Salvatore Gallo

Characterization of phenolic pellets for ESR dosimetry in photon beam radiotherapy

This work deals with the dosimetric features of a particular phenolic compound (IRGANOX 1076®) for dosimetry of clinical photon beams by using electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy. After the optimization of the ESR readout parameters (namely modulation amplitude and microwave power) to maximise the signal without excessive spectrum distortions, basic dosimetric properties of laboratory-made phenolic dosimeters in pellet form, such as reproducibility, dose–response, sensitivity, linearity and dose rate dependence were investigated. The dosimeters were tested by measuring the depth dose profile of a 6xa0MV photon beam. A satisfactory intra-batch reproducibility of the ESR signal of the manufactured dosimeters was obtained. The ESR signal proved to increase linearly with increasing dose in the investigated dose range 1–13xa0Gy. The presence of an intrinsic background signal limits the minimum detectable dose to a value of approximately 0.6xa0Gy. Reliable and accurate assessment of the dose was achieved, independently of the dose rate. Such characteristics, together with the fact that IRGANOX 1076® is almost tissue-equivalent, and the stability of the ESR signal, make these dosimeters promising materials for ESR dosimetric applications in radiotherapy.

Characterization of Yb-doped silica optical fiber as real-time dosimeter

The near-infrared radioluminescence and dosimetric properties of Yb-doped silica optical fibers, coupled with an optical detector prototype based on an avalanche photo-diode, were studied by irradiating the fibers with clinical beams generated by a Varian Trilogy accelerator. The performances of the system in standard and small field sizes have been also investigated comparing the output factor, percent depth dose and off axis ratio measurements of the prototypal dosimetric system with other commercial sensors. The results demonstrated that the drawback due to the stem effect in Yb-doped silica optical fibers can be managed in a simple but effective way by optical filtering. These features, together with the accuracy and precision achieved by Ybdoped fibers in relative dose assessments make the device promising for in-vivo dosimetry studies in radiation therapy.