Phantom scatter corrections of radiochromic films in high-energy brachytherapy dosimetry: a Monte Carlo study.

Our aim in this study was to calculate Monte Carlo-based phantom scatter corrections of various radiochromic films for different solid phantoms for high-energy brachytherapy sources. Brachytherapy sources (60)Co, (137)Cs, (192)Ir, and (169)Yb and radiochromic films EBT, EBT2 (lot 020609 and lot 031109), RTQA, XRT, XRQA, and HS were investigated in this study. The solid phantom materials investigated were PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate), polystyrene, solid water, virtual water, plastic water, RW1, RW3, A150, and WE210. Monte Carlo-based user codes DOSRZnrc and FLURZnrc of the EGSnrc code system were employed in the present work. For the (60)Co source, the polystyrene, plastic water, solid water, virtual water, RW1, RW3, and WE210 phantoms were water equivalent for the investigated films, but showed distance-dependent values for XRT and XRQA films. For the (137)Cs and (192)Ir sources, the solid water, virtual water, RW1, RW3, and WE210 phantoms were water equivalent for the investigated films, but showed distance-dependent values for XRT and XRQA films. For these sources, the remaining phantoms showed distance-dependent values for all of the films investigated. For the (169)Yb source, all of the investigated phantoms showed distance-dependent values for the investigated films. This study suggests that radiochromic films demonstrate distance-dependent values, but the degree of dependence is related to the types of solid phantom and film. Hence, for brachytherapy dosimetry involving radiochromic films and solid phantom materials, phantom scatter corrections need to be applied.

Monte Carlo-based beam quality and phantom scatter corrections for solid-state detectors in 60Co and 192Ir brachytherapy dosimetry.

Beam quality correction, kQQ0(r), for solid-state detectors diamond, LiF, Li2B4O7, Al2O3, and plastic scintillator are calculated as a function of distance, r, along the transverse axis of the 60Co and 192Ir brachytherapy sources using the Monte Carlo- based EGSnrc code system. This study also includes calculation of detector-specific phantom scatter correction, kphan(r), for solid phantoms such as PMMA, polysty- rene, solid water, virtual water, plastic water, RW1, RW3, A150, and WE210. For 60Co source, kQQ0(r) is about unity and distance-independent for diamond, plastic scintillator, Li2B4O7 and LiF detectors. For this source, kQQ0(r) decreases gradually with r for Al2O3 detector (about 6% smaller than unity at 15 cm). For 192Ir source, kQQ0(r) is about unity and distance-independent for Li2B4O7 detector (overall variation is about 1% in the distance range of 1-15 cm). For this source, kQQ0(r) increases with r for diamond and plastic scintillator (about 6% and 8% larger than unity at 15 cm, respectively). Whereas kQQ0(r) decreases with r gradually for LiF (about 4% smaller than unity at 15 cm) and steeply for Al2O3 (about 25% smaller than unity at 15 cm). For 60Co source, solid water, virtual water, RW1, RW3, and WE210 phantoms are water-equivalent for all the investigated solid-state detectors. Whereas polystyrene and plastic water phantoms are water-equivalent for diamond, plastic scintillator, Li2B4O7 and LiF detectors, but show distance-dependent kphan(r) values for Al2O3 detector. PMMA phantom is water-equivalent at all distances for Al2O3 detector, but shows distance-dependent kphan(r) values for remaining detec- tors. A150 phantom shows distance-dependent kphan(r) values for all the investigated detector materials. For 192Ir source, solid water, virtual water, RW3, and WE210 phantoms are water-equivalent for diamond, plastic scintillator, Li2B4O7 and LiF detectors, but show distance-dependent kphan(r) values for Al2O3 detector. All other phantoms show distance-dependent kphan(r) values for all the detector materials. 

Monte Carlo-based investigation of absorbed-dose energy dependence of radiochromic films in high energy brachytherapy dosimetry.

Relative absorbed dose energy response correction, R, for various radiochromic films in water phantom is calculated by the use of the Monte Carlo-based EGSnrc code system for high energy brachytherapy sources 60Co, 137Cs, 192Ir and 169Yb. The corrections are calculated along the transverse axis of the sources (1-15 cm). The radiochromic films investigated are EBT, EBT2 (lot 020609 and lot 031109), RTQA, XRT, XRQA, and HS. For the 60Co source, the value of R is about unity and is independent of distance in the water phantom for films other than XRT and XRQA. The XRT and XRQA films showed distance dependent R values for this source (the values of R at 15 cm from the source in water are 1.845 and 2.495 for the films XRT and XRQA, respectively). In the case of 137Cs and 192Ir sources, XRT, XRQA, EBT2 (lot 031109), and HS films showed distant-dependent R values. The rest of the films showed no energy dependence (HS film showed R values less than unity by about 5%, whereas the other films showed R values higher than unity). In the case of 169Yb source, the EBT film showed no energy dependence and EBT2 film (lot 031109) showed a distance-independent R value of 1.041. The rest of the films showed distance-dependent R values (increases with distance for the films other than HS). The solid phantoms PMMA and polystyrene enhance the R values for some films when compared the same in the water phantom.