A six-bank multi-leaf system for high precision shaping of large fields

Area of Science:

• Medical Physics
• Radiation Oncology
• Radiotherapy Technology

Background:

• Current multi-leaf collimator (MLC) systems face challenges in high-precision shaping of large radiation therapy fields.
• There is a need for advanced collimator designs to improve treatment accuracy and efficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and evaluate an alternative MLC system for high-precision shaping of large radiation fields.
• To assess the performance of a novel six-bank collimator configuration through 3D ray tracing simulations.

Main Methods:

• A novel MLC system design featuring three layers of opposing leaf banks, rotated 60 degrees relative to each other.
• Development of a 3D ray tracing computer program for simulating fluence profiles and optimizing the collimator design.
• Performance investigation of the proposed MLC system for large field shaping.

Main Results:

• The proposed MLC system utilizes standard 1 cm leaf width projected at the isocenter.
• Simulations demonstrate the capability for precise field shaping of approximately 40 cm diameter fields.
• The design eliminates the need for collimator rotation, simplifying construction due to its symmetrical setup.

Conclusions:

• The novel six-bank MLC design offers high precision in shaping large radiation therapy fields.
• This alternative MLC system achieves precision comparable to existing mini-MLCs with significantly smaller leaf widths.
• The simplified construction and high precision make it a promising advancement in radiotherapy technology.