model Using EGSnrc Monte Carlo codes developed by National Research Council (NRC) of Canada Calculating the photon fluence rate in air with the source Using the AAPM TG-43 protocol

Monte Carlo Procedure

Group of Random Events Apply physical/ statistical law/ theory
Apply Boundary Condition Filtering

Analysis

Apply Physical Law/theory

Apply Probability theory Apply Statistical Law

Applications of Monte Carlo

Computational Physics Physical Chemistry Quantum Cromodynamics Heat Shielding Aerodynamics Statistical Physics Molecular modeling Particle Physics Radiation Physics Energy Transport Stochastic Financial Modeling Telecommunication Mathematical Solution Weather Forecast Light transport in biological tissue Reliability Engineering etc

Monte Carlo code for Radiation Transport

The following codes are available for the simulation of radiation transport : GEANT: simulation of high energy particles interacting with a detector. CompHEP, PYTHIA: Monte-Carlo generators of particle collisions MCNP(X): radiation transport codes MCU: particles (electrons, photons, neutrons) transport code

Cont.
PEREGRINE:

calculations

code for radiation therapy dose

PENELOPE: code for coupled transport of photons and electrons BEAMnrc: code system for modeling radiotherapy sources (Linac) EGSnrc: code for coupled transport of electrons and photons

EGSnrc Monte Carlo codes

The EGSnrc Monte Carlo codes are used in this work. This code is very powerful research tool for radiotherapy field in brachytherapy. The EGS (Electron-Gamma Shower) system of computer codes is a general purpose package for Monte Carlo simulation of the coupled transport of electrons and photons. The EGSnrc codes developed by National Research Council of Canada The EGSnrc is capable to calculate fluence, dose, stopping power ratio, kerma etc.

BEBIG 60Co HDR source models

Real geometry of the source

Model geometry of the source

Monte Carlo input of source model

Sagittal Section

Fig: Equal sagittal section for Monte Carlo source input

TG-43 Formalism
General 2D formalism
The general, two-dimensional ~2D dose-rate equation from the TG-43 protocol is retained,

Where, = dose rate at the point (r, )

TG-43 Formalism

Fig: Coordinate system used for brachytherapy dosimetry calculations

Using Formula for fluence calculation

Kair (d) =1.602 10

And finally,

10

en ( E i ) . E . ( E i ) .E i . E min
E max

Where, Sk/A is the air-kerma strength per unit source activity. The unit is Gym2h-1.Bq-1 or UBq-1

Sk/A = 2 Kair(d) d2

( E i )
en ( E i )

K air (d) is the total air-kerma at the distance, d and the unit is Gy/Photon
is the photon fluence per unit energy and its unit MeV-1 cm-2 is the mass energy absorption coefficient and its unit cm2 gm-1

Ei is the energy spectrum and E is the energy bin size D = 100 cm according to the TG-43 formalism The factor 1.60210-10 is required to convert Kair(d) from MeV gm -1 into Gy

Dose calculation formula

Calculation grid: Slab and radial thickness = 1-2 mm Photon cutoff energy = 0.001 MeV Electron cutoff energy = 0.521 MeV No. of history simulated for every point = 109 Dose for photon contribution simulated Considered one decay will result in the emission of 2 photons Average time per simulation is 5 hours for photon

Dose calculation formula

The user-code DOSRZnrc is used to calculate, Dphotons

true

= 3.6 10 5 2 D photon /( S k / A)

where Dphotons is the total dose by photons Sk/A is air-kerma strength per source activity into [U Bq-1] is the true dose rate per unit air-kerma strength for 60 Co source in [cGy h-1 U-1]

Phantom Model

Geometric Preview Window

Calculated point

Tissue basis absorbed dose calculation

Some body equivalent tissues (shows in table below) are simulated to investigate the relative absorbed dose with different distances in respective tissue phantom and also in vacuum phantom with 5 cm distance.
Tissue basis density table
Tissue
Density g/cm3

Water

Com bone

Breast

Blood

Lung

Adipose tissue

Muscle

Soft tissue

Testese

1.00

1.85 1.02

1.06

0.26 0.92

1.12

1.0

1.04

Results
Energy fluence vs. Spectrum

Calculated 60Co fluence data (MeV-1 cm-2)

Calculated 60Co fluence data (MeV-1 cm-2)

Calculated 60Co fluence data (MeV-1 cm-2)

Air-kerma strength

Article

Air-kerma strength Per unit source activity (cGy.cm2.h-1.Bq-1 )

This work T. Palani Selvam et al.(2010), India

3.03510-7 0.15% 3.0410-7 0.05%

Dose Rate Constant

Article

Dose rate constant, (cGy h-1 U-1)

This work T. Palani Selvam et al.(2010), India

1.097 0.12% 1.086 0.06%

Tissue basis relative absorbed dose

Relative absorbed dose with distance

Lung

Comp. bone

Conclusion
In the calculation of air-kerma strength and dose rate constant, uncertainty were 0.15% and 0.12% which is acceptable limit. Published data of Palani Selvam, the uncertainty were 0.05% and 0.06% which are lower than our values. In this study, EGSnrc Monte Carlo code was used but Palani Selvam used MCNP code Relative absorbed dose in different tissues in 5 cm distance are approximately same accept lung tissue. 22% less dose in lung tissue with water The relative absorbed dose with different distances in respective tissue phantom, the lung doses are higher than the compact bone