Comparison of a finite-element multigroup discrete-ordinates code with Monte Carlo for radiotherapy calculations

Abstract

Radiotherapy calculations often involve complex geometries such as interfaces between materials of vastly differing atomic number, such as lung, bone and/or air interfaces. Monte Carlo methods have been used to calculate accurately the perturbation effects of the interfaces. However, these methods can be computationally expensive for routine clinical calculations. An alternative approach is to solve the Boltzmann equation deterministically. We present one such deterministic code, Attila. Further, we computed a brachytherapy example and an external beam benchmark to compare the results with data previously calculated by MCNPX and EGS4. Our data suggest that the presented deterministic code is as accurate as EGS4 and MCNPX for the transport geometries examined in this study.