The ultimate check of the actual dose delivered to a patient in radiotherapy can be achieved by using dosimetric measurements. The aims of this study were to develop and evaluate a custom handmade head and neck phantom for evaluation of Three-Dimensional Conformal Radiation Therapy (3D-CRT) dose planning and delivery. A phantom of head and neck region of a medium built male patient with nasopharyngeal cancer was constructed from Perspex material. Primary and secondary Planning Target Volume (PTV) and twelve Organs at Risk (OAR) were delineated using Treatment Planning System (TPS) guided by computed tomography printout transverse images. One hundred and seven (107) holes distributed among the organs were loaded with Rod-shaped Thermoluminescent dosimeters (LiF:Mg,Ti TLDs) after common and individual calibration. Head and neck phantom was imaged, planned and irradiated conformally (3D-CRT) by linear accelerator (LINAC Siemens Artiste). The planned predicted doses by TPS at PTV and OAR regions were obtained and compared with the TLD measured doses using the phantom. Repeated TLD measurements were reproducible with a percent standard deviation of < 3.5%. Moreover, the average of dose discrepancies between TLDs reading and TPS predicted doses were found to be < 5.3%. The phantom’s preliminary results have proved to be a valuable tool for 3D-CRT treatment dose verification.
The mass attenuation coefficients of Rhizophora spp. binderless particleboard with four different particle sizes (samples A, B, C and D) and natural raw Rhizophora spp. wood (sample E) were determined using single-beam photon transmission in the energy range between 16.59 and 25.26 keV. This was done by determining the attenuation of K(α1) X-ray fluorescent (XRF) photons from niobium, molybdenum, palladium, silver and tin targets. The results were compared with theoretical values of young-age breast (Breast 1) and water calculated using a XCOM computer program. It was found that the mass attenuation coefficient of Rhizophora spp. binderless particleboards to be close to the calculated XCOM values in water than natural Rhizophora spp. wood. Computed tomography (CT) scans were then used to determine the density profile of the samples. The CT scan results showed that the Rhizophora spp. binderless particleboard has uniform density compared to natural Rhizophora spp. wood. In general, the differences in the variability of the profile density decrease as the particle size of the pellet samples decreases.
The mass attenuation coefficients (mu/rho) of Rhizophora spp. were determined for photons in the energy range of 15.77-25.27 keV. This was carried out by studying the attenuation of X-ray fluorescent photons from zirconium, molybdenum, palladium, silver, indium and tin targets. The results were compared with theoretical values for average breast tissues in young-age, middle-age and old-age groups calculated using photon cross section database (XCOM), the well-known code for calculating attenuation coefficients and interaction cross-sections. The measured mass attenuation coefficients were found to be very close to the calculated XCOM values in breasts of young-age group.
The thermoluminescence (TL) glow curves and kinetics parameters of Thulium (Tm) doped silica cylindrical fibers (CF) are presented. A linear accelerator (LINAC) was used to deliver high-energy radiation of 21MeV electrons and 10MV photons. The CFs were irradiated in the dose range of 0.2-10Gy. The experimental glow curve data was reconstructed by using WinREMS. The WinGCF software was used for the kinetic parameters evaluation. The TL sensitivity of Tm-doped silica CF is about 2 times higher as compared to pure silica CF. Tm-doped silica CF seems to be more sensitive to 21MeV electrons than to 10MV photons. Surprisingly, no supralinearity was displayed and a sub-linear response of Tm-doped silica CF was observed within the analyzed dose range for both 21MeV electrons and 10MV photons. The Tm-doped silica CF glow curve consists of 5 individual glow peaks. The Ea of peak 4 and peak 5 was highly dependent on dose when irradiated with photons. We also noticed that the electron radiation (21MeV) caused a shift of glow peak by 7-13°C to the higher temperature region compared with photons radiation (10MV). Our Tm-doped fibers seem to give high TL response after 21MeV electrons, which gives around 2 times higher peak integral as compared with 10MV photon radiation. We concluded that peak 4 is the first-order kinetic peak and can be used as the main dosimetric peak of Tm-doped silica CF.
The aim of this study was to determine the suitability of tannin-added Rhizophora spp. particleboards as phantom materials in the application of low- and high-energy photons. The tannin-added Rhizophora spp. particleboards and density plug phantoms were created with a target density of 1.0 g/cm3. The elemental composition and effective atomic number of the particleboards were measured using energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The mass attenuation coefficient of the particleboards for low-energy photons were measured using the attenuation of X-ray fluorescence. The mass attenuation coefficients of high-energy photons were measured using the attenuation of 137Cs and 60Co gamma energies. The results were compared to the calculated value of water using XCOM calculations. The results showed that the effective atomic number and mass attenuation coefficients of tannin-added Rhizophora spp. particleboards were similar to those of water, indicating the suitability of tannin-added Rhizophora spp. particleboards as phantom materials for low- and high-energy photons.
In regard to thermoluminescence (TL) applied to dosimetry, in recent times a number of researchers have explored the role of optical fibers for radiation detection and measurement. Many of the studies have focused on the specific dopant concentration, the type of dopant and the fiber core diameter, all key dependencies in producing significant increase in the sensitivity of such fibers. At doses of less than 1 Gy none of these investigations have addressed the relationship between dose response and TL glow peak behavior of erbium (Er)-doped silica cylindrical fibers (CF). For x-rays obtained at accelerating potentials from 70 to 130 kVp, delivering doses of between 0.1 and 0.7 Gy, present study explores the issue of dose response, special attention being paid to determination of the kinetic parameters and dosimetric peak properties of Er-doped CF. The effect of dose response on the kinetic parameters of the glow peak has been compared against other fiber types, revealing previously misunderstood connections between kinetic parameters and radiation dose. Within the investigated dose range there was an absence of supralinearity of response of the Er-doped silica CF, instead sub-linear response being observed. Detailed examination of glow peak response and kinetic parameters has thus been shown to shed new light of the rarely acknowledged issue of the limitation of TL kinetic model and sub-linear dose response of Er-doped silica CF.