A GPU-based finite-size pencil beam algorithm with 3D-density correction for radiotherapy dose calculation

Targeting at the development of an accurate and efficient dose calculation engine for online adaptive radiotherapy, we have implemented a finite-size pencil beam (FSPB) algorithm with a 3D-density correction method on graphics processing unit (GPU). This new GPU-based dose engine is built on our previously published ultrafast FSPB computational framework (Gu et al 2009 Phys. Med. Biol. 54 6287-97). Dosimetric evaluations against Monte Carlo dose calculations are conducted on ten IMRT treatment plans (five head-and-neck cases and five lung cases). For all cases, there is improvement with the 3D-density correction over the conventional FSPB algorithm and for most cases the improvement is significant. Regarding the efficiency, because of the appropriate arrangement of memory access and the usage of GPU intrinsic functions, the dose calculation for an IMRT plan can be accomplished well within 1 s (except for one case) with this new GPU-based FSPB algorithm. Compared to the previous GPU-based FSPB algorithm without 3D-density correction, this new algorithm, though slightly sacrificing the computational efficiency (similar to 5-15% lower), has significantly improved the dose calculation accuracy, making it more suitable for online IMRT replanning.