Linear energy transfer characterization of five Gel dosimeter formulations for electron and proton therapeutic beams

VALENTE, MAURO; CHACÓN, DAVID; MATTEA, FACUNDO; WOLFEL, ALEXIS; SCARCINI, IGNACIO; PÉREZ, PEDRO

Simposio; THE XX INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON SOLID STATE DOSIMETRY; 2020

Mexican Society of Irradiation and Dosimetry

Gel dosimeters, including radiochromic types like Fricke, as well as polymer formulations,are considered to be the only reliable option for accurate 3D dosimetry. Nevertheless, theirimplementation in daily clinical quality assurance still remains strongly limited for a fewhigh specialized radiotherapy centres. Although gel dosimeters present very good waterequivalence due to their inherent chemical and isotopic compositions, addressing thecorresponding dosimetry outputs is highly challenging, needing careful assessment in termsof the different radiation qualities involved in the mixed field. Accurate estimations of thelinear energy transfer (LET) for each gel dosimeter formulation stands as a baseline forfurther accurate dose deconvolution in mixed radiation fields. The present study reports onthe LET characterization of five different gel dosimeter formulations (FRICKE, ITABIS,MAGIC, NIPAM, and PAGAT) for electron and proton therapeutic beams as obtained byMonte Carlo approaches [1, 2] along with experimental results for validation purposes. TheLET, as a function of beam quality and penetration depth, is obtained for electron andproton therapeutic beams remarking the presence of non-negligible variations, which needto be accounted for a further precise dose deconvolution in mixed radiation fields.[1] G. Battistoni et al. The FLUKA Code: An Accurate Simulation Tool for Particle Therapy. Front.Oncol., 11 May, (2016).[2] F. Salvat et al. PENELOPE-2014 A Code System for Monte Carlo Simulation of Electron andPhoton Transport. Workshop Barcelona, Spain 29 June-3 July, (2015)