Dose calculation system for remotely supporting radiotherapy
1 Center for Promotion of Computational Science and Engineering, Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, Kyoto 619-0215, Japan
2 Department of Radiology, Keio University, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan
3 Division of Radiation Therapy Physics, Chiba Cancer Center, Chiba 260-8680, Japan
4 CMS Japan, Tokyo 102-0093, Japan
5 CT Group, Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation, Tokyo 113-8456, Japan
6 Department of Radiological Sciences, Ibaraki Prefectural University of Health Sciences, Ibaraki 300-0394, Japan
7 Department of Radiological Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University of Health Sciences, Tokyo 116-8551, Japan
8 CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Saitama, 332-0012, Japan
* Corresponding author: komei{at}popsvr.tokai.jaeri.go.jp
The dose calculation system IMAGINE is being developed keeping in mind remotely supporting external radiation therapy using photon beams. The system is expected to provide an accurate picture of the dose distribution in a patient body, using a Monte Carlo calculation that employs precise models of the patient body and irradiation head. The dose calculation will be performed utilising super-parallel computing at the dose calculation centre, which is equipped with the ITBL computer, and the calculated results will be transferred through a network. The system is intended to support the quality assurance of current, widely carried out radiotherapy and, further, to promote the prevalence of advanced radiotherapy. Prototypes of the modules constituting the system have already been constructed and used to obtain basic data that are necessary in order to decide on the concrete design of the system. The final system will be completed in 2007.