Improving TBI lung dose calculations: Can the treatment planning system help?

Lung toxicity is a serious concern during total body irradiation (TBI). Therefore, evaluation of accurate dose calculation when using lung blocks is of utmost importance. Existing clinical treatment planning systems can perform the calculation but there are large inaccuracies when calculating volumetric dose at extended distances in the presence of high atomic number materials. Percent depth dose and absolute dose measurements acquired at 400 cm SSD with a cerrobend block were compared with calculated values from the Eclipse treatment planning system using AAA and Acuros. The block was simulated in 2 ways; (1) manually drawing a contour to mimic the block and (2) creating a virtual block in the accessory tray. Although the relative dose distribution was accurately calculated, larger deviations of around 50% and 40% were observed between measured depth dose and absolute dose with AAA and Acuros, respectively. Deviations were reduced by optimizing the relative electron density in the contoured block or the transmission factor in the virtual block.