Overview of Geant4 applications in Medical Physics

1. 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

2. Reliable? • For “software specialists only”, not user-friendly for general practice 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:

3. Specific facilities controlled by a friendly UI Extensibility to accommodate new user requirements (thanks to the OO technology) A rigorous software process The transparencyof physics Independent validation by a large user community worldwide Use of evaluated data libraries Adoption of standardswherever available (de jure or de facto) User supportfrom experts

4. Geant4 www.cern.ch/geant4 www.ge.infn.it/geant4 useful links: Geant4 Geant4 is an Object Oriented Toolkit for the simulation of the passage of particles through matter. • Its application areas include highenergy 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

5. 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

6. Geometry ATLAS 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

7. Geant4-Dicom interface Modelisation of complex structures Reproduce patient’s anatomy in a Geant4 application Developed by L. Archambault, L. Beaulieu, V.-H. Tremblay (Univ. Laval and l'Hôtel-Dieu, Québec) file

8. Modelisation of beam lines IntraOperative Radiation Therapy(IORT) Head Radiotherapy Modelisation of electromagnetic field • 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

9. PEM GATE Collaboration Talk: A. Trindade Geant4 Applications and Developments for Medical Physics Experiments • 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)

10. Multiple scattering Bremsstrahlung Ionisation Annihilation Photoelectric effect Compton scattering Rayleigh effect g conversion e+e- pair production Synchrotron radiation Transition radiation Cherenkov Refraction Reflection Absorption Scintillation Fluorescence Auger Electromagnetic physics Hadronic physics 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

11. 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

12. Brachytherapy 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

13. 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

14. Metabolic Therapy with 131I 131I - 131Xe (excited)  131Xe (stable) • 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

15. Shielding and radioprotection in space missions • Collaboration ESA, ALENIA SPAZIO, INFN Genova in AURORA project G.Brambati1,V.Guarnieri1, S.Guatelli2, C. Lobascio1,P.Parodi1, M. G. Pia2 1.ALENIA SPAZIO, Torino, Italy,2.INFN Genova, Italy Geant4 application not only in hospital treatments • AURORA • explore the solar system and the Universe • Geant4 application for • shielding and astronauts’ • radioprotection studies

16. Geant4-DNA Simulation of Interactions of Radiation with Biological Systems at the Cellular and DNA Level Geant4 applications in chemistry and biochemistry

17. Dosimetry at cellular level • 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

18. How to achieve quick response?

19. Network • 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. Scielzo11Ordine Mauriziano - IRCC 2INFN 

20. Parallel mode:distributed resources Distributed Geant4 Simulation talk: DIANE -- Distributed Analysis Environment for GRID-enabled Simulation and Analysis of Physics Data (Friday 24th October)

21. Conclusions • Valid example of technology transfer • 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