Development of porous structure for broadening Bragg-peak in scanning carbon-ion radiotherapy: Monte Carlo simulation and experimental validation

Purpose The present study aimed to develop a porous structure with plug-ins (PSP) to broaden the Bragg peak width (BPW, defined as the distance in water between the proximal and distal 80% dose) of the carbon ion beam while maintaining a sharp distal falloff width (DFW, defined as the distance along the beam axis where the dose in water reduces from 80% to 20%). Methods The binary voxel models of porous structure (PS) and PSP were established in the Monte Carlo code FLUKA and the corresponding physical models were manufactured by 3D printing. Both experiment and simulation were performed for evaluating the modulation capacity of PS and PSP. BPWs and DFWs derived from each integral depth dose curves were compared. Fluence homogeneity of 430 MeV/u carbon-ion beam passing through the PSP was recorded by analyzing radiochromic films at six different locations downstream the PSP in the experiment. Additionally, by changing the beam spot size and incident position on the PSP, totally 48 different carbon-ion beams were simulated and corresponding deviations of beam metrics were evaluated to test the modulating stability of PSP. Results According to the measurement data, the use of PSP resulted in an average increase of 0.63 mm in BPW and a decrease of 0.74 mm in DFW compared to PS. The 2D radiation field inhomogeneities were lower than 3 % when the beam passing through a ≥ 10 cm PMMA medium. Furthermore, employing a spot size of ≥ 6 mm ensures that beam metric deviations, including BPW, DFW, and range, remain within a deviation of 0.1 mm across various incident positions. Conclusion The developed PSP demonstrated its capability to effectively broaden the BPW of carbon ion beams while maintaining a sharp DFW comparing to PS. The superior performance of PSP, indicates its potential for clinical use in the future.