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SU‐F‐19A‐02: Comparison of Absorbed Dose to Water Standards for HDR Ir‐192 Brachytherapy Between the LCR, Brazil and NRC, Canada
Author(s) -
Salata C,
David M,
de Almeida C,
El Gamal I,
Cojocaru C,
MainegraHing E,
McEwen M
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
medical physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.473
H-Index - 180
eISSN - 2473-4209
pISSN - 0094-2405
DOI - 10.1118/1.4889028
Subject(s) - dosimetry , absorbed dose , brachytherapy , nuclear medicine , radiochemistry , dose rate , physics , materials science , medical physics , chemistry , medicine , radiation therapy
Purpose: To compare absorbed dose to water standards for HDR brachytherapy dosimetry developed by the Radiological Science Laboratory of Rio de Janeiro State University (LCR) and the National Research Council, Canada (NRC). Methods: The two institutions have separately developed absorbed dose standards based on the Fricke dosimetry system. There are important differences between the two standards, including: preparation and read‐out of the Fricke solution, irradiation geometry of the Fricke holder in relation to the Ir‐192 source, and determination of the G‐value to be used at Ir‐192 energies. All measurements for both standards were made directly at the NRC laboratory (i.e., no transfer instrument was used) using a single Ir‐192 source (microSelectron v2). In addition, the NRC group has established a self‐consistent method to determine the G‐value for Ir‐192, based on an interpolation between G‐values obtained at Co‐60 and 250kVp X‐rays, and this measurement was repeated using the LCR Fricke solution to investigate possible systematic uncertainties. Results: G‐values for Co‐60 and 250 kVp x‐rays, obtained using the LCR Fricke system, agreed with the NRC values within 0.5 % and 1 % respectively, indicating that the general assumption of universal G‐values is appropriate in this case. The standard uncertainty in the determination of G for Ir‐192 is estimated to be 0.6 %. For the comparison of absorbed dose measurements at the reference point for Ir‐192 (1 cm depth in water, perpendicular to the seed long‐axis), the ratio Dw(NRC)/Dw(LCR) was found to be 1.011 with a combined standard uncertainty of 1.7 %, k=1. Conclusion: The agreement in the absorbed dose to water values for the LCR and NRC systems is very encouraging. Combined with the lower uncertainty in this approach compared to the present air‐kerma approach, these results reaffirm the use of Fricke solution as a potential primary standard for HDR Ir‐192 brachytherapy.