Dose area product primary standards established by graphite calorimetry at the LNE-LNHB for small radiation fields in radiotherapy. (June 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jurczak, Julien; Rapp, Benjamin; Delaunay, Frank; Gouriou, Jean; Dufreneix, Stéphane; Bordy, Jean-Marc
• Is Part Of: Physica medica. Volume 98(2022)
• Page Start: 18
• Page End: 27
• Publication Date: 2022-06
• Subjects: Small fields -- Calorimetry -- Dose area product -- Monte Carlo; Medical physics -- Periodicals; Biophysics -- Periodicals; Biophysics -- Periodicals; Imagerie médicale -- Périodiques; Radiothérapie -- Périodiques; Rayons X -- Sécurité -- Mesures -- Périodiques; Physique -- Périodiques; Médecine -- Périodiques; 610.153
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmp.2022.03.013
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1120-1797

Abstract

Highlights: Lack of primary standards for small fields. Dose Area Product (DAP) is used to overcome the point dose traceability breakdown. Primary standards in terms of DAP are established down to 5 mm field size. Promising approach to surrogate the absorbed dose at a point in small fields. Abstract: Purpose: To present primary standards establishment in terms of Dose Area Product (DAP) for small field sizes. Methods: A large section graphite calorimeter and two plane-parallel ionization chambers were designed and built in-house. These chambers were calibrated in a 6 MV FFF beam at the maximum dose rate of 1400 UM/min for fields defined by specifically designed circular collimators of 5, 7.5, 10, 13 and 15 mm diameter and jaws of 5, 7, 10, 13 and 15 mm side length on a Varian TrueBeam linac. Results: The two chambers show the same behaviour regardless of field shape and size. From 5 to 15 mm, calibration coefficients slightly increase with the field size with a magnitude of 1.8% and 1.1% respectively for the two chambers, and are independent of the field shape. This tendency was confirmed by Monte Carlo calculations. The average associated uncertainty of the calibration coefficients is around 0.6% at k=1 . Conclusions: For the first time, primary standards in terms of DAP were established by graphite calorimetry for an extended range of small field sizes. These promising results open the door for an alternative approach in small fields dosimetry.