Volume 35, Issue 12 p. 5463-5470
Radiation measurement physics

Absolute and relative dose measurements with Gafchromic™ EBT film for high energy electron beams with different doses per pulse

Christian Fiandra

Christian Fiandra

Radiation Oncology Department, University of Turin, Turin 10126, Italy

Electronic mail: [email protected]

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Riccardo Ragona

Riccardo Ragona

Radiation Oncology Department, University of Turin, Turin 10126, Italy

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Umberto Ricardi

Umberto Ricardi

Radiation Oncology Department, University of Turin, Turin 10126, Italy

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Silvia Anglesio

Silvia Anglesio

S.C. Fisica Sanitaria 1, S. Giovanni Battista Hospital, Turin 10126, Italy

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Francesca Romana Giglioli

Francesca Romana Giglioli

S.C. Fisica Sanitaria 1, S. Giovanni Battista Hospital, Turin 10126, Italy

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First published: 12 November 2008
Citations: 12

Abstract

The authors have evaluated the accuracy, in absolute and relative dose measurements, of the Gafchromic™ EBT film in pulsed high-energy electron beams. Typically, the electron beams used in radiotherapy have a dose-per-pulse value of less than urn:x-wiley:00942405:media:mp5975:mp5975-math-0001/pulse. However, very high dose-per-pulse electron beams are employed in certain linear accelerators dedicated to intraoperatory radiation therapy (IORT). In this study, the absorbed dose measurements with Gafchromic™ EBT in both low (less than urn:x-wiley:00942405:media:mp5975:mp5975-math-0002 per pulse) and high (30 and urn:x-wiley:00942405:media:mp5975:mp5975-math-0003 per pulse) dose-per-pulse electron beams were compared with ferrous sulfate chemical Fricke dosimetry (operated by the Italian Primary Standard Dosimetry Laboratory), a method independent of the dose per pulse. A summary of Gafchromic™ EBT in relative and absolute beam output determination is reported. This study demonstrates the independence of Gafchromic™ EBT absorption as a function of dose per pulse at different dose levels. A good agreement (within 3%) was found with Fricke dosimeters for plane-base IORT applicators. Comparison with a diode detector is presented for relative dose measurements, showing acceptable agreement both in the steep dose falloff zone and in the homogeneous dose region. This work also provides experimental values for recombination correction factor urn:x-wiley:00942405:media:mp5975:mp5975-math-0004 of a Roos (plane parallel) ionization chamber calculated on the basis of theoretical models for charge recombination.