Evaluation of the basic properties of the BANGkit™ gel dosimeter

We evaluated the basic properties of a commercially available BANGkit(TM) gel dosimeter, which is a normoxic type of BANG((R)) gel. This gel-kit has the same composition as the BANG((R))3 gel, but is fully oxygenated. To exclude oxygen, oxygen scavenging ascorbic acid and copper sulfate as a catalyst are used. The properties that we examined are the effects of the concentrations of copper sulfate and ascorbic acid on the response, the reproducibility, the longterm stability, the temperature effect at irradiation and the dose-rate effect. In our results, the excellent linear fit of the R-2-dose response in a dose range for clinical use and its reproducibility were observed. The precision of a linear fit was preserved for about 3 weeks. The temperature at irradiation showed a significant effect on the dose response. Although the dose-rate dependence in the high-dose range was observed, it was negligible for the clinical dose range up to 270 cGy. In conclusion, this gel dosimeter is thought to be utilizable in clinical practice, while we have to pay attention to the temperature during the entire measurement processes, and additionally there is room for improvement in the linearity and the dose- rate dependence in the high-dose range.