Verification of Acuros XB dose algorithm using 3D printed low-density phantoms for clinical photon beams

The transport-based dose calculation algorithm Acuros XB (AXB) has been shown to accurately account for heterogeneities primarily through comparisons with Monte Carlo simulations. This study aims to provide additional experimental verification of AXB for clinically relevant flattened and unflattened beam energies in low density phantoms of the same material. Polystyrene slabs were created using a bench-top 3D printer. Six slabs were printed at varying densities from 0.23 to 0.68 g/cm³ , corresponding to different density humanoid tissues. The slabs were used to form different single and multilayer geometries. Dose was calculated with Eclipse™ AXB 11.0.31 for 6MV, 15MV flattened and 6FFF (flattening filter free) energies for field sizes of 2 × 2 and 5 × 5 cm² . EBT3 film was inserted into the phantoms, which were irradiated. Absolute dose profiles and 2D Gamma analyses were performed for 96 dose planes. For all single slab configurations and energies, absolute dose differences between the AXB calculation and film measurements remained <3% for both fields in the high-dose region, however, larger disagreement was seen within the penumbra. For the multilayered phantom, percentage depth dose with AXB was within 5% of discrete film measurements. The Gamma index at 2%/2 mm averaged 98% in all combinations of fields, phantoms and photon energies. The transport-based dose algorithm AXB is in good agreement with the experimental measurements for small field sizes using 6MV, 6FFF and 15MV beams adjacent to various low-density heterogeneous media. This work provides preliminary experimental grounds to support the use of AXB for heterogeneous dose calculation purposes.