Magnetic-field-modulated radiotherapy (MagMRT) in inhomogeneous medium and its potential applications

Objective. To study the effects of magnetic field gradients on the dose deposition in an inhomogeneous medium and to present the benefits offered by magnetic-field-modulated radiotherapy (MagMRT) under multiple radiation beams. Approach. Monte Carlo simulations were performed using the Geant4 simulation toolkit with a 7 MV photon beam from an Elekta Unity system. A water cuboid embedded with material slabs of water, bone, lung or air was used to study the effects of MagMRT within inhomogeneous medium. Two cylindrical water phantoms, with and without a toroidal lung insert embedded, were used to study the effects of MagMRT under single, opposing or four cardinal radiation beams. Optimized magnetic field variations in the form of a wavelet were used to induce dose modulation within the material slabs or at the iso-center of the phantoms. Main results. The magnitudes of the dose enhancement and reduction induced by the magnetic field gradients become more prominent in a medium of lower density. A maximum dose increase of 6.5% and a decrease of 4.8% were found inside bone, while an increase of 20.4% and a decrease of 13.9% were found in lung tissue. Under multiple radiation beams, the dose enhancement can be induced at the iso-center while the dose reduction occurs in regions around the tumor. For the case with four cardinal beams irradiating a homogeneous water cylinder, an 8.4% of dose enhancement and a 2.4% of dose reduction were found. When a toroidal lung insert was embedded, a maximum dose enhancement of 9.5% and a reduction of 17.0% were produced for anterior-posterior opposing fields. Significance. With an optimized magnetic field gradient, MagMRT can induce a dose boost to the target while producing a better sparing to the surrounding normal tissue, resulting in a sharper dose fall-off in all directions outside the target volume.

Automated summary

The study investigated the effects of magnetic field gradients on dose deposition in an inhomogeneous medium and demonstrated the benefits of magnetic-field-modulated radiotherapy (MagMRT) under multiple radiation beams. Monte Carlo simulations showed that the magnitudes of dose enhancement and reduction induced by the magnetic field gradients were more prominent in lower density mediums. MagMRT induced dose enhancement at the iso-center and dose reduction in regions around the tumor when multiple radiation beams were used. Optimized magnetic field gradients in MagMRT resulted in a sharper dose fall-off in all directions outside the target volume, providing a better sparing to the surrounding normal tissue.