Feasibility of a multigroup Boltzmann–Fokker–Planck solution for electron beam dose calculations

Abstract

Abstract Legacy nuclear-reactor Boltzmann solvers start clinical deployment as an alternative to Monte Carlo (MC) codes and Fermi–Eyges semiemprical models in radiation oncology treatment planning. Today’s certified clinical solvers are limited to photon beams. In this paper, ELECTR, a state-of-the-art multigroup electron cross sections generation module in NJOY is presented and validated against Lockwood’s calorimetric measurements, EGS-nrc and GEANT-4 for 1–20 MeV unidirectional electron beams. The nuclear-reactor DRAGON-5 solver is upgraded to access the library and solve the Boltzmann–Fokker–Planck (BFP) equation. A variety of heterogeneous radiotherapy and radiosurgery phantom configurations were used for validation purpose. Case studies include a thorax benchmark, that of a typical breast Intra-Operative Radiotherapy and a high-heterogeneity patient-like benchmark. For all beams, $$100\%$$ 100 % of the water voxels satisfied the American Association of Physicists in Medicine accuracy criterion for a BFP-MC dose error below $$2\%$$ 2 % . At least, $$97.0\%$$ 97.0 % of adipose, muscle, bone, lung, tumor and breast voxels satisfied the $$2\%$$ 2 % criterion. The average BFP-MC relative error was about $$0.56\%$$ 0.56 % for all voxels, beams and materials combined. By irradiating homogeneous slabs from $$Z=1$$ Z = 1 (hydrogen) to $$Z=99$$ Z = 99 (einsteinium), we reported performance and defects of the CEPXS mode [US. Sandia National Lab., SAND-89-1685] in ELECTR for the entire periodic table. For all Lockwood’s benchmarks, NJOY-DRAGON dose predictions are within the experimental data precision for $$98\%$$ 98 % of voxels.