Dosimetry of dose distributions in radiotherapy of patients with surgical implants

The investigation was performed in order to evaluate the use of Gafchromic EBT films for measurements of dose distributions created during radiotherapy in tissues surrounding titanium or resorbable implants used for joining and consolidating facial bones. Inhomogeneous dose distributions at implant-tissue interfaces can be the reason of normal tissue complications observed in radiotherapy patients after surgery with implants. The dose measured at a depth of 2.5 cm on contact surfaces, proximal and distal to the beam source, between the titanium implant and the phantom material was 109% and 92% respectively of the reference dose measured in a homogeneous phantom. For the resorbable implants the doses measured on the proximal and the distal contact surfaces were 102% and 101% respectively of the reference dose. The resorbable implants affect the homogeneity of dose distribution at a significantly lesser degree than the titanium implants. Gafchromic EBT films allowed for precise dose distribution measurements at the contact surfaces between tissue equivalent materials and implants. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.