Evaluation of a continuously variable collimator for 14 MeV neutrons.

This paper presents an evaluation of a continuously variable collimator for 14 MeV neutrons. Beam profiles measured in air and a phantom are used to demonstrate the relative importance of patient scatter and collimator throat scatter as they limit the performance characteristics of the collimator. The collimator consists basically of two sets of jaws each composed of 30 cm of steel followed by 20 cm of polyethylene. A solution is presented for the asymmetry in vertical and horizontal collimating characteristics resulting from the use of thick collimators. Beam profiles obtained with the collimator are comparable to published values for a fixed field 14 MeV neutron collimator.