Abstract
Purpose:
To introduce and characterize novel water‐equivalent PRESAGE dosimeters for megavoltage and kilovoltage X‐ray beam dosimetry.
Methods:
Three novel metal‐optimized PRESAGE dosimeters referred to as MO‐PRESAGE 1, 2 and 3 were formulated. The radiological properties were key factors that were considered when formulating the new dosimeters. All formulations were prepared in spectrophotometric cuvettes, irradiated with a 6 MV X‐ray beam, and the change in optical density was measured using a spectrophotometer. Their sensitivity, post‐response stability, and water equivalency were investigated.
Results:
The results showed that all three formulations exhibited radiological properties closer to water than any of the commercially available PRESAGE formulations. For example, the novel MO‐PRESAGE 1, 2 and 3 have mass densities only 3.9‐4.4% higher than that of water, whereas the mass density for the commercial formulation is 5.3% higher. The novel formulations have almost identical Zeff values to that of water (7.42), while the Zeff for the commercial formulation was 3.7% higher than that of water. In addition, the MO‐PRESAGE 3 formulation showed mass and energy attenuation coefficients that deviated from those of water by less than 50% relative to the commercial formulation. Furthermore, the reduced Zeff of the three different MOPRESAGE formulations resulted in a maximum variation in the probability of photoelectric absorption of 1.3 times than of water, compared to 1.8 times that of water for the commercial formulation. MO‐PRESAGE 3 was also more sensitive to radiation than the other two new formulations introduced in this work due to the presence of alkylbromide radical initiators in the MO‐PRESAGE 3 formulation.
Conclusion:
All three novel MOPRESAGE dosimeter formulations displayed excellent radiological properties, superior to any of the commercially available PRESAGE formulations and thus can be used for the dosimetry of clinical megavoltage and kilovoltage X‐ray beams.