Effects of initial electron beam parameters of a linear accelerator on the properties of bremsstrahlung radiation in a radiotherapy setting

The dependence of the initial electron-beam parameters on absorbed dose distributions have been investigated using a CyberKnife radiotherapy accelerator (Accuray, United States). To describe the initial electron-beam characteristics, simulations of the linear electron accelerator are performed and the electron distributions in the beam of a linac output are analyzed. The radial distributions of electrons are assumed exponential, whereas the energy electron distributions are approximated by monoenergetic and rectangular spectra. There is no significant dependence of depth-dose curves in a phantom on the shape of the electron beam. Importantly, a clear dependence of the radiation field profile on the size of the electron beam is observed not just in the penumbra region, but also in the open part.