Development of ARCHER -- a parallel Monte Carlo radiation transport code -- for X-ray CT dose calculations Using GPU and coprocessor technologies

Abstract

Monte Carlo methods are the gold standard in radiation dose calculations with heterogeneous patient geometries and complicated irradiation conditions such as multi-detector CT scan. The long computation time has historically prevented them from becoming a routine clinic tool. The emerging hardware accelerators have created opportunities to speed up the computations significantly. They have the advantages of high computing power and high energy efficiency that are particularly suited for performing parallel tasks.