Implementing dosimetry in GATE: dose-point kernel validation with GEANT4 4.8.1.

GATE is a recent Monte Carlo code, based on GEANT4, and used in nuclear medicine mainly for imaging and detector design. Our goal was to implement dosimetry within GATE (i.e., combining the excellent potential of Gate for image modeling with GEANT4 dosimetric capabilities. The latest release of GEANT4 (4.8.1) completely revised the electron multiple scattering propagation algorithm. In this work, we calculated dose point kernels (DPK) for 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, 1, and 3 MeV monoenergetic electrons. We then compared our results with data obtained with another Monte Carlo code (MCNPX) or from the reference publication from Berger and Seltzer. To facilitate comparison, all calculated dose distributions were scaled to the corresponding R(CSDA), as given by the ESTAR NIST web database. Some GEANT4 parameters (i.e., Stepmax), or the shell thickness, had to be adjusted in order to achieve good agreement for energies below 1 MeV. For all energies except 10 keV, calculated DPKs do not differ significantly from the reference, as assessed by a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. This preliminary step allowed us to consider the integration of GEANT4 dosimetric capabilities within the Gate framework.