Experimental benchmarking of a Monte Carlo dose simulation code for pediatric CT

Xiang Li; Ehsan Samei; Terry Yoshizumi; James G. Colsher; Robert P. Jones; Donald P. Frush

doi:10.1117/12.713728

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28 March 2007 Experimental benchmarking of a Monte Carlo dose simulation code for pediatric CT

Xiang Li, Ehsan Samei, Terry Yoshizumi, James G. Colsher, Robert P. Jones, Donald P. Frush

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Proceedings Volume 6510, Medical Imaging 2007: Physics of Medical Imaging; 65102A (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.713728
Event: Medical Imaging, 2007, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a desire to reduce CT radiation dose to children because of their susceptibility and prolonged risk for cancer induction. Concerns arise, however, as to the impact of dose reduction on image quality and thus potentially on diagnostic accuracy. To study the dose and image quality relationship, we are developing a simulation code to calculate organ dose in pediatric CT patients. To benchmark this code, a cylindrical phantom was built to represent a pediatric torso, which allows measurements of dose distributions from its center to its periphery. Dose distributions for axial CT scans were measured on a 64-slice multidetector CT (MDCT) scanner (GE Healthcare, Chalfont St. Giles, UK). The same measurements were simulated using a Monte Carlo code (PENELOPE, Universitat de Barcelona) with the applicable CT geometry including bowtie filter. The deviations between simulated and measured dose values were generally within 5%. To our knowledge, this work is one of the first attempts to compare measured radial dose distributions on a cylindrical phantom with Monte Carlo simulated results. It provides a simple and effective method for benchmarking organ dose simulation codes and demonstrates the potential of Monte Carlo simulation for investigating the relationship between dose and image quality for pediatric CT patients.

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Xiang Li, Ehsan Samei, Terry Yoshizumi, James G. Colsher, Robert P. Jones, and Donald P. Frush "Experimental benchmarking of a Monte Carlo dose simulation code for pediatric CT", Proc. SPIE 6510, Medical Imaging 2007: Physics of Medical Imaging, 65102A (28 March 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.713728

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