On the use of a novel Ferrous Xylenol-orange gelatin dosimeter for HDR brachytherapy commissioning and quality assurance testing.

PURPOSE: To evaluate a commercially available Ferrous-Xylenol Orange-Gel (FXG) dosimeter (TrueView™) coupled with Optical-Computed Tomography (OCT) read out, for 3D dose verification in an Ir-192 superficial brachytherapy application.

METHODS: Two identical polyethylene containers filled with gel from the same batch were used. One was irradiated with an 18 MeV electron field to examine the dose-response linearity and obtain a calibration curve. A flap surface applicator was attached to the other to simulate treatment of a skin lesion. The dose distribution in the experimental set up was calculated with the TG-43 and the model based dose calculation (MBCA) algorithms of a commercial treatment planning system (TPS), as well as Monte Carlo (MC) simulation using the MCNP code. Measured and calculated dose distributions were spatially registered and compared.

RESULTS: Apart from a region close to the container's neck, where gel measurements exhibited an over-response relative to MC calculations (probably due to stray light perturbation), an excellent agreement was observed between measurements and simulations. More than 97% of points within the 10% isodose line (80 cGy) met the gamma index criteria established from uncertainty analysis (5%/2 mm). The corresponding passing rates for the comparison of experiment to calculations using the TG-43 and MBDCA options of the TPS were 57% and 92%, respectively.

CONCLUSION: TrueView™ is suitable for the quality assurance of demanding radiotherapy applications. Experimental results of this work confirm the advantage of the studied MBDCA over TG-43, expected from the improved account of scatter radiation in the treatment geometry.