Date of Award

1-1-2012

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

Department of Physics

Content Description

1 online resource (ix, 118 pages) : illustrations (some color)

Dissertation/Thesis Chair

Carolyn MacDonald

Committee Members

Carolyn MacDonald, Jahangir Satti, Kevin Knuth, Ariel Caticha, Mohammad Sajjad Alam

Keywords

Buildup Region, Dose Profile, Focused x-ray beam, Percentage Depth Dose, Polycapillary Optics, Radiation Therapy, Cancer, Particle beams, Radiation, Medical physics

Subject Categories

Physics

Abstract

In this thesis 6 and 18 MV photon beams for a Varian linear accelerator were simulated using a general purpose Monte Carlo code MCNP5 (Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Code). The potential of MCNP5 is explored to calculate the dose in high dose gradient regions. In addition, MCNP5 was used to model another geometry, low energy focused x ray beams created with polycapillary optics, to explore their potential to provide a different skin-sparing technique for radiation therapy.

Included in

Physics Commons

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