Ionizing radiation field

Radiation field striking a small sphere:

Basic principles of dosimetry

Eirik Malinen

Fluence: =

dN da

(da is the great circle area)

dE dA

Energy Fluence: =

KERMA
A photon field with total energy Rin,u enters a volume, while Rout,u-rl is the energy leaving the volume:
Rin,u
V

Components of KERMA
Kerma includes all kinetic energy given to secondary electrons, and this energy may be lost by:
Rout,u-rl Collisions Radiative losses

Kerma may be divided into two components: K=Kc+Kr Kc: collision Kerma; provides a measure of the energy loss per unit mass from photons resulting in collisional losses for secondary electrons!

Energy transferred:

tr = R in , u R out , u rl + Q
KERMA (kinetic energy release per mass):
K= d tr = tr dm

Collision Kerma
Is defined by: d n K c = tr dm n Net energy transfer tr : total kinetic energy of secondary electrons which is not lost as brehmsstrahlung May take radiative losses into account by defining the qantity g; the fraction of kinetic energi lost as brehmsstrahlung K c = K(1 g) = tr (1 g) en Definition: tr (1 g) en/: mass energy absorption coefficient

Absorbed dose
Look at all energy transport (both charged and uncharged particles) through the volume of interest:
Rin,u+Rin,c Rout,u+Rout,c

= R in ,u + R in ,c R out ,u R out ,c + Q
Absorbed dose:

D=

d dm

unit: [Gy] = [J/kg]

Dose from photons, CPE

CPE:
v

TCPE
Transient Charged Particle Equilibrium: electrons originating from upstream contributes to the dose, while the photon contribution (Rin,u-Rout,u) is given by the collision Kerma Assumption: absorbed dose propotional to Kc

If charged particle equilibrium (CPE) is present, Rin,c = Rout,c Energy imparted:

= R in,u + R in ,c R out ,u R out,c = R in ,u R out,u = n tr

In this case, absorbed dose equals collision Kerma:

TCPE

D = K c (1 + f TCPE ) f TCPE 0

D=

= = K c = en m m
CPE

n tr

Dose from charged particles

If no photon interactions, equilibrium of secondary electrons, constant stopping power over point of interest:

Exposure
Exposure, X : number of charges Q (either positive or negative) prodused in a gass of mass m:

Scol D =

X=

dQ dm

Number of charges per mass proprtional to dose: X Dair

The quantity relating X to Dair is the mean energy per ion pair:

W/e =

E N

Energy lost by ionizing particle Number of ion pairs produced

Dose to air, Dair

For air, W / e is 33.97 J/C The dose to air:

Bragg-Gray cavity theory

e-,p, ....

S Dcav = cav S Dwall = wall

D air =

QW W = X m e air e air

cav wall

Thus, by measuring the number of charges produced per mass unit of air, Dair may be determined indepedent of the radiation quality ( W / e is close to being constant for all electron- and photon energies)

Dcav S = Dwall wall

cav

B-G conditions: 1. Charged particle fluence is not perturbed by cavity 2. Absorbed dose entirely due to charged particles

Applied BG theory
Estimate dose to medium from measurements of ionizations in air:
W med med D med = D air Sair = X Sair e air

Stopping power ratios

Ionization chamber
Ionometry: the art of measuring ionizations Number of ionizations proportional to dose Air filled ionization chamber (thimble):

Parallel-plate ionization chamber

~ 300 V

Dosimeter calibration (ion chambers)

Problems with ion chambers is e.g. inacuracies in determining air volume In practice, the ion chamber is calibrated at a point where the dose is known performed at a primary standards laboratory (PSDL)

Dosimeter calibration
For a given dose to water, Dw, an ion chamber reading M is obtained. Thus:

D w M D w = MN D,w The calibration factor is: N D,w = Dw M

electrometer

, e-

Ion chamber

A given dose gives reading M

Thus, the dose may be determined without using W/e, en/ etc

H2O

Dosimeter calibration
Calibration factor is dependent on radiation type and energy Usually, the chamber is calibrated in a well defined field, e.g. 60Co -rays (average energy 1.25 MeV) Corrections of the calibration factor, kQ, is thus introduced for other energies (radiation qualities, e.g. 15 MV X-rays)

Film dosimeters
Radiographic film: Ionization of AgBr in the grains forms the latent image in the film Light transmission is a function of the film opacity and can be measured in terms of optical density (OD) with densitometers

Film dosimeters
Radiochromic film: special dye gets polymerized upon exposure to radiation. The polymer absorbs light and the transmission of light through the film can be measured with a suitable densitometer

Thermoluminescence dosimetry
Thermoluminescence (TL): thermally activated luminescence Measures the amount of visible light emitted from a crystal when heated

Thermoluminescence dosimetry
Glow curve

Thermoluminescence dosimetry
Supralinear dose response

Thermoluminescence dosimetry
Energy dependence

Diode dosimetry
Radiation produces electron-hole (e-h) pairs. The charges (minority carriers) produced in the dosimeter are swept across the depletion region under the action of the electric field. In this way a current is generated in the reverse direction in the diode.

spherical

droplet

Diode dosimetry
Detector temperature after placing on patient Sensitivity dependence

Diode dosimetry
Dependence on accumulated dose

Diode dosimetry
Field size dependence

In vivo dosimetry
In vivo: In the living Verification of delivered dose to individual patients Radiotherapy requires accurate dose delivery
Probalility

error

Prescribed dose

In vivo dosimetry sources of error

Patient contour / planning basis (CT images) Patient motion Organ motion Dose calculations (inhomogeneities, scatter) Patient positioning Transfer of treatment data from simulator to linac Linac settings (energy, monitor units, field size) and calibration Beam modifiers (blocks, wedges)

Dose characteristics

Measurement issues
Point detector

Desired dosimeter properties

Accurate and precise

beam
2D detector array

wedge

Entrance dose:
Output, SSD

Patient curvature

Wedge, curvature

Multiple readouts Reusability No cables Non-destructive readout

High accuracy Low precision

Low accuracy High precision

Exit dose:
Thickness, density

Dosimeter reading absorbed dose

Absorbed dose, D:

Calibration
Under reference conditions:

D = RN D Ci
i

beam

dosimeter

R: dosimeter reading ND: calibration factor Ci: correction factor Dcal

dmax ion chamber

Rcal

water phantom

ND =

Dcal Rcal

Clinical example

Measured dose / prescribed dose

Action level: 2.5%
measured dose dose after correction

r = 1.008

= 1.2%

Distribution of measurements