Enhancement of the Dose on 12 MV Linac with Free Flattening Filter Mode

PURPOSE: In the last years, some studies investigated dosimetric benefits of a free flattening filter for the photon mode in the radiotherapy field. This study aims to provide a theoretical study published and analysis of basic dosimetric properties for a Saturne 43 Linac head to implement free flattening filter beams clinically. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is the first Monte Carlo study for the head of Saturne 43 with replacement flattening filter mode investigating beam dosimetric characteristics, including central axis absorbed doses, beam profiles and photon energy spectra. The later ones were analyzed for flattening filter and replacement flattening filter beams using BEAMnrc and DOSXYZnrc Monte Carlo codes for 10 × 10 cm(2), 5 × 5 cm(2) and 2 × 2 cm(2) square field sizes. RESULTS: A 3.94-fold increase of dose rate and electron contaminating increased by 246.4 % with the replacement flattening filter mode for field size of 10 × 10 cm(2). Reduction was made by replacement flattening filter beam in the peripheral dose up to 30%, and the time was reduced more than 50 %. CONCLUSION: Results obtained from our study revealed that some characteristic dosimetries such as the maximum increase in depth dose rate, decrease in out-of-depth dose, and reducing time can be beneficial for the unflattened beam to be used in the radiotherapy for the advanced techniques.