A ROTOR ELECTROMETER FOR FRACTIONAL CHARGE SEARCHES
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Innes, W.↗
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THE ROTOR ELECTROMETER: A NEW INSTRUMENT FOR BULK MATTER QUARK SEARCH EXPERIMENTS
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Prince, J.↗
SU-G-BRB-04: Automated Output Factor Measurements Using Continuous Data Logging for Linac Commissioning
Purpose: Linac commissioning is a time consuming and labor intensive process, the streamline of which is highly desirable. In particular, manual measurement of output factors for a variety of field sizes and energy greatly hinders the commissioning efficiency. In this study, automated measurement of output factors was demonstrated as ‘one-click’ using data logging of an electrometer. Methods: Beams to be measured were created in the recording and verifying (R&V) system and configured for continuous delivery. An electrometer with an automatic data logging feature enabled continuous data collection for all fields without human intervention. The electrometer saved data into a spreadsheet every 0.5 seconds. A Matlab program was developed to analyze the excel data to monitor and check the data quality. Results: For each photon energy, output factors were measured for five configurations, including open field and four wedges. Each configuration includes 72 fields sizes, ranging from 4×4 to 20×30 cm{sup 2}. Using automation, it took 50 minutes to complete the measurement of 72 field sizes, in contrast to 80 minutes when using the manual approach. The automation avoided the necessity of redundant Linac status checks between fields as in the manual approach. In fact, the only limiting factor in such automation is Linac overheating. The data collection beams in the R&V system are reusable, and the simplified process is less error-prone. In addition, our Matlab program extracted the output factors faithfully from data logging, and the discrepancy between the automatic and manual measurement is within ±0.3%. For two separate automated measurements 30 days apart, consistency check shows a discrepancy within ±1% for 6MV photon with a 60 degree wedge. Conclusion: Automated output factor measurements can save time by 40% when compared with conventional manual approach. This work laid ground for further improvement for the automation of Linac commissioning.
43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
Poster - 17: Characterization and correction of radiation induced background in scanning water tanks
Purpose: To characterize and correct for radiation-induced background (RIB) observed in the signals from a class of scanning water tanks. Methods: A method was developed to isolate the RIB through detector measurements in the background-free linac console area. Variation of the RIB against a large number of parameters was characterized, and its impact on basic clinical data for photon and electron beams was quantified. Different methods to minimize and/or correct for the RIB were proposed and evaluated. Results: The RIB is due to the presence of the electrometer and connection box in a low background radiation field (by design). The absolute RIB current with a biased detector is up to 2 pA, independent of the detector size, which is 0.6% and 1.5% of the central axis reference signal for a standard and a mini scanning chamber, respectively. The RIB monotonically increases with field size, is three times smaller for detectors that do not require a bias (e.g., diodes), is up to 80% larger for positive (versus negative) polarity, decreases with increasing photon energy, exhibits a single curve versus dose rate at the electrometer location, and is negligible for electron beams. Data after the proposed field-size correction method agree with point measurements from an independent system to within a few tenth of a percent for output factor, head scatter, depth dose at depth, and out-of-field profile dose. Manufacturer recommendations for electrometer placement are insufficient and sometimes incorrect. Conclusions: RIB in scanning water tanks can have a non-negligible effect on dosimetric data.
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
SU-E-T-156: Can Sr-90 Check Sources Replace Co-60 Measurements for Monitoring of Reference Chamber Stability?
Purpose: To determine the ultimate precision of a system for monitoring reference-class ion chamber stability using a commercial Sr-90 check source. Methods: A detailed investigation of a commercial Sr-90 check source (PTW48002) was carried out using a series of Farmer-type ionization chambers. Investigations included: positioning repeatability (angular variation as chamber is rotated in source, variation in ionization current with vertical alignment); chamber settling; short and long term repeatability Results: i) Measurement precision – the ionization current was typically 10 pA, and therefore a high-precision electrometer is required to prevent electrometer noise/resolution/leakage biaising the results. ii) Chamber settling - the chamber response stabilizes after approximately 10 minutes, which is longer than reported for linac beams and is likely due to the low doserate of the source.iii) The measured response depended at the 1 % level on the orientation of the chamber with respect to the source. However, consistent positioning resulted in repeatability at the 0.05 % level. Care was also required to ensure that the chamber was consistently positioned vertically with respect to the source. The sensitivity to vertical position was found to be > 1 % per mm.iv)With a uniform procedure the long-term (> 6 month) repeatability was found to be better than 0.1 % for multiple chamber types and potentially a precision of 0.05 % is achievable. Conclusion: A Sr-90 check source is easy to use and is a viable alternative to Co-60 for monitoring reference chamber stability.
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
SU-F-T-445: Effect of Triaxial Cables and Microdetectors in Small Field Dosimetry
Purpose: Advances in radiation treatment especially with smaller fields used in SRS, Gamma knife, Tomotherapy, Cyberknife, and IMRT, require a high degree of precision especially with microdetectors for small field dosimetry (Das et al, Med Ph, 35, 206, 2008; Alfonso et al, Med Phys, 35, 5179, 2008). Due to small signal, the triaxial cable becomes critical in terms of signal to noise ratio (SNR) which is studied with microdetectors. Methods: Six high quality triaxial cables, 9.1 meters long from different manufacturers without any defects were acquired along with 5 most popular microdetectors (microdiamond, plastic scintillators, SRS-diode, edge-diode and pinpoint). A dedicated electrometer was used for each combination except W1 which has its own supermax electrometer. A 6MV photon beam from Varian True beam with 100 MU at a 600 MU/min was used. Measurements were made at a depth of 5 cm in water phantom. Field sizes were varied from 0.5 cm to 10 cm square fields. Readings were taken with combination of cables and microdetectors. Results: Signal is dependent on the quality of the connectors, cables and types of microdetector. The readings varied from nC to pC depending on the type of microdetector. The net signal, S, (Sc-Sn), where Sc is signal with chamber and Sn is without chamber is a linear function of sensitive volume, v; (S = α+β•V), where α and β are constants. The standard deviation (SD) in 3 sets of reading with each combination of cable-detector was extremely low <0.02%. As expected the SD is higher in small fields (<3cm). Maximum estimated error was only ±0.2% in cables-detector combinations. Conclusion: The choice of cables has relatively small effect (±0.2%) with microdosimeter and should be accounted in overall error estimation in k value that is needed to convert ratio of reading to dose in small field dosimetry.
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
A Micro-Thermionic Ionization Source for Chemical Detection
The major goal of this project was to develop an ionization-based detector that could be integrated into the portable gas chromatography systems currently produced by Defiant Technologies. This new detector would allow Defiant to analyze a broader range of analytes and enter new markets. There was also an interest in testing the new ionization source in an ion mobility spectrometer (IMS) that is produced by Sandia National Laboratories. Not only could this eliminate the need for a radioactive material in the IMS, it would offer Defiant the opportunity to add a whole new product line to their chemical analysis systems. Significant progress was made in the development of a thermionic ionization source (TIS) and detector. Using a MEMs heater was an attractive concept, but it proved to be an unfruitful approach because of the fragility of the devices at elevated temperatures. A rugged alternative heater was developed using nichrome wire and alumina tubes. These heaters are simple to make, and, for low quantity production, will be considerably cheaper to construct than MEMs devices. This work has provided a firm basis for follow-on projects. There is now a solid concept for constructing heater elements where, prior to this work, there was only the hope that MEMs heaters would work. In addition, the electrometer that was developed works better than the commercial rack-mounted system that was originally used in this study. Overcoming these two obstacles provides a clear technical approach for product development. There will be follow on efforts at Defiant Technologies to refine the development of the thermal ionization detector. Designs are being made to combine the TIS and electrometer electronics into a single package with a simple-to-replace TIS element. Further work will also focus on integrating this new detector into portable gas chromatography products and testing to optimize the performance.
47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
Effect of 200 keV Ar{sup +} implantation on optical and electrical properties of polyethyleneterepthalate (PET)
In the present paper we have discussed the effect of 200 keV Ar{sup +} ions on the electrical and optical properties of PET samples. PET samples were implanted with 200 keV Ar{sup +} ions to various doses ranging from 1×10{sup 15} to 1×10{sup 17} Ar{sup +} cm{sup 2}. The changes in the electrical and optical properties of pristine and implanted PET specimens have been studied by using Keithley electrometer and UV-Visible absorption spectroscopy. The electrical conductivity has found to be increased with increasing ion dose. The optical studies have revealed the drastic alterations in optical band gap from 3.63 eV to 1.48 eV and also increase in number of carbon atoms per cluster from 215 to 537. Further, the change in the electrical conductivity and optical band gap has also been correlated with the formation of conductive islands in the implanted layers of PET.
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
SU-E-I-20: Comprehensive Quality Assurance Test of Second Generation Toshiba Aquilion Large Bore CT Simulator Based On AAPM TG-66 Recommendations
Purpose: AAPM radiation therapy committee task group No. 66 (TG-66) published a report which described a general approach to CT simulator QA. The report outlines the testing procedures and specifications for the evaluation of patient dose, radiation safety, electromechanical components, and image quality for a CT simulator. The purpose of this study is to thoroughly evaluate the performance of a second generation Toshiba Aquilion Large Bore CT simulator with 90 cm bore size (Toshiba, Nasu, JP) based on the TG-66 criteria. The testing procedures and results from this study provide baselines for a routine QA program. Methods: Different measurements and analysis were performed including CTDIvol measurements, alignment and orientation of gantry lasers, orientation of the tabletop with respect to the imaging plane, table movement and indexing accuracy, Scanogram location accuracy, high contrast spatial resolution, low contrast resolution, field uniformity, CT number accuracy, mA linearity and mA reproducibility using a number of different phantoms and measuring devices, such as CTDI phantom, ACR image quality phantom, TG-66 laser QA phantom, pencil ion chamber (Fluke Victoreen) and electrometer (RTI Solidose 400). Results: The CTDI measurements were within 20% of the console displayed values. The alignment and orientation for both gantry laser and tabletop, as well as the table movement and indexing and scanogram location accuracy were within 2mm as specified in TG66. The spatial resolution, low contrast resolution, field uniformity and CT number accuracy were all within ACR’s recommended limits. The mA linearity and reproducibility were both well below the TG66 threshold. Conclusion: The 90 cm bore size second generation Toshiba Aquilion Large Bore CT simulator that comes with 70 cm true FOV can consistently meet various clinical needs. The results demonstrated that this simulator complies with the TG-66 protocol in all aspects including electromechanical component, radiation safety component, and image quality component. Employee of Toshiba America Medical Systems.
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
SU-E-I-24: Method for CT Automatic Exposure Control Verification
Purpose: Design of a phantom and a simple method for the automatic exposure control (AEC) verification in CT. This verification is included in the computed tomography (CT) Spanish Quality Assurance Protocol. Methods: The phantom design is made from the head and the body phantom used for the CTDI measurement and PMMA plates (35×35 cm2) of 10 cm thickness. Thereby, three different thicknesses along the longitudinal axis are obtained which permit to evaluate the longitudinal AEC performance. Otherwise, the existent asymmetry in the PMMA layers helps to assess angular and 3D AEC operation.Recent acquisition in our hospital (August 2014) of Nomex electrometer (PTW), together with the 10 cm pencil ionization chamber, led to register dose rate as a function of time. Measurements with this chamber fixed at 0° and 90° on the gantry where made on five multidetector-CTs from principal manufacturers. Results: Individual analysis of measurements shows dose rate variation as a function of phantom thickness. The comparative analysis shows that dose rate is kept constant in the head and neck phantom while the PMMA phantom exhibits an abrupt variation between both results, being greater results at 90° as the thickness of the phantom is 3.5 times larger than in the perpendicular direction. Conclusion: Proposed method is simple, quick and reproducible. Results obtained let a qualitative evaluation of the AEC and they are consistent with the expected behavior. A line of future development is to quantitatively study the intensity modulation and parameters of image quality, and a possible comparative study between different manufacturers.
07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
SU-E-T-87: A TG-100 Approach for Quality Improvement of Associated Dosimetry Equipment
Purpose: Dosimetry protocols devote so much time to the discussion of ionization chamber choice, use and performance that is easy to forget about the importance of the associated dosimetry equipment (ADE) in radiation dosimetry - barometer, thermometer, electrometer, phantoms, triaxial cables, etc. Improper use and inaccuracy of these devices may significantly affect the accuracy of radiation dosimetry. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the risk factors in the monthly output dosimetry procedure and recommend corrective actions using a TG-100 approach. Methods: A failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) of the monthly linac output check procedure was performed to determine which steps and failure modes carried the greatest risk. In addition, a fault tree analysis (FTA) was performed to expand the initial list of failure modes making sure that none were overlooked. After determining the failure modes with the highest risk priority numbers (RPNs), 11 physicists were asked to score corrective actions based on their ease of implementation and potential impact. The results were aggregated into an impact map to determine the implementable corrective actions. Results: Three of the top five failure modes were related to the thermometer and barometer. The two highest RPN-ranked failure modes were related to barometric pressure inaccuracy due to their high lack-of-detectability scores. Six corrective actions were proposed to address barometric pressure inaccuracy, and the survey results found the following two corrective actions to be implementable: 1) send the barometer for recalibration at a calibration laboratory and 2) check the barometer accuracy against the local airport and correct for elevation. Conclusion: An FMEA on monthly output measurements displayed the importance of ADE for accurate radiation dosimetry. When brainstorming for corrective actions, an impact map is helpful for visualizing the overall impact versus the ease of implementation.
07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
SU-E-T-387: Evaluation of Effective Treatment Depth in Skin Cancer Treatments with Xoft Electronic Brachytherapy
Purpose: To evaluate changes in the percent depth dose (PDD) and effective depth of treatment based on exerted force by applicator on the skin during treatments of skin cancer with Xoft Electronic Brachytherapy. Methods: To simulate compressible tissue, 5mm tissue-equivalent bolus was used. An ion chamber (Soft X-ray Chamber, PTW) and electrometer (Max 4000, Standard Imaging) were used for output measurements. Measurements were done for all available Xoft surface applicators (10, 20, 35, and 50mm cones) with plastic endcap. Fig1 shows the experimental setup. The PDD was measured first with no or minimal pressure of the applicator on the bolus, followed by increasing uniform pressure on the applicator applied with custom cerrobend weights. The measurements were used to calculate the effective PDD and effective depth. Results: Force applied with the applicator was plotted against the change in PDD relative to the PDD when no force is applied. For the 10mm cone, moderate force of 5N can change the PDD by more than 20%, (Fig2). The effect is also pronounced for the 20mm cone, while it is minimal for the 35 and 50mm cones. Even when only moderate force is applied, the effective prescription depth can be changed by a several millimeters, which is on the order of the typical prescription depth (Fig3). Conclusion: Based on the results of this simulation, excessive pressure applied on the patient’s skin by the applicator cone can drastically alter the PDD and effective treatment depth. The effect is most pronounced for the 10mm cone, and to a lesser extent, 20mm, which is significant as these cones tend to be used most frequently in the clinic. Applicator placement therefore may Result in significant consequences such as excessive dose to target, severe skin reaction, permanent discoloration, skin indentation, and poor overall cosmesis upon completion of treatment.
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
SU-E-T-459: Impact of Source Position and Traveling Time On HDR Skin Surface Applicator Dosimetry
Purpose: Observed dosimetric discrepancy between measured and treatment planning system (TPS) predicted values, during applicator commissioning, were traced to source position uncertainty in the applicator. We quantify the dosimetric impact of this geometric uncertainty, and of the source traveling time inside the applicator, and propose corrections for clinical use. Methods: We measured the dose profiles from the Varian Leipzig-style (horizontal) HDR skin applicator, using EBT3 film, photon diode, and optically stimulated luminescence dosimeter (OSLD) and three different GammaMed HDR afterloders. The dose profiles and depth dose of each aperture were measured at several depths (up to about 10 mm, depending on the dosimeter). The measured dose profiles were compared with Acuros calculated profiles in BrachyVision TPS. For the impact of the source position, EBT3 film measurements were performed with applicator, facing-down and facing-up orientations. The dose with and without source traveling was measured with diode detector using HDR timer and electrometer timer, respectively. Results: Depth doses measured using the three dosimeters were in good agreement, but were consistently higher than the Acuros dose calculations. Measurements with the applicator facing-up were significantly lower than those in the facing-down position with maximum difference of about 18% at the surface, due to source sag inside the applicator. Based on the inverse-square law, the effective source sag was evaluated to be about 0.5 mm from the planned position. The additional dose from the source traveling was about 2.8% for 30 seconds with 10 Ci source, decreasing with increased dwelling time and decreased source activity. Conclusion: Due to the short source-to-surface distance of the applicator, the small source sag inside the applicator has significant dosimetric impact, which should be considered before the clinical use of the applicator. Investigation of the effect for other applicators that have relatively large source lumen inner diameter may be warranted. Christopher Barker and Gil’ad Cohen are receiving research support for a study of skin surface brachytherapy from Elekta.
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
SU-E-T-763: Towards the Mechanical Doping of Plastic Scintillators
Purpose: The doping of plastic scintillators with high-Z elements changes the radiation interaction cross section of the medium and therefore changes the intrinsic response of the detector. The selection of doped plastic scintillators available commercially is limited. This research aims to develop a novel methodology for the mechanical doping of plastic scintillating materials. The ultimate goal of this project is to use doped scintillators of varying intrinsic behavior to unfold the LET (energy) spectrum of any radiation beam. Methods: Commercially available BC408 plastic scintillator was obtained and crushed into uniform powder (using ball mill). Two separate materials were tested for light output signal: uncrushed scintillator and scintillating powder bound by glue. Commercially available U301 UV-hardening glue was used. Scintillation response was measured by creating a thin housing of black acrylic that allowed light from each scintillator to be guided to an optical fiber via a taper. The optical fiber was connected to a PMT; signal was measured using an electrometer. Tests were conducted to determine if crushing+bonding distorted linearity and energy dependence of detector response. Linearity was tested for by irradiating (uncrushed and crushed+glued) for varying durations ensuring signal scaled accordingly; this was done using 300kV x-rays and 6MeV electrons. The effect on energy dependence was examined by obtaining a signal ratio (100kV vs. 300kV; 6MeV vs. 18MeV) for both uncrushed and crushed+glued scintillating material. Results: Crushing and binding with U301 glue did not have an effect on linearity. Energy dependence was changed by 20.3%; crushing+bonding decreased the sensitivity at low energy radiation. Conclusion: This work indicates that crushing and binding of plastic scintillating material does not change the linearity of its response to radiation but does have an effect on the energy dependence. Future work involves addition of high-Z dopants (W, Mo, Pb) and characterization of the detector response.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
SU-E-T-782: Using Light Output From Doped Plastic Scintillators to Resolve the Linear Energy Transfer Spectrum of Clinical Electron Beams
Purpose: This research seeks to develop a portable, clinically-suitable linear energy transfer (LET) detector. In radiotherapy, absorbed dose is commonly used to measure the amount of delivered radiation, though, it is not a good indicator of actual biological damage. LET is the energy absorbed per unit length by a medium along charged particle’s pathway; studies have shown that LET correlates well with relative biological effectiveness (RBE). Methods: According to Birks’ law, light output of plastic scintillators is stopping-power dependent. This dependency can be varied through doping by various high-Z elements. By measuring light output signals of differently doped plastic scintillators (represented by column vector S, where each row corresponds to different scintillator material), the fluence of charged particles of a given LET (represented by column vector Φ, where each row corresponds to different LET bins) can be unfolded by S=R*Φ where R is system response matrix (each row represents a different scintillator, each column corresponds to different electron LET). Monte Carlo (MC) GEANT4.10.1 was used to evaluate ideal detector response of BC408 scintillating material doped with various concentrations of several high Z dopants. Measurements were performed to validate MC. Results: Signal for 1%-lead doped BC408 and the non-doped scintillator was measured experimentally by guiding light emitted by the scintillator (via in-house made taper, fiber system) to a PMT and then an electrometer. Simulations of 1%Pb-doped scintillator to non-doped scintillator revealed 9.3% reduction in light output for 6 MeV electrons which compared well (within uncertainty) with measurements showing 10% reduction (6MeV electrons). Conclusion: Measurements were used to validate MC simulation of light output from doped scintillators. The doping of scintillators is a viable technique to induce LET dependence. Our goal is to use this effect to resolve the LET spectrum of an incident beam.
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
A novel synthetic single crystal diamond device for in vivo dosimetry
Purpose: Aim of the present work is to evaluate the synthetic single crystal diamond Schottky photodiode developed at the laboratories of “Tor Vergata” University in Rome in a new dosimeter configuration specifically designed for offline wireless in vivo dosimetry (IVD) applications. Methods: The new diamond based dosimeter, single crystal diamond detector (SCDD-iv), consists of a small unwired detector and a small external reading unit that can be connected to commercial electrometers for getting the detector readout after irradiation. Two nominally identical SCDD-iv dosimeter prototypes were fabricated and tested. A basic dosimetric characterization of detector performances relevant for IVD application was performed under irradiation with {sup 60}Co and 6 MV photon beams. Preirradiation procedure, response stability, short and long term reproducibility, leakage charge, fading effect, linearity with dose, dose rate dependence, temperature dependence, and angular response were investigated. Results: The SCDD-iv is simple, with no cables linked to the patient and the readout is immediate. The range of response with dose has been tested from 1 up to 12 Gy; the reading is independent of the accumulated dose and dose rate independent in the range between about 0.5 and 5 Gy/min; its temperature dependence is within 0.5% between 25 and 38 °C, and its directional dependence is within 2% from 0° to 90°. The combined relative standard uncertainty of absorbed dose to water measurements is estimated lower than the tolerance and action level of 5%. Conclusions: The reported results indicate the proposed novel offline dosimeter based on a synthetic single crystal diamond Schottky photodiode as a promising candidate for in vivo dosimetry applications with photon beams.
07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
A round-robin gamma stereotactic radiosurgery dosimetry interinstitution comparison of calibration protocols
Purpose: Absorbed dose calibration for gamma stereotactic radiosurgery is challenging due to the unique geometric conditions, dosimetry characteristics, and nonstandard field size of these devices. Members of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Task Group 178 on Gamma Stereotactic Radiosurgery Dosimetry and Quality Assurance have participated in a round-robin exchange of calibrated measurement instrumentation and phantoms exploring two approved and two proposed calibration protocols or formalisms on ten gamma radiosurgery units. The objectives of this study were to benchmark and compare new formalisms to existing calibration methods, while maintaining traceability to U.S. primary dosimetry calibration laboratory standards. Methods: Nine institutions made measurements using ten gamma stereotactic radiosurgery units in three different 160 mm diameter spherical phantoms [acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic, Solid Water, and liquid water] and in air using a positioning jig. Two calibrated miniature ionization chambers and one calibrated electrometer were circulated for all measurements. Reference dose-rates at the phantom center were determined using the well-established AAPM TG-21 or TG-51 dose calibration protocols and using two proposed dose calibration protocols/formalisms: an in-air protocol and a formalism proposed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) working group for small and nonstandard radiation fields. Each institution’s results were normalized to the dose-rate determined at that institution using the TG-21 protocol in the ABS phantom. Results: Percentages of dose-rates within 1.5% of the reference dose-rate (TG-21 + ABS phantom) for the eight chamber-protocol-phantom combinations were the following: 88% for TG-21, 70% for TG-51, 93% for the new IAEA nonstandard-field formalism, and 65% for the new in-air protocol. Averages and standard deviations for dose-rates over all measurements relative to the TG-21 + ABS dose-rate were 0.999 ± 0.009 (TG-21), 0.991 ± 0.013 (TG-51), 1.000 ± 0.009 (IAEA), and 1.009 ± 0.012 (in-air). There were no statistically significant differences (i.e., p > 0.05) between the two ionization chambers for the TG-21 protocol applied to all dosimetry phantoms. The mean results using the TG-51 protocol were notably lower than those for the other dosimetry protocols, with a standard deviation 2–3 times larger. The in-air protocol was not statistically different from TG-21 for the A16 chamber in the liquid water or ABS phantoms (p = 0.300 and p = 0.135) but was statistically different from TG-21 for the PTW chamber in all phantoms (p = 0.006 for Solid Water, 0.014 for liquid water, and 0.020 for ABS). Results of IAEA formalism were statistically different from TG-21 results only for the combination of the A16 chamber with the liquid water phantom (p = 0.017). In the latter case, dose-rates measured with the two protocols differed by only 0.4%. For other phantom-ionization-chamber combinations, the new IAEA formalism was not statistically different from TG-21. Conclusions: Although further investigation is needed to validate the new protocols for other ionization chambers, these results can serve as a reference to quantitatively compare different calibration protocols and ionization chambers if a particular method is chosen by a professional society to serve as a standardized calibration protocol.
07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
SU-D-209-01: Can Fluoroscopic Air-Kerma Rates Be Reliably Measured with Solid-State Meters?
Purpose: Ionization chambers remain the standard for calibration of air-kerma rate measuring devices. Despite their strong energy-dependent response, solid state radiation detectors are increasingly used, primarily due to their efficiency in making standardized measurements. To test the reliability of these devices in measuring air-kerma rates, we compared ion chambers measurements with solid-state measurements for various mobile fluoroscopes operated at different beam qualities and air-kerma rates. Methods: Six mobile fluoroscopes (GE OEC models 9800 and 9900) were used to generate test beams. Using various field sizes and dose rate controls, copper attenuators and a lead attenuator were placed at the image receptor in varying combinations to generate a range of air-kerma rates. Air-kerma rates at 30 centimeters from the image receptors were measured using two 6-cm{sup 3} ion chambers with electrometers (Radcal, models 1015 and 9015) and two with solid state detectors (Unfors Xi and Raysafe X2). No error messages occurred during measurements. However, about two months later, one solid-state device stopped working and was replaced by the manufacturer. Two out of six mobile fluoroscopic units were retested with the replacement unit. Results: Generally, solid state and ionization chambers agreed favorably well, with two exceptions. Before replacement of the detector, the Xi meter when set in the “RF High” mode deviated from ion chamber readings by factors of 2 and 10 with no message indicating error in measurement. When set in the “RF Low” mode, readings were within −4% to +3%. The replacement Xi detector displayed messages alerting the user when settings were not compatible with air-kerma rates. Conclusion: Air-kerma rates can be measured favorably well using solid-state devices, but users must be aware of the possibility that readings can be grossly in error with no discernible indication for the deviation.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗