CSnrc: Correlated sampling Monte Carlo calculations using EGSnrc

CSnrc, a new user-code for the EGSnrc Monte Carlo system is described. This user-code improves the efficiency when calculating ratios of doses from similar geometries. It uses a correlated sampling variance reduction technique. CSnrc is developed from an existing EGSnrc user-code CAVRZnrc and improves upon the correlated sampling algorithm used in an earlier version of the code written for the EGS4 Monte Carlo system. Improvements over the EGS4 version of the algorithm avoid repetition of sections of particle tracks. The new code includes a rectangular phantom geometry not available in other EGSnrc cylindrical codes. Comparison to CAVRZnrc shows gains in efficiency of up to a factor of 64 for a variety of test geometries when computing the ratio of doses to the cavity for two geometries. CSnrc is well suited to in-phantom calculations and is used to calculate the central electrode correction factor P-cel in high-energy photon and electron beams. Current dosimetry protocols base the value of P-cel on earlier Monte Carlo calculations. The current CSnrc calculations achieve 0.02% statistical uncertainties on P-cel much lower than those previously published. The current values of P-cel compare well with the values used in dosimetry protocols for photon beams. For electrons beams, CSnrc calculations are reported at the reference depth used in recent protocols and show up to a 0.2% correction for a graphite electrode, a correction currently ignored by dosimetry protocols. The calculations show that for a 1 min diameter aluminum central electrode, the correction factor differs somewhat from the values used in both the IAEA TRS-398 code of practice and the AAPM's TG-51 protocol. (C) 2004 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.