C-M
Charlie Ma, Ph.D.
Professor
and Director, Radiation Physics
Department
of Radiation Oncology
For
Chase Cancer Center
Philadelphia,
PA 19111, USA
The Monte Carlo method is a
statistical simulation method. For radiation transport problems, it simulates
the tracks of individual particles by sampling appropriate quantities from the
probability distributions governing the individual physical processes using
machine-generated random numbers. Average values of macroscopic quantities such
as particle fluence, energy spectrum and absorbed dose distribution can be
calculated by simulating a large number of particle histories. It is widely
accepted that the Monte Carlo technique is the most accurate method for dose
calculation, which is capable, in principle, of accurately computing the dose
under almost all circumstances.
This lecture will briefly
describe the principles and the implementation of the Monte Carlo method and
review its applications in radiotherapy with a focus on the recent developments
in dosimeter response studies, medical accelerator simulations and its use for
dose calculation in treatment planning and dosimetry verification for advanced
radiotherapy treatments. The educational objectives are: (1) to understand the
principles and implementation of the Monte Carlo method and (2) to review the
applications of the Monte Carlo method in radiation therapy with a focus on
detector response studies, accelerator simulations and treatment planning dose
calculation and beam delivery verification.