Photon beam description in PEREGRINE for Monte Carlo dose calculations

Goal of PEREGRINE is to provide capability for accurate, fast Monte Carlo calculation of radiation therapy dose distributions for routine clinical use and for research into efficacy of improved dose calculation. An accurate, efficient method of describing and sampling radiation sources is needed, and a simple, flexible solution is provided. The teletherapy source package for PEREGRINE, coupled with state-of-the-art Monte Carlo simulations of treatment heads, makes it possible to describe any teletherapy photon beam to the precision needed for highly accurate Monte Carlo dose calculations in complex clinical configurations that use standard patient modifiers such as collimator jaws, wedges, blocks, and/or multi-leaf collimators. Generic beam descriptions for a class of treatment machines can readily be adjusted to yield dose calculation to match specific clinical sites