Abstract. Electronic portal imagers have promising dosimetric applications in external beam radiation therapy. In this study a patient dose computation algorithm based on Monte Carlo (MC) simulations and on portal images is developed and validated. The patient exit fluence from primary photons is obtained from the portal image after correction for scattered radiation. The scattered radiation at the portal imager and the spectral energy distribution of the primary photons are estimated from MC simulations at the treatment planning stage. The patient exit fluence and the spectral energy distribution of the primary photons are then used to ray-trace the photons from the portal image towards the source through the CT geometry of the patient. Photon weights which reflect the probability of a photon being transmitted are computed during this step. A dedicated MC code is used to transport back these photons from the source through the patient CT geometry to obtain patient dose. Only Compton interactions are considered. This code also produces a reconstructed portal image which is used as a verification tool to ensure that the dose reconstruction is reliable. The dose reconstruction algorithm is compared against MC dose calculation (MCDC) predictions and against measurements in phantom. The reconstructed absolute absorbed doses and the MCDC predictions in homogeneous and heterogeneous phantoms agree within 3% for simple open fields. Comparison with film-measured relative dose distributions for IMRT fields yields agreement within 3 mm, 5%. This novel dose reconstruction algorithm allows for daily patient-specific dosimetry and verification of patient movement.

Print publication: Issue 8 (21 April 2007)
Received 1 September 2006, in final form 6 February 2007
Published 3 April 2007