Dosimetry formalism and calibration procedure for electronic brachytherapy sources in terms of absorbed dose to water

Abdullah Abudra'A (1) , Bruno Chauvenet (1) , Jean Gouriou (1) , Johann Plagnard (1) , Itti Ramona (2) , Isabelle Aubineau-Lanièce (1)

1 LNHB - Laboratoire National Henri Becquerel
2 AP-HP - Hopital Saint-Louis [AP-HP]

The LNE-LNHB has developed a methodology to standardize electronic brachytherapy sources in terms of absorbed dose to water. It is based on the measurement of the air-kerma rate at a given distance from the source and the Monte Carlo calculation of a conversion factor. This factor converts the air kerma in measurement conditions into absorbed dose to water at a 1 cm reference depth in a water phantom. As a first application, the method was used to calibrate a Zeiss INTRABEAM system equipped with its 4 cm diameter spherical applicator. The absorbed-dose rate value obtained in the current study was found significantly higher than that provided by the manufacturer in line with the observations already reported by a few other teams.

Keywords: calibration; Air kerma rate; dose measurement; metrology; dosimetry; ionizing radiation; brachytherapy; reference source; absorbed dose; Monte Carlo; Phantom; PENELOPE; particle transport

Domains: Physics [physics]; Physics [physics]; Medical Physics [physics.med-ph]; Physics [physics]; Nuclear Experiment [nucl-ex]; Statistics [stat]; Methodology [stat.ME]

Abdullah Abudra'A, Bruno Chauvenet, Jean Gouriou, Johann Plagnard, Itti Ramona, et al.. Dosimetry formalism and calibration procedure for electronic brachytherapy sources in terms of absorbed dose to water. Physics in Medicine & Biology, 2020, 65 (14), pp.145006. ⟨10.1088/1361-6560/ab9772⟩. ⟨cea-02611673⟩