The parallel Monte Carlo electron and photon transport (PMCEPT) code [Kum and Lee, J. Korean Phys. Soc. 47, 716 (2006)] for calculating electron and photon beam doses has been developed based on the three dimensional geometry defined by computed tomography (CT) images and implemented on the Beowulf PC cluster. Understanding the limitations of Monte Carlo codes is useful in order to avoid systematic errors in simulations and to suggest further improvement of the codes. We evaluated the PMCEPT code by comparing its normalized depth doses for electron and photon beams with those of MCNP5, EGS4, DPM, and GEANT4 codes, and with measurements. The PMCEPT results agreed well with others in homogeneous and heterogeneous media within an error of 1∼3% of the dose maximum. The computing time benchmark has also been performed for two cases, showing that the PMCEPT code was approximately twenty times faster than the MCNP5 for 20-MeV electron beams irradiated on the water phantom. For the 18-MV photon beams irradiated on the water phantom, the PMCEPT was three times faster than the GEANT4. Thus, the results suggest that the PMCEPT code is indeed appropriate for both fast and accurate simulations.

KeywordsPMCEPT code, Monte Carlo, Homogeneous and heterogeneous phantoms, Normalized depth dose, Computing time benchmark