Sathiyan Saminathan

Comparison of dosimetric characteristics of physical and enhanced dynamic wedges

BACKGROUND Wedge filters can be used as missing tissue compensators or wedge pairs to alter the shape of isodose curves so that two beams can be angled with a small hinge angle at a target volume without creating a hotspot. AIM In this study the dosimetric properties of Varian Enhanced Dynamic Wedge (EDW) and physical wedges (PW) were analyzed and compared. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ionometric measurements of open field output factor, physical wedge output factor, physical wedge factor and EDW factor for photon beams were carried out. A 3D scanning water phantom was used to scan depth dose and profiles for open and PW fields. The 2D ionization matrix was used to measure profiles of physical and EDW wedges. The isodose curves of physical and EDW angles were obtained using a therapy verification film. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The PW output factors of photons were compared with the open field output factors. The physical and EDW factors were compared. The difference in percentage depth dose for open and PW fields was observed for both photon beams. The measured isodose plots for physical and EDW were compared. CONCLUSION The wedge field output factor increases with field size and wedge angle compared to that of the open field output factor. The number of MU to deliver a particular dose with the EDW field is less than that of the PW field due to a change in wedge factor. The dosimetric characteristics, like profile and isodose of EDW, closely match with that of the PW.

Dosimetric characterization of optically stimulated luminescence dosimeter with therapeutic photon beams for use in clinical radiotherapy measurements

Aim: The modern radiotherapy techniques impose new challenges for dosimetry systems with high precision and accuracy in in vivo and in phantom dosimetric measurements. The knowledge of the basic characterization of a dosimetric system before patient dose verification is crucial. This incites the investigation of the potential use of nanoDot optically stimulated luminescence dosimeter (OSLD) for application in radiotherapy with therapeutic photon beams. Materials and Methods: Measurements were carried out with nanoDot OSLDs to evaluate the dosimetric characteristics such as dose linearity, dependency on field size, dose rate, energy and source-to-surface distance (SSD), reproducibility, fading effect, reader stability, and signal depletion per read out with cobalt-60 (60 Co) beam, 6 and 18 MV therapeutic photon beams. The data acquired with OSLDs were validated with ionization chamber data where applicable. Results: Good dose linearity was observed for doses up to 300 cGy and above which supralinear behavior. The standard uncertainty with field size observed was 1.10% ± 0.4%, 1.09% ± 0.34%, and 1.2% ± 0.26% for 6 MV, 18 MV, and 60 Co beam, respectively. The maximum difference with dose rate was 1.3% ± 0.4% for 6 MV and 1.4% ± 0.4% for 18 MV photon beams. The largest variation in SSD was 1.5% ± 1.2% for 60 Co, 1.5% ± 0.9% for 6 MV, and 1.5% ± 1.3% for 18 MV photon beams. The energy dependence of OSL response at 18 MV and 60 Co with 6 MV beam was 1.5% ± 0.7% and 1.7% ± 0.6%, respectively. In addition, good reproducibility, stability after the decay of transient signal, and predictable fading were observed. Conclusion: The results obtained in this study indicate the efficacy and suitability of nanoDot OSLD for dosimetric measurements in clinical radiotherapy.

Evaluation of optically stimulated luminescence dosimeter for exit dose in vivo dosimetry in radiation therapy

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess and analyze the exit dose in radiotherapy using optically stimulated luminescence dosimeter (OSLD) with therapeutic photon beams. Materials and Methods: Measurements were carried out with OSLD to estimate the exit dose in phantom for different field sizes, various phantom thicknesses, and with added backscatter material. The data obtained were validated with ionization chamber data where applicable. A correction factor was found to determine the actual dose delivered at the exit surface using measured and theoretical dose. Results: The exit dose factor with Co-60, 6 MV, and 18 MV beams for 10 cm phantom thickness was found to be 0.752 ± 0.38%, 0.808 ± 0.34%, and 0.882 ± 0.42%. The dose enhancement factor with field size was ranging from 3% to 7.7% for Co-60 beam, from 2.6% to 6.6% for 6 MV, and from 2.5% to 4.7% for 18 MV beams at 10 cm depth of the phantom with 20 cm backscatter. The percentage reduction in exit dose with no backscatter material at 25 cm depth with field size of 10 cm × 10 cm was 5.6%, 4.4%, and 4.0%, less than the dose with full backscatter thickness of 20 cm for Co-60 beam, 6 MV, and 18 MV beam. Conclusions: The promising results confirm that accurate in vivo exit dose measurements are possible with this potential dosimeter. This technique could be implemented as a part of quality assurance to achieve quality treatment in radiotherapy.

The effect of influence quantities and detector orientation on small-field patient-specific IMRT QA: comparison of measurements with various ionization chambers

Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) requires a patient-specific quality assurance (QA) program to validate the treatment plan and a high level of dosimetric accuracy in the treatment delivery. Dosimetric verification generally consists of both absolute- and relative-dose measurements in a phantom using ionization chambers. Measurements were carried out with three different ionization chambers (Scanditronix FC 65G, Exradin A18, and PTW PinPoint 31014) to assess the effects of influence quantities such as the stability, pre- and post-irradiation leakage, stem effect, polarity, and ion recombination on the IMRT point-dose verification with two different orientations. The Exradin A18 and PTW PinPoint ion chambers demonstrated noticeable leakage to magnitudes of 0.6 and 1.2%, whereas negligible leakage was observed with FC 65G ion chamber. Maximum deviations of 0.5 and 0.6% were noticed for the smallest field owing to the ion recombination effect with the PTW PinPoint ion chamber in the parallel and perpendicular orientations, respectively. The calculated total uncertainties of all influence quantities for the FC 65G, A18, and PTW PinPoint ion chambers were 0.5, 0.7, and 1.3%, respectively. The uncertainties determined for each chamber were incorporated into the point-dose measurements of 30 head and neck patient-specific QA plans, and the variation was found to be within ±3%. The magnitude of the leakage in a small-volume ion chamber indicated the significance of incorporating the correction factors in the absolute-dose measurement. A paired t test analysis indicated that the influence quantities significantly affect the point-dose measurements in the patient-specific IMRT QA.

Dosimetric Performance of Newly Developed Farmer-Type Ionization Chamber in Radiotherapy Practice

Dose measurement with ionization chamber is essential to deliver accurate dose to the tumor in radiotherapy. The cylindrical Farmer-type ionization chamber is recommended by various dosimetry protocols for dose measurement of radiotherapy beams. The air-equivalent graphite wall Farmer-type ionization chamber (FAR 65 GB) of active volume 0.65 cm3 with aluminum as the central electrode material was fabricated. Various dosimetric parameters were studied for the newly developed ionization chamber in cobalt-60, 6 and 18 MV photon beams. The preirradiation and postirradiation leakage of the chamber was within 0.08%. The long-term stability and the stem effect of the chamber were within 0.07% and 0.3%, respectively. The sensitivity of the ionization chamber was found to be 22.15 nC/Gy. The chamber shows linear response with dose for cobalt-60, 6 and 18 MV photon beams. The ion recombination correction factor increases with increase in bias voltage. For all energies and field sizes, the polarity correction factor is almost closer to unity. The ion recombination and polarity correction measurements show that the polarizing potential and polarity recommended during the calibration of ionization chamber should be used for routine measurement to avoid the uncertainty. The chamber response is independent of dose rate and energy. The chamber is cost-effective and shows precise and reproducible response. The study carried out confirms that the newly fabricated ion chamber can be used in the measurement of absolute dose for high-energy photon beams.

SU-F-T-05: Dosimetric Evaluation and Validation of Newlydeveloped Well Chamber for Use in the Calibration of Brachytherapy Sources

PURPOSE To evaluate the dosimetric characteristics of newly developed well type ionization chamber and to validate the results with the commercially available calibrated well chambers that are being used for the calibration of brachytherapy sources. METHODS The newly developed well type ionization chamber (BDS 1000) has been designed for the convenient use in brachytherapy which is open to atmospheric condition. The chamber has a volume of 240 cm3 and weight of 2.5 Kg. The calibration of the radioactive source with activities from 0.01 mCi to 20 Ci can be carried out using this chamber. The dosimetric parameters such as leakage current, stability, scattering effect, ion collection efficiency, reference air kerma rate and nominal response with energy were carried out with the BDS 1000 well type ion chamber. The evaluated dosimetric characteristics of BDS1000 well chamber were validated with two other commercially available well chambers (HDR 1000 plus and BTC/3007). RESULTS The measured leakage current observed was negligible for the newly developed BDS 1000 well type ion chamber. The ion collection efficiency was close to 1 and the response of the chamber was found to be very stable. The determined sweet spot was at 42 mm from bottom of the chamber insert. The reference air kerma rate was found to be 4.634 × 105 Gym2hr-1A-1 for the BDS 1000 well chamber. The overall dosimetric characteristics of BDS 1000 well chamber was in good agreement with the dosimetric properties of other two well chambers. CONCLUSION The dosimetric study shows that the newly developed BDS 1000 well type ionization chamber is high sensitive and reliable chamber for reference air kerma strength calibration. The results obtained confirm that this chamber can be used for the calibration of HDR and LDR brachytherapy sources.

Dosimetric evaluation of newly developed well-type ionization chamber for use in the calibration of brachytherapy sources

The well-type ionization chamber has been designed for convenient use in brachytherapy source strength calibration. The chamber has a volume of 240 cm 3 , weight of 2.5 kg, and is open to atmospheric conditions. The well-type ionization chamber dosimetric characteristics such as leakage current, stability, scattering effect, ion collection efficiency, and nominal response with energy were studied. The evaluated dosimetric characteristics of well-type ionization chamber were compared with two other commercially available well-type ionization chambers. The study shows that the newly developed well-type ionization chamber is reliable for air-kerma strength calibration. The results obtained confirm that this chamber can be used for the calibrations of high-dose rate brachytherapy sources.

Dosimetric Evaluation of Conventional Multileaf Collimator Based Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy Delivery Techniques; A Treatment Planning Study

The purpose of the study was to analyze the effects of the number of intensity levels on treatment planning outcome of static IMRT method with dynamic IMRT method and also to investigate the integral dose to non-target tissues in both the methods. The IMRT planning was carried out using Eclipse treatment planning system with millennium 120 multileaf collimator (Varian Clinac- 2100 DHX). Five cases each of head and neck, cervix and esophagus cancer were selected for this study. For each case, planning was carried out using both delivery methods. Further for the static IMRT, different numbers of intensity levels ranging from 5 to 20 were studied. The optimization values were kept common for both the techniques and only the leaf motion calculation was varied. The parameters associated with the Dose volume histograms were examined for a more quantitative comparison. The integral doses (0.5 Gy to 30 Gy) of Non-target tissues were also calculated for both techniques. Analyses were performed using a t test to determine difference in any of the parameters examined. For three sites studied, there were no significant changes observed between static IMRT (above 10 intensity levels) and dynamic IMRT method. However there were significant differences observed with 5 intensity level static IMRT plans compared to dynamic IMRT plans. There were no significant changes observed in normal tissue dose values between static IMRT plans and dynamic IMRT plans. The total number of monitor unit was more for dynamic IMRT plans compared to static IMRT plans for all three sites. The integral doses from 0.5 Gy to 30 Gy were analyzed and no significant changes were observed between static IMRT and dynamic IMRT plans.