A Comparative Study of the Effect of Calibration Conditions on the Water Equivalence of a Range of Gel Dosimeters

Gel dosimeters are of increasing interest in the field of radiation oncology as the only truly three-dimensional integrating radiation dosimeter. There are a range of ferrous-sulphate and polymer gel dosimeters. To be of use, they must be water-equivalent. On their own, this relates to their radiolo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on nuclear science 2009-04, Vol.56 (2), p.429-436
Main Authors: Taylor, M.L., Franich, R.D., Trapp, J.V., Johnston, P.N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Australia
Calibration
Chemicals
Computer simulation
Containment
Dosimeters
Dosimetry
gel dosimeter
Geometry
Mathematical models
Monte Carlo methods
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Oncology
Physics
Polymer gels
Spatial resolution
Tubes
Vessels
water equivalence
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Summary:Gel dosimeters are of increasing interest in the field of radiation oncology as the only truly three-dimensional integrating radiation dosimeter. There are a range of ferrous-sulphate and polymer gel dosimeters. To be of use, they must be water-equivalent. On their own, this relates to their radiological properties as determined by their composition. In the context of calibration of gel dosimeters, there is the added complexity of the calibration geometry; the presence of containment vessels may influence the dose absorbed. Five such methods of calibration are modelled here using the Monte Carlo method. It is found that the Fricke gel best matches water for most of the calibration methods, and that the best calibration method involves the use of a large tub into which multiple fields of different dose are directed. The least accurate calibration method involves the use of a long test tube along which a depth dose curve yields multiple calibration points.
ISSN:0018-9499
1558-1578
DOI:10.1109/TNS.2009.2015315