Overview of Geant4 applications in Medical Physics

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Overview of Geant4 applicationsin Medical Physics
2003 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium And Medical
Imaging Conference Tuesday, 21st October,
2003 Portland, Oregon, USA
Susanna Guatelli INFN, Genova, Italy
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MonteCarlo Methods in radiotherapy
MonteCarlo methods have been explored for years
as a tool for precise dosimetry, in alternative
to analytical methods
De facto, MonteCarlo simulation is not used in
clinical practice (only side studies)
Challenge develop MC for clinical use

• The limiting factor is the speed
• Other limitations

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Specific facilities controlled by a friendly UI
Extensibility to accommodate new user
requirements (thanks to the OO technology)
A rigorous software process
The transparency of physics
Independent validation by a large user community
worldwide
Use of evaluated data libraries
Adoption of standards wherever available (de
jure or de facto)
User support from experts
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Geant4
Geant4
Geant4 is an Object Oriented Toolkit for the
simulation of the passage of particles through
matter.

• Its application areas include high energy and
  nuclear physics experiments, astrophysics,
  medical physics, radiation background studies,
  radioprotection and space science
• Geant4 exploits advanced Software Engineering
  techniques and Object Oriented technology
• Geant4 has been developed and maintained by a
  world-wide collaboration of more than 100
  scientists
• The source code and libraries are freely
  distributed from the Geant4 web site

Katsuya Amako Geant4 Simulation Toolkit
Overview and Its Object-Oriented Design , 22
October, 8.15
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Geant4 applications in Medical Physics

• Verification of conventional radiotherapy
  treatment planning
• (as required by protocols)
• Investigation of innovative methods of
  radiotherapy
• Radiodiagnostic
• Dosimetric studies at cellular level

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Detailed set-up description and efficient
navigation

• CSG (Constructed Solid Geometries)
• simple solids
• BREPS (Boundary REPresented Solids)
• volumes defined by boundary surfaces
• polyhedra, cylinders, cones, toroids etc.
• Boolean solids
• union, subtraction

Proton line beam
Fields variable non-uniformity and
differentiability
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file

• Developed by L. Archambault, L. Beaulieu, V.-H.
  Tremblay
• (Univ. Laval and l'Hôtel-Dieu, Québec)

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• High energy electron beam, 50 MeV

• Electron beam

Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm Susanne
Larsson Roger Svensson Irena Gudowska Björn
Andreasen
IORT Novac7
G. Barca, F. Castrovillari, D. Cucè, E.
Lamanna, M. Veltri Azienda Ospedaliera
(Hospital) of Cosenza Physics Dep., UNICAL
INFN, Cosenza
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• Geant4 application for tomographic emission
  (GATE) is a recently developed simulation
  platform based on Geant4, specifically designed
  for PET and SPECT studies.

Experimental set-up changing with time
Talk Steven Staelens, Overview of GATE,
Positron Emission Mammography (PEM)
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• Multiple scattering
• Bremsstrahlung
• Ionisation
• Annihilation
• Photoelectric effect
• Compton scattering
• Rayleigh effect
• g conversion
• ee- pair production
• Synchrotron radiation
• Transition radiation
• Cherenkov
• Refraction
• Reflection
• Absorption
• Scintillation
• Fluorescence
• Auger

electrons and positrons gamma, X-ray and optical
photons muons charged hadrons ions

• High energy extensions
• LowEnergy extensions
• Alternative models for the same process

needed for LHC experiments, cosmic ray
experiments
fundamental for medical applications

• Data driven, Parameterised and theoretical models
• Cross section data sets transparent and
  interchangeable

• the most complete hadronic simulation kit on the
  market
• alternative and complementary models

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Dosimetric validations
Geant4 dosimetric validations
Validation is fundamental for Medical Physics
Applications

• The validation process includes different levels
• Microscopic validation physics models validation
• Macroscopic validation experimental set-up
  validation
• Validation in respect to experimental
  measurements

Macroscopic validation
Microscopic validation
See S. Guatelli, Precision Validation of Geant4
Electromagnetic Physics (22 October) See
G.Folger, Validation of Geant4 Hadronic Physics
(22 October)
Talk J.F Carrier Validation of GEANT4 for
Simulations in Medical Physics
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Low Energy Physics for accurate dosimetry
Dosimetry for all brachytherapic devices
Collaboration of frameworks Analysis, UI,
Visualisation, Access to distributed resources
Talk S. Guatelli From DICOM to GRID a
dosimetric system for brachytherapy born from HEP
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Hadron therapy
Hadrontherapy
Electromagnetic and hadronic interactions for
protons, ions(and secondary particles)
Proton beam line
Talk P. Cirrone Implementation of a New Monte
Carlo Simulation Tool for the Development of a
Proton Therapy Beam Line and Verification of the
Related Dose Distributions
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• Isotope accumulated in the damaged lobe can
  destroy pathological cells without any surgical
  operation

131I ? 131Xe ?- ?
Radioactive Decay Module
G. Barca, F. Castrovillari, D. Cucè, E.
Lamanna, M. Veltri Azienda Ospedaliera
(Hospital) of Cosenza Physics Dep., UNICAL
INFN, Cosenza
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• Collaboration ESA, ALENIA SPAZIO, INFN Genova in
  AURORA project

Geant4 application not only in hospital treatments
G.Brambati1,V.Guarnieri1, S.Guatelli2, C.
Lobascio1,P.Parodi1, M. G. Pia2 1.ALENIA SPAZIO,
Torino, Italy,2.INFN Genova, Italy
AURORA explore the solar system and the Universe

• Geant4 application for
• shielding and astronauts
• radioprotection studies

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Simulation of Interactions of Radiation with
Biological Systems at the Cellular and DNA Level
Geant4 applications in chemistry and biochemistry
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• Light-ion microbeams provide a unique opportunity
  to irradiate biological samples at the cellular
  level and to investigate radiobiological effects
• Accurate description at cellular level

Talk S. Incerti Simulation of cellular
irradiation with the CENBG microbeam line using
GEANT4
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How to achieve quick response?
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• network of Personal Computer as a realistic
  alternative to a high-costs dedicated parallel
  hardware to be used in clinical practice

Talk S. Schauvie Radiotherapy treatment planning
with Monte Carlo on a distributed
systemS. Chauvie1,2, G. Scielzo1 1Ordine
Mauriziano - IRCC 2INFN 
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Distributed Geant4 Simulation
talk DIANE -- Distributed Analysis Environment
for GRID-enabled Simulation and Analysis of
Physics Data (Friday 24th October)
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• Geant4 is a powerful and reliable tool for
  medical physics studies

• adoption of rigorous software process
• Transparency of the physics
• Alternative and complementary physics models
• Accurate description of experimental set-up
• Many applications in Medical Physics and Medical
• Imaging

• Integration to the GRID offers quick response