Design and development of an integral high-resolution radiation dosimetry system for medical applications

MAURO VALENTE; JOSE VEDELAGO

MONTEVIDEO

Congreso; X - LATIN AMERICAN SYMPOSIUM OF NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND APPLICATIONS; 2013

COM LATINOAMERICANA DE FISICA - JEFFERSON LAB USA - UNIV. REPUBLICA URUGUAY

Requirements for overall high performance of dosimetry systems increases due to thegrowing complexity of medical treatments. Non conventional treatment modalities likeBoron Neutron Capture Treatment (BNCT) and hadrontherapy, as well as conventionalmodern methods like IMRT, tomotherapy might significantly improve diseases control.The Fricke gel dosimetry is a valuable method for in-phantom dose measurements incomplex irradiation modalities like IMRT and BNCT [1], [2]. Implementation of thistechnique requires dedicated instruments capable of measuring and further analysisinmediately in situ at the radiation facility.This work presents a novel and integral dosimetry system aimed to attain portabilityrequirements [3]. It is based on Fricke gel dosimeter optically analyzed offering severalspecific advantages like tissue-equivalence and continuos 3D dose mapping [2]. Moreover,the versatilitie of Fricke gel dosimetry about different chemical and isotopic compositionsallows its application on different high performance conventional and non conventionalradiation procedures [2], [4].Specific radiation transport models were developed with the aim of enabling relativesimple optical technique for sample analysis. Theoretical approaches are supported byanalytical solution of Boltzmann?s equation of radiation transport. Instrumentationsdesign and construction were completely realized at the facilities of the Laboratorio deInvestigaciones e Instrumentaci ́on en F ́ısica Aplicada a la Medicina e Im ́agenes porRayos X - LIIFAMIR x ). The developed integral dosimetry system includes dedicatedsoftware for data acquisition and further processing in order to employ the system set upfor direct in situ measurements for routine clinical scopes [2], [3].[1] G. Gambarini, S. Agosteo, S. Altieri, S. Bortolussi, M. Carrara, S. Gay, C. Petrovich, G. Rosi, M. Valente.Dose distributions in phantoms irradiated in thermal columns of different nuclear reactors Radiation Protectiondosimetry, Vol. 123 (2007).[2] M. Valente, Fricke gel dosimetry for 3D imaging of absorbed dose in radiotherapy PhD. thesis. University ofMilan, Italy (2007).[3] J. Vedelago, Caracterizaci ́on de modelo y desarrollo instrumental para dosimetr ́ıa Fricke gel in situ para  ́ambitocl ́ınico Graduation thesis. University of Cordoba, Argentina (in progress).[4] M. Valente, W. Molina, G. Tirao, D. Gra ̃na, F. Malano, P. P ́erez; Novel tissue-equivalent chemical dosimeteroptimized for radiological low dose levels 11th LOWRAD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, France (2012).