kV–kV and kV–MV DECT based estimation of proton stopping power ratio – a simulation study

This study aims to estimate the proton stopping power ratio (SPR) by using 80-120 kV and 120 kV-6 MV dual-energy CT (DECT) in a fully simulation-based approach for proton therapy dose calculations.Based on a virtual CT system, a two-step approach is applied to obtain the reference attenuation coefficient for image reconstruction. The effective atomic number (EAN) and electron density ratio (EDR) are estimated from two CT scans. The SPR is...