Electron dose distributions in experimental phantoms: a comparison with 2D pencil beam calculations

Dose distributions were measured and computed within inhomogeneous phantoms irradiated with beams of electrons having initial energies of 10 and 18 MeV. The measurements were made with a small p-type silicon diode and the calculations were performed using the pencil beam algorithm developed originally at the M D Anderson Hospital (MDAH). This algorithm, which is available commercially on many radiotherapy planning computers, is based on the Fermi-Eyges theory of electron transport. The phantoms used in this work were composed of water into which two- and three-dimensional inhomogeneities of aluminum and air (embedded in wax) were introduced. This was done in order to simulate the small bones and the air cavities encountered clinically in radiation therapy of the chest wall or neck. Our intent was to test the adequacy of the two-dimensional implementation of the pencil beam approach. The agreement between measured and computed doses is very good for inhomogeneities which are essentially two-dimensional but discrepancies as large as 40% were observed for more complex three-dimensional inhomogeneities. We can only trace the discrepancies to the complex interplay of numerous approximations in the Fermi-Eyges theory of multiple scattering and its adaptation for practical computer-aided radiotherapy planning.