3D dose distribution measurements in brachytherapy using radiochromic gel dosimeters

The paper informs about the joint research project "Increasing cancer treatment efficacy using 3D brachytherapy" which is a three-year project carried out in cooperation with European national metrology institutes and co-funded by the European Community's Seventh Framework Program for research and technological development. The goal of the project is to improve the measurement and standardization of dose-to-water rate by brachytherapy (BT) sources. The paper gives a summary of the individual parts of the whole project and describes in more detail the task of the Czech Metrology Institute: the determination of spatial distribution of dose-to-water by BT sources using radiochromic gel dosimeters, including a new gel with suppressed diffusion. The response of irradiated gels is evaluated using the optical cone beam computed tomography (CT) technique. The characteristics of the optical CT scanner are discussed with respect to CCD camera performance and light source. The optimized composition of the new gel and its dosimetric properties are highlighted. The results show that the radiochromic gels are convenient for measuring the 3D distribution of dose-to-water and could be an alternative to current methods of dose distribution measurements. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.