Simplifying Radiation Dose Calculations with GHOST

In the world of medical research, figuring out how radiation spreads in the body is super important. Scientists use something called Monte Carlo simulations to do this. These simulations help them see exactly where radiation goes and how much dose is given. One of the most reliable tools for this is MCNP, but making the input files for these simulations can be a real headache. Enter GHOST, a new tool designed to make this process much easier. GHOST stands for Generator of Health Optimized Simulation Templates. It's a plugin for 3D Slicer, a popular software used in medical imaging. GHOST automatically creates the input files needed for MCNP simulations. This means researchers can spend less time on tedious tasks and more time on actual research. The tool works by taking 3D medical images and turning them into voxelized phantoms. These are like digital models of the human body used in simulations. GHOST allows users to assign different materials to different parts of the body based on the segmentation labels from the medical images. This makes the simulations more accurate and customizable. To make sure GHOST works well, it was tested against other methods. A simulation was run using a cube filled with water. The results from GHOST were compared to those from another method using RPP cards and from GATE, another Monte Carlo simulation platform. The differences were minimal, with a maximum discrepancy of only 2. 3%. This shows that GHOST is just as reliable as the other methods. One of the best things about GHOST is that it's user-friendly. It doesn't require a lot of technical knowledge to use. This means more researchers can take advantage of its capabilities without needing extensive training. It's a big step forward in making radiation dose calculations more accessible and efficient.