• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.185-192
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• 1998

It is necessarily to evaluate the energy of X-ray emitted from linear accelerator in order to determine the accurate absorbed dose. The method of direct measurement for x-ray energy is very difficult and impractical. Therefore the method of using beam quality index is generally used. Several dosimetry protocols recommend the use of quality indices such as depth of dose maximum at radiation central axis, dose gradient, and dose level. The linear accelerator manufactures follow the recommendation as dosimetry protocols. The study was performed for us to select the most suitable parameter among the Quality indices as described above. For photon beams of 4, 6, 10, 15, and 21 MV nominal energies produced by four kinds of accelerators(Mitsubishi, Scanditronix, Siemens, Varian) in eleven institutions, We evaluated the x-ray energies obtained by the Quality indices as recommended by several dosimetry protocols and manufactures. Results showed that there were energy spreads according to the same accelerators and Quality indices even though nominal energies were same. It appeared that the percent depth dose at 10 cm (D$_{10}$(%)) gave the smallest deviation and spread of energies. As energies increased, the energy deviation increased for all the quality indices. It is desirable for the use of unified quality index to compare the evaluation of beam quality at different institutions.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.97-105
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• 2009

Absorbed dose to water based protocols recommended that plane-parallel chambers be calibrated against calibrated cylindrical chambers in a high energy electron beam with $R_{50}$>7 $g/cm^2$ (E${\gtrsim}$16 MeV). However, such high-energy electron beams are not available at all radiotherapy centers. In this study, we are compared the absorbed dose to water determined according to cross-calibration method in a high energy electron beam of 16 MeV and in electron beam energies of 12 MeV below the cross-calibration quality remark. Absorbed dose were performed for PTW 30013, Wellhofer FC65G Farmer type cylindrical chamber and for PTW 34001, Wellhofer PPC40 Roos type plane-parallel chamber. The cylindrical and the plane-parallel chamber to be calibrated are compared by alternately positioning each at reference depth, $Z_{ret}=0.6R_{50}-0.1$ in water phantom. The $D_W$ of plane-parallel chamber are derived using across-calibration method at high-energy electron beams of 16, 20 MeV. Then a good agreement is obtained the $D_W$ of plane-parallel chamber in 12 MeV. The agreement between 20 MeV and 12 MeV are within 0.2% for IAEA TRS-398.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.229-233
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• 2012

A small water phantom (dual-window phantom) was developed to improve the output measurement efficiency of medical linacs. This phantom is suitable for determining the quality index and output dose for high-energy photon beams. The phantom has two opposite windows and two independently rotating axes. The two axes measure the tissue phantom ratio (TPR) and the percentage depth dose (PDD) simply without requiring chamber movement by rotating the phantom around its axis. High-energy photon beams from a Co-60 irradiator and a medical linac were used to evaluate the phantom. The measured quality index is in good agreement with the reference values; the measured and reference values are within 0.2% of each other for the Co-60 gamma rays and within 1.4% for 6 and 10 MV X-rays. This phantom is more practical for routine output measurements, resulting in the prevention of potential human errors.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2015

The C-band compact linear accelerator (linac) is being developed at Dongnam Institute of radiological & Medical Sciences (DIRAMS) for medical and industrial applications. This paper was focused on the output measurement of the electron beam generated from the prototype electron linac. The dose rate was measured in unit of cGy/min per unit pulse frequency according to the IAEA TRS-398 protocol. Exradin-A10 Markus type plane parallel chamber used for the measurement was calibrated in terms of dose to water at the reference depth in water. The beam quality index ($R_{50}$) was determined by the radiochromic film with a solid water phantom approximately due to low energy electrons. As a result, the determined electron beam output was $17.0cGy/(min{\cdot}Hz$. The results were used to monitor the accelerator performance during the development procedure.