ABSTRACT
Recent developments of new therapy techniques using small photon beams, such as stereotactic radiotherapy, require suitable detectors to determine the delivered dose with a high accuracy. The dosimeter has to be as close as possible to tissue equivalence and to exhibit a small detection volume compared to the size of the irradiation field, because of the lack of lateral electronic equilibrium in small beam. Characteristics of single crystal diamond (tissue equivalent material Z = 6, high density) make it an ideal candidate to fulfil most of small beam dosimetry requirements. A commercially available Element Six electronic grade synthetic diamond was used to develop a single crystal diamond dosimeter (SCDDo) with a small detection volume (0.165 mm(3)). Long term stability was studied by irradiating the SCDDo in a (60)Co beam over 14 h. A good stability (deviation less than ± 0.1%) was observed. Repeatability, dose linearity, dose rate dependence and energy dependence were studied in a 10 × 10 cm(2) beam produced by a Varian Clinac 2100 C linear accelerator. SCDDo lateral dose profile, depth dose curve and output factor (OF) measurements were performed for small photon beams with a micro multileaf collimator m3 (BrainLab) attached to the linac. This study is focused on the comparison of SCDDo measurements to those obtained with different commercially available active detectors: an unshielded silicon diode (PTW 60017), a shielded silicon diode (Sun Nuclear EDGE), a PinPoint ionization chamber (PTW 31014) and two natural diamond detectors (PTW 60003). SCDDo presents an excellent spatial resolution for dose profile measurements, due to its small detection volume. Low energy dependence (variation of 1.2% between 6 and 18 MV photon beam) and low dose rate dependence of the SCDDo (variation of 1% between 0.53 and 2.64 Gy min(-1)) are obtained, explaining the good agreement between the SCDDo and the efficient unshielded diode (PTW 60017) in depth dose curve measurements. For field sizes ranging from 0.6 × 0.6 to 10 × 10 cm(2), OFs obtained with the SCDDo are between the OFs measured with the PinPoint ionization chamber and the Sun Nuclear EDGE diode that are known to respectively underestimate and overestimate OF values in small beam, due to the large detection volume of the chamber and the non-water equivalence of both detectors.
Subject(s)
Diamond/chemistry , Radiometry/instrumentation , Photons/therapeutic use , Time Factors , WaterABSTRACT
LNE-LNHB is involved in a European project aiming at establishing absorbed dose-to-water standards for photon-radiation fields down to 2 × 2 cm². This requires the calibration of reference ionization chambers of small volume. Twenty-four ionization chambers of eight different types with volume ranging from 0.007 to 0.057 cm³ were tested in a 6°Co beam. For each chamber, two major characteristics were investigated: (1) the stability of the measured current as a function of the irradiation time under continuous irradiation. At LNE-LNHB, the variation of the current should be less than ±0.1% in comparison with its first value (over a 16 h irradiation time); (2) the variation of the ionization current with the applied polarizing voltage and polarity. Leakage currents were also measured. Results show that (1) every tested PTW (31015, 31016 and 31014) and Exradin A1SL chambers demonstrate a satisfying stability under irradiation. Other types of chambers have a stability complying with the stability criterion for some or none of them. (2) IBA CC01, IBA CC04 and Exradin A1SL show a proper response as a function of applied voltage for both polarities. PTW, Exradin A14SL and Exradin A16 do not. Only three types of chambers were deemed suitable as reference chambers according to LNE-LNHB requirements and specifications from McEwen (2010 Med. Phys. 37 2179-93): Exradin A1SL chambers (3/3), IBA CC04 (2/3) and IBA CC01 (1/3). The Exradin A1SL type with an applied polarizing voltage of 150 V was chosen as an LNE-LNHB reference chamber type in 2 × 2 cm² radiation fields.
