Validation of PRIMO Monte Carlo Model of Clinac(®)iX 6MV Photon Beam

PURPOSE: This study aims to model 6MV photon of Clinac(®)iX linear accelerator using PRIMO Monte Carlo (MC) code and to assess PRIMO as an independent MC-based dose verification and quality assurance tool. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The modeling of Clinac(®)iX linear accelerator has been carried out by using PRIMO simulation software (Version 0.3.1.1681). The simulated beam parameters were compared against the measured beam data of the Clinac(®)iX machine. The PRIMO simulation model of Clinac(®)iX was also validated against Eclipse(®) Acuros XB dose calculations in the case of both homogenous and inhomogeneous mediums. The gamma analysis method with the acceptance criteria of 2%, 2 mm was used for the comparison of dose distributions. RESULTS: Gamma analysis shows a minimum pass percentage of 99% for depth dose curves and 95.4% for beam profiles. The beam quality index and output factors and absolute point dose show good agreement with measurements. The validation of PRIMO dose calculations, in both homogeneous and inhomogeneous medium, against Acuros(®) XB shows a minimum gamma analysis pass rate of 99%. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that the research software PRIMO can be used as a treatment planning system-independent quality assurance and dose verification tool in daily clinical practice. Further validation will be performed with different energies, complex multileaf collimators fields, and with dynamic treatment fields.