• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.59-64
• /
• 1995

The aim of presentation is to obtain the beam parameters for tratment planning of steretactic radiosurgery. The dosimerical parameters such as TMR, scatter factor, and OAR was measured using diode, film, micro ion chamber, and thimble chanber for water phantom scanning. The results were compared each other. As a result, we determined OAR from film and scatter factor and TMR from diode as a basic data for treatment planning.

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.15-19
• /
• 2003

High dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy for treating a cervix carcinoma has become popular, because it eliminates many of the problems associated with conventional brachytherapy. In order to improve the clinical effectiveness with HDR brachytherapy, a dose calculation algorithm, optimization procedures, and image registrations need to be verified by comparing the dose distributions from a planning computer and those from a phantom. In this study, the phantom was fabricated in order to verify the absolute doses and the relative dose distributions. The measured doses from the phantom were then compared with the treatment planning system for the dose verification. The phantom needs to be designed such that the dose distributions can be quantitatively evaluated by utilizing the dosimeters with a high spatial resolution. Therefore, the small size of the thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD) chips with a dimension of <1/8"and film dosimetry with a spatial resolution of <1mm used to measure the radiation dosages in the phantom. The phantom called a pelvic phantom was made from water and the tissue-equivalent acrylic plates. In order to firmly hold the HDR applicators in the water phantom, the applicators were inserted into the grooves of the applicator holder. The dose distributions around the applicators, such as Point A and B, were measured by placing a series of TLD chips (TLD-to-TLD distance: 5mm) in the three TLD holders, and placing three verification films in the orthogonal planes. This study used a Nucletron Plato treatment planning system and a Microselectron Ir-192 source unit. The results showed good agreement between the treatment plan and measurement. The comparisons of the absolute dose showed agreement within $\pm$4.0 % of the dose at point A and B, and the bladder and rectum point. In addition, the relative dose distributions by film dosimetry and those calculated by the planning computer show good agreement. This pelvic phantom could be a useful to verify the dose calculation algorithm and the accuracy of the image localization algorithm in the high dose rate (HDR) planning computer. The dose verification with film dosimetry and TLD as quality assurance (QA) tools are currently being undertaken in the Catholic University, Seoul, Korea.

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.340-347
• /
• 2010

DQA, a patient specific quality assurance in tomotherapy, is usually performed using an ion chamber and a film. The result of DQA is analysed with the treatment planning system called Tomo Planning Station (TomoPS). The two-dimensional dose distribution of film measurement is compared with the dose distribution calculated by TomoPS using the ${\gamma}$-index analysis. In ${\gamma}$-index analysis, the criteria such as 3%/3 mm is used and we verify that whether the rate of number of points which pass the criteria (pass rate) is within tolerance. TomoPS does not provide any quantitative information regarding the pass rate. In this work, a method to get the pass rate of the ${\gamma}$-index analysis was suggested and a software PassRT which calculates the pass rate was developed. The results of patient specific QA of the intensity modulated radiation therapy measured with I'mRT MatriXX (IBA Dosimetry, Germany) and DQA of tomotherapy measured with film were used to verify the proposed method. The pass rate was calculated using PassRT and compared with the pass rate calculated by OmniPro I'mRT (IBA Dosimetry, Germany). The average difference between the two pass rates was 0.00% for the MatriXX measurement. The standard deviation and the maximum difference were 0.02% and 0.02%, respectively. For the film measurement, average difference, standard deviation and maximum difference were 0.00%, 0.02% and 0.02%, respectively. For regions of interest smaller than $24.3{\times}16.6cm^2$ the proposed method can be used to calculate the pass rate of the gamma index analysis to one decimal place and will be helpful for the more accurate DQA in tomotherapy.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.43-61
• /
• 2004

Purpose : For qualify improvement in radiotherapy, it is important to set up and evaluate equipment (linac) accurately. In addition, technicians are needed to be fully aware of the equipment's detailed quality and its manual. Therefore, the result of ATP is evaluated and introduced, in order that the technicians are skilled by participating in quality assurance (QA) and understanding the quality of the equipment before clinical use. Method and Material : QA for LINAC 21EX (Varian, US) was done with suppliers its procedure was divided into radiation survey, mechanical test, radiation isocenter test, bean performance, dosimetry, and enhanced dynamic wedge and using X-omat film (Kodak), multidata, densitometer, and electrometer. QA of MLC (Millennium, 120 leaf) attached to LINAC and EPID (Portal vision) were done separately. Result : The leakage dose by survey meter was below the tolerance. In mechanical test, collimater, gantry, and couch rotation were less than 1mm, and the angles were ${\pm}0.1^{\circ}$ for digital and ${\pm}0.5^{\circ}$ for mechanical. The alignment test of the light field and crosshair were evaluated less than 1mm. The (a)symmetrical jaw field was less than ${\pm}0.5mm$. The radiation isocenter test using X-mat film was less than 1mm. The consistency of light field and radiation field was less than ${\pm}0.1mm$. PDD for photon energy was less than ${\pm}1\%$ and for electron energy of $90\%,\;80\%,\;50\%,\;and\;30\%$ were evaluated within the tolerance. Flatness for photon and electron energy was evaluated $2.3\%$ (tolerance $3\%$) and $3\%$ (tolerance $4.5\%$), respectively, and symmetry was $0.45\%$ (tolerance $2\%$) and $0.3\%$ (tolerance $2\%$), respectively. Dosimetry test for short term, MU setting, rep rate, and dose rate accuracy of photon and electron energy was within the tolerance depending on energy, MU, and gantry angle. Conclusion : Accuracy and safety for clinical use of Clinac 21EX was verified through customer acceptance procedure and the quality of the equipment was found out. These can reduce the difficulties in using the equipment. Furthermore, it is useful for clinically treatment of patients by technicians' active participations.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.37-49
• /
• 2002

The accuracy of radiation dose delivery to target volume is one of the most important factors for good local control and less treatment complication. In vivo dosimetry is an essential QA procedure to confirm the radiation dose delivered to the patients. Transmission dose measurement is a useful method of in vivo dosimetry and it's advantages are non-invasiveness, simplicity and no additional efforts needed for dosimetry. In our department, in vivo dosimetry system using measurement of transmission dose was manufactured and algorithms for estimation of transmission dose were developed and tested with phantom in various conditions successfully. This system was applied in clinic to test stability, reproducibility and applicability to daily treatment and the accuracy of the algorithm. Transmission dose measurement was performed over three weeks. To test the reproducibility of this system, X-tay output was measured before daily treatment and then every hour during treatment time in reference condition(field size; $10 cm{\times} 10 cm$, 100 MU). Data of 11 patients whose pelvis were treated more than three times were analyzed. The reproducibility of the dosimetry system was acceptable with variations of measurement during each day and over 3 week period within ${\pm}2.0%$. On anterior- posterior and posterior fields, mean errors were between -5.20% and +2.20% without bone correction and between -0.62% and +3.32% with bone correction. On right and left lateral fields, mean errors were between -10.80% and +3.46% without bone correction and between -0.55% and +3.50% with bone correction. As the results, we could confirm the reproducibility and stability of our dosimetry system and its applicability in daily radiation treatment. We could also find that inhomogeneity correction for bone is essential and the estimated transmission doses are relatively accurate.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.5 no.3
• /
• pp.223-233
• /
• 1973

Thirty two different kinds of domestic plastic films for use in measuring high gamma-ray dose have been collected and their dosimetric characteristics investigated with the help of a Co-60 gamma radiation source. Among them a rigid polyvinyl chloride(PVC) film of 0.06mm in thickness which is manufactured by Lucky Chemical Co., Korea, seem to be the most suitable one for this purpose. The relation between optical density at 3100$\AA$ and radiation exposure in this PVC film was linear in the range of 0.6$\times$10$^{6}$ R to 1.3$\times$10$^{7}$ R, and also the film showed a good reproducibility within 9% under the standard experimental condition. The effect of absorbed dose, oxygen content of surrounding atmosphere and irradiation temperature have also been studied for this film. It appeared to have a good property in the dosimetrical point of view.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.40 no.4
• /
• pp.261-266
• /
• 2015

As performance of electronic personal dosimeter (EPD) used for auxiliary personal dosimeter in nuclear power plants (NPPs) has been being continuously improved, we investigated application cases in Korea and other countries and also tested it in NPPs to assess the performance of EPD for external radiation dosimetry. Result of performance tests done in domestic NPPs was similar to those obtained by IAEA in cooperation with EURADOS (IAEA-TECDOC-1564). In addition, EPD/TLD dose ratio has shown similar tendency of EPD/Film-badge dose ratio from the research by the Japan Atomic Power Company (JAPC) and EPD provided more conservative value than TLD or Film-badge. Although some EPD's failures have been discussed, EPD has shown continuous improvement according to the report of Institute of Nuclear Power Operation (INPO) and data from domestic NPPs. In conclusion, It is considered that the general performance of EPD is adequate for external radiation dosimetry compared with that of TLD, providing appropriate performance checking procedure and alternative measures for functional failure.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.27-33
• /
• 2007

Purpose: We have performed SRS (stereotactic radiosurgery) for avm (arterry vein malformation) and brain cancer. In order to verify dose and localization of SRS, dose distributions from TPS ($X-Knife^{(R)}$ 3.0, Radionics, USA) and GafChromic $EBT^{(R)}$ film in a head phantom were compared. Materials and Methods: In this study, head and neck region of conventional humanoid phantom was modified by substituting one of 2.5 cm slap with five 0.5 cm acrylic plates to stack the GafChromic $EBT^{(R)}$ film slice by slice with 5 mm intervals. Four films and five acrylic plates were cut along the contour of head phantom in axial plane. The head phantom was fixed with SRS head ring and adapted SRS localizer as same as real SRS procedure. CT images of the head phantom were acquired in 5 mm slice intervals as film interval. Five arc 6 MV photon beams using the SRS cone with 2 cm diameter were delivered 300 cGy to the target in the phantom. Ten small pieces of the film were exposed to 0, 50, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900 cGy, respectively to calibrate the GafChromic $EBT^{(R)}$ film. The films in the phantom were digitized after 24 hours and its linearity was calibrated. The pixel values of the film were converted to the dose and compared with the dose distribution from the TPS calculation. Results: Calibration curve for the GafChromic $EBT^{(R)}$ film was linear up to 900 cGy. The R2 value was better than 0.992. Discrepancy between calculated from $X-Knife^{(R)}$ 3.0 and measured dose distributions with the film was less than 5% through all slices. Conclusion: It was possible to evaluate every slice of humanoid phantom by stacking the GafChromic EBT film which is suitable for 2 dimensional dosimetry, It was found that film dosimetry using the GafChromic $EBT^{(R)}$ film is feasible for routine dosimetric QA of stereotactic radiosurgery.

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.179-184
• /
• 2021

This study aimed to determine the optimal thickness of the active layer and scan mode for a flexible radiochromic film (F-RCF) based on the active lithium salt of pentacosa-10,12-diynoic acid (LiPCDA). F-RCFs of 90, 120, 140, and 170-㎛ thickness were fabricated using LiPCDA. Several pieces of the F-RCFs were exposed to doses ranging from 0 to 3 Gy. Transmission and reflection modes were used to scan the irradiated F-RCFs. Their dose-response curves were obtained using a second-order polynomial equation. Their sensitivity was evaluated for both scanning modes, and the uniformity of the batch was also examined. For both the transmission and reflection modes, the sensitivity increased as the film thickness increased. For the reflection mode, the dose response increased dramatically under 1 Gy. The value of the net optical density varied rapidly as the thickness of the film increased. However, the dose-response curves showed a supralinear-curve relationship at doses greater than 2 Gy. The sensitivity of the reflection scan at doses greater than 2 Gy was higher than that of the reflection scan within 0-2 Gy. The sensitivity steadily decreased with increasing doses, and the sensitivity of the two modes was within 0.1 to 0.2 at 2 Gy and was saturated beyond that. For the transmission scan, the sensitivity was approximately 0.2 at 3 Gy. For the intra-batch test result, the maximum net optical density difference of the intra-batch was 5.5% at 2 Gy and 7.4% at 0.2 Gy in the transmission and reflection scans, respectively. In the low-dose range, film thickness of more than 120-㎛ was proper in the transmission mode. In contrast, the transmission mode showed a better result compared to the reflection mode. Therefore, the proper scan mode should be selected according to the dose range.

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.80-87
• /
• 2022

Purpose: Proton therapy has different relative biological effectiveness (RBE) compared with X-ray treatment, which is the standard in radiation therapy, and the fixed RBE value of 1.1 is widely used. However, RBE depends on a charged particle's linear energy transfer (LET); therefore, measuring LET is important. We have developed a LET measurement method using the inefficiency characteristic of an EBT3 film on a proton beam's Bragg peak (BP) region. Methods: A Gafchromic EBT3 film was used to measure the proton beam LET. It measured the dose at a 10-cm pristine BP proton beam in water to determine the quenching factor of the EBT3 film as a reference beam condition. Monte Carlo (MC) calculations of dose-averaged LET (LET_d) were used to determine the quenching factor and validation. The dose-averaged LETs at the 12-, 16-, and 20-cm pristine BP proton beam in water were calculated with the quenching factor. Results: Using the passive scattering proton beam nozzle of the National Cancer Center in Korea, the LET_d was measured for each beam range. The quenching factor was determined to be 26.15 with 0.3% uncertainty under the reference beam condition. The dose-averaged LETs were measured for each test beam condition. Conclusions: We developed a method for measuring the proton beam LET using an EBT3 film. This study showed that the magnitude of the quenching effect can be estimated using only one beam range, and the quenching factor determined under the reference condition can be applied to any therapeutic proton beam range.