Magnetic collimation and metal foil filtering for electron range and fluence modulation.

We investigated the use of magnetically collimated electron beams together with metal filters for electron fluence and range modulation. A longitudinal magnetic field collimation method was developed to reduce skin dose and to improve the electron beam penumbra. Thin metal foils were used to adjust the energies of magnetically collimated electrons. The effects for different types of foils such as Al, Be, Cu, Pb, and Ti were studied using Monte Carlo calculations. An empirical pencil beam dose calculation model was developed to calculate electron dose distributions under magnetic collimation and foil modulation. An optimization method was developed to produce conformal dose distributions for simulated targets such as a horseshoe-shaped target. Our results show that it is possible to produce an electron depth dose enhancement peak using similar techniques of producing a spread-out Bragg peak. In conclusion, our study demonstrates new aspects of using magnetic collimation and foil filtration for producing fluence and range modulated electron dose distributions.