Korean J Med Phys.  2005 Sep;16(3):138-147.

Monte Carlo Photon and Electron Dose Calculation Time Reduction Using Local Least Square Denoising Filters

• Cheong KH
• Suh TS
• Cho BC
• Jin H

Abstract

The Monte Carlo method cannot have been used for routine treatment planning because of heavy time consumption for the acceptable accuracy. Since calculation time is proportional to particle histories, we can save time by decreasing the number of histories. However, a small number of histories can cause serious uncertainties. In this study, we proposed Monte Carlo dose computation time and uncertainty reduction method using specially designed filters and adaptive denoising process. Proposed algorithm was applied to 6 MV photon and 21 MeV electron dose calculations in homogeneous and heterogeneous phantoms. Filtering time was negligible comparing to Monte Carlo simulation time. The accuracy was improved dramatically in all situations and the simulation of 1% to 10% number of histories of benchmark in photon and electron dose calculation showed the most beneficial result. The empirical reduction of necessary histories was about a factor of ten to fifty from the result.

Keyword

Monte Carlo; Statistical uncertainties; Denoising; Smoothing

MeSH Terms

Monte Carlo Method
Uncertainty