Sensitivity analysis for dose deposition in radiotherapy via a Fokker–Planck model [electronic resource].

Published:: Washington, D.C. : United States. Dept. of Energy, 2016.
Oak Ridge, Tenn. : Distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Dept. of Energy
Physical Description:: 15 pages : digital, PDF file
Additional Creators:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, United States. Department of Energy, and United States. Department of Energy. Office of Scientific and Technical Information

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Summary:

In this paper, we study the sensitivities of electron dose calculations with respect to stopping power and transport coefficients. We focus on the application to radiotherapy simulations. We use a Fokker–Planck approximation to the Boltzmann transport equation. Equations for the sensitivities are derived by the adjoint method. The Fokker–Planck equation and its adjoint are solved numerically in slab geometry using the spherical harmonics expansion (P_N) and an Harten-Lax-van Leer finite volume method. Our method is verified by comparison to finite difference approximations of the sensitivities. Finally, we present numerical results of the sensitivities for the normalized average dose deposition depth with respect to the stopping power and the transport coefficients, demonstrating the increase in relative sensitivities as beam energy decreases. In conclusion, this in turn gives estimates on the uncertainty in the normalized average deposition depth, which we present.

Report Numbers:

E 1.99:1267026

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Published through SciTech Connect.
02/09/2016.
Mathematical Medicine and Biology ISSN 1477-8599 AM
Richard C. Barnard; Martin Frank; Kai Krycki.

Funding Information:

AC05-00OR22725

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