Abstract: BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: A strategy for national TLD audit programmes has been developed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It involves progression through three sequential dosimetry audit steps. The first step audits are for the beam output in reference conditions for high-energy photon beams. The second step audits are for the dose in reference and non-reference conditions on the beam axis for photon and electron beams. The third step audits involve measurements of the dose in reference, and non-reference conditions off-axis for open and wedged symmetric and asymmetric fields for photon beams. Through a co-ordinated research project the IAEA developed the methodology to extend the scope of national TLD auditing activities to more complex audit measurements for regular fields. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Based on the IAEA standard TLD holder for high-energy photon beams, a TLD holder was developed with horizontal arm to enable measurements 5cm off the central axis. Basic correction factors were determined for the holder in the energy range between Co-60 and 25MV photon beams. RESULTS: New procedures were developed for the TLD irradiation in hospitals. The off-axis measurement methodology for photon beams was tested in a multi-national pilot study. The statistical distribution of dosimetric parameters (off-axis ratios for open and wedge beam profiles, output factors, wedge transmission factors) checked in 146 measurements was 0.999+/-0.012. CONCLUSIONS: The methodology of TLD audits in non-reference conditions with a modified IAEA TLD holder has been shown to be feasible.
Abstract: External audit of the absorbed dose determination from radiotherapy machines is performed using Lithium fluoride (LiF) TLD-100. Optimal parameters needed to obtain highly accurate dosage from LiF powder was investigated, including the setup of the Harshaw 4000 reader. A linear correspondence between the thermoluminescent signal and the mass of the powder was observed, demonstrating that the dose can be evaluated with small samples of powder. The reproducibility of the thermoluminescence dosimeter (TLD) readings obtained with up to 10 samples from 1 capsule containing 160 mg of powder was around 1.5% (1 standard deviation [SD]). The time required for the manual evaluation of TLDs can be improved by 3 readings without loss of accuracy. Better reproducibility is achieved if the capsules are evaluated 7 days after irradiation using a nitrogen flow of 300 cc/min.
Abstract: In the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) code of practice (TRS 398) and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine's dosimetry protocol (TG-51), full-scatter water phantoms are recommended for the determination of the absorbed dose for both photon and electron beams and, consequently, for the calibration of the user's ionization chambers. This procedure is applied in the Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratory, where the calibration is performed on a 60Co gamma beam, in comparison with reference chambers whose absorbed dose-to-water calibration coefficients, ND,w, are known. In this work, we present the results of the calibration of 10 Farmer-like ionization chambers calibrated in three water phantoms (sizes 20 x 20 x 15 cm3, 30 x 30 x 30 cm3, and 35 x 35 x 37 cm3) and two plastic phantoms (size 20 x 20 x 20 cm3) polymethyl methacrlyate (PMMA) and polystyrene). Calibrations are performed by the substitution method using an ionization chamber whose ND,w has been supplied by the IAEA's reference laboratory. It is shown that the results, expressed as the percentage ratio of the calibration coefficient in a given phantom to that of the standard IAEA phantom, is less than 0.35% for all investigated chambers, and that the standard deviation of the mean of the ND,w calibration coefficients determined in all five phantoms is less than 0.06%, except for one nylon-walled ionization chamber, where the observed 0.34% value could be explained by the hygroscopic properties of nylon. Furthermore, a chamber-to-chamber dependence of the calibration coefficient has been shown to vary by up to 2.8%. These results emphasize that the phantom dimensions and its material are not sensitive criteria for the calibration of cylindrical ionization chambers in terms of absorbed dose to water. The results also show that generic calibration coefficients could not be considered for a given type of chamber.
Abstract: This paper presents the results of calibration of PTW Markus and NACP ionization chambers following the procedures outlined in the TRS 381 International Atomic Energy Agency code of practice. According to this dosimetry protocol, calibration of plane parallel chambers follows 2 methods. The first method uses a high-energy electron beam and consists of comparing the plane parallel chamber with a cylindrical chamber whose N(D,air) calibration factor, traceable to cobalt-60 (60Co), is known, while the second method applies to a 60Co gamma beam whose air kerma rate is known at the calibration point. As the second method is generally applied in Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratories, the consistency of calibrations free in-air and in a water phantom has been studied. A close agreement is shown between the 2 methods (the calibration factors differ by at most 0.98%). These results lead to the conclusion that either of the 2 calibration methods can be used, provided that the correction factors given by the TRS 381 code of practice are applied.
