1. Monte Carlo evaluations of the absorbed dose and quality dependence of Al2O3 in radiotherapy photon beams
- Author
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Lixin Chen, Qiang Tang, Xue Tao Wang, Shao Wen Chen, and Xiao Wei Liu
- Subjects
Physics ,Photon ,Dosimeter ,business.industry ,Monte Carlo method ,General Medicine ,Photon energy ,Radiation ,Linear particle accelerator ,Absorbed dose ,Dosimetry ,Atomic physics ,Nuclear medicine ,business - Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this work was to evaluate the absorbed dose to Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} dosimeter at various depths of water phantom in radiotherapy photon beams by Monte Carlo simulation and evaluate the beam quality dependence. Methods: The simulations were done using EGSnrc. The cylindrical Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} dosimeter ({Phi}4 mmx1 mm) was placed at the central axis of the water phantom ({Phi}16 cmx16 cm) at depths between 0.5 and 8 cm. The incident beams included monoenergetic photon beams ranging from 1 to 18 MeV, {sup 60}Co {gamma} beams, Varian 6 MV beams using phase space files based on a full simulation of the linac, and Varian beams between 4 and 24 MV using Mohan's spectra. The absorbed dose to the dosimeter and the water at the corresponding position in the absence of the dosimeter, as well as absorbed dose ratio factor f{sub md}, was calculated. Results: The results show that f{sub md} depends obviously on the photon energy at the shallow depths. However, as the depth increases, the change in f{sub md} becomes small, beyond the buildup region, the maximum discrepancy of f{sub md} to the average value is not more than 1%. Conclusions: These simulation results confirmmore » the use of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} dosimeter in radiotherapy photon beams and clearly indicate that more attention should be paid when using such a dosimeter in the buildup region of high-energy radiotherapy photon beams.« less
- Published
- 2009