Absorbed dose measurement using

TG-21 and TRS-398 protocol in

electron beam
 Introduction
Radiation Therapy require high doses of radiation
to be delivered with increased accuracy.
ICRU conclude that there is need for an accuracy
of ± 5 % in the delivery of an absorbed dose to a
target volume.
The calibration of radiation beam used for the
treatment is based on complicated measurements
by applying several conversion and correction
factors.
So all the steps of dosimetry procedure should be
specified and be capable of execution worldwide
with minimum difficulty.
THE INTERNATIONAL MEASUREMENT SYSTEM
• It provides the framework for consistency in radiation dosimetry by
disseminating to users calibrated radiation instruments which are
traceable to primary standards.
• The BIPM serves as the international centre for metrology.
• The PSDLs of many States of the Metre Convention have developed
primary standards for radiation measurements that are compared with
those of the BIPM and other PSDLs.
• PSDLs that maintain primary standards calibrate the secondary standards
of SSDLs, which in turn calibrate the reference instruments of users.
• In 1976, a network of SSDLs was established as a joint effort by the IAEA
and WHO in order to disseminate calibrations to users by providing the
link between users and primary standards.
• Principal goal of the SSDL network in the field of radiotherapy dosimetry is
to guarantee that the dose delivered to patients is within accepted levels
of accuracy.
• Since absorbed dose to water is the quantity of main
interest as it closely relates to biological effect, so
Nd.w based calibration & dosimetry procedures are
advantageous.

• It reduces uncertainty in determining absorbed dose

to water.

• It makes use of simple formalism.

• Primary standard:
An instrument of the highest metrological quality that
permits determination of the unit of a quantity from its definition, its has
been verified by comparison with the comparable standards of other
institutions at the same level.
• Secondary standard:
An instrument calibrated by comparison with a primary
standard
• National standard:
A standard recognized by an official national decision as
the basis for fixing the value in a country of all other standards of the
given quantity.
• Reference instrument:
An instrument of the highest metrological quality
available at a given location, from which measurements at that location
are derived.
• Field instrument:
A measuring instrument used for routine measurements
whose calibration is related to the reference instrument.
 DOSIMETRY REQUIREMENT
Ionization chamber
 Cylindrical Ionization Chamber (CIC).
 Parallel Plate Ionization Chamber (PPC).
Measuring Assembly
 Electrometer.
 Connecting Wire/Cable.
Phantom and other accessories
 Ionization chambers (CIC)
 A cylindrical ionization chamber used for the calibration of all types of
energies except low energy electron and photons.
 Dimensions : 0.1 cm3 < chamber cavity volume < 1 cm3.
 internal diameter < 7 mm and an internal length < 25 mm.
 In the calibration of chamber, free in air using Co-60 gamma radiation, a
buildup cap has to be added.
 0.4gcm-2 < Thickness of wall + buildup cap < 0.6gcm-2
 The chamber must be aligned in such a way that the radiation fluence is
uniform over the cross-section of the chamber cavity.
 In case of cylindrical chamber the effective point of measurement is on the
central axis at the center of the cavity volume.
 The construction of chamber should be as homogenous as possible.
 Ionization chambers (PPC)
used for all electron energies, and below Eo = 5 MeV their use is
mandatory.
• The main advantages of plane-parallel chambers for electron beam
dosimetry is to minimizing scattering perturbation effects.
• The effective point of measurement of the chamber is on the inner surface
of the entrance window, at the centre of the window for all beam
qualities.
• diameter of the collecting electrode should be < 20 mm.
• The cavity height should be < 2 mm.
• The collecting electrode should be surrounded by a guard electrode
having a width not smaller than 1.5 times the cavity height.
 Phantoms
• Water is the reference medium (for both photon & electron beams).
• The size of phantom ≥ Field size + 5 cm margin
• Also depth of measurement ≥ maximum depth+5cm margin except for
medium energy X rays ≥ maximum depth+10cm margin.
• Solid phantoms in slab form such as polystyrene, PMMA, and solid water, etc.
can be used for low energy electron beam dosimetry and are generally
required for low energy X rays.
• The phantom material should be water equivalent .
• In phantoms of insulating materials charge storage have a significant effect
during electron beam calibration using plane-parallel chambers.
• In order to minimize this effect the phantom should be constructed using thin
slabs of plastic.
 Waterproof sleeve for chamber
• If the chamber is not provided with
waterproof coating it must be used with
waterproof sleeve .
• PMMA with wall thickness not greater than 1
mm to allow for the chamber to reach thermal
equilibrium with water in less than 10 min .
• Air gap of 0.1 to 0.3 mm between chamber
and sleeve to allow air pressure in chamber to
reach ambient air pressure quickly.
 Reference conditions
and Influence Quantities
• The calibration factor for an ionization chamber is the ratio of the
conventional true value of the quantity to be measured to the
indicated value under reference conditions .
• Reference conditions are described by a set of values of influence
quantities for which the calibration factor is valid without further
correction factor.
• Influence quantities are defined as quantities that are not the
subject of the measurement, but yet influence the quantity under
measurement.
• These may be of different nature as : pressure, temperature,
polarization voltage or
arise from the dosimeter as : ageing, zero drift, warm-up or
may be related to the radiation field as beam quality as : dose
rate, field size, depth in a phantom.
Corrections for influence quantities
• Pressure , temperature , & humidity

P & T are the cavity pressure and temperature at the time of the
measurements .
Po & To are the reference values
no corrections for humidity are needed if the calibration factor was
referred to a relative humidity of 50% and is used in a relative
humidity between 20 & 80% .
If the calibration factor is referred to dry air , a correction factor should
be applied for Co-60 calibrations kh =0.997
 Electrometer calibration
 When the ionization chamber and the electrometer are
calibrated separately, acalibration factor for each is given by
the calibration laboratory.
 the electrometer calibration factor kelec is treated as an
influence quantity and is included in the product Πki of
correction factors.
 the calibrationfactor ND,w for the ionization chamber will be
given in units of Gy/nC and that for the electrometer kelec
either in units of nC/rdg or, if the electrometer readout is
interms of charge, as a dimensionless factor close to unity
(effectively a calibration inunits of nC/nC).
 If the ionization chamber and the electrometer are calibrated
together, then thecombined calibration factor ND,w will
typically be given in units of Gy/rdg or Gy/nC and no separate
electrometer calibrationfactor kelec is required.
 Polarity effect
• The effect on chamber reading of using polarizing
potential of opposite polarity will be significant in
case of electron .

• For routine use a single polarizing potential and

polarity is normally adopted.

•
• M+ & M- are the electrometer readings obtained
at positive and negative polarity.
• M is the electrometer reading obtained with the
polarity used routinely.
 Ion recombination
• The recombination effects:
• General or volume recombination- by
separate ionizing particle tracks.
• Initial recombination- by a single ionizing
particle track
 Ion recombination
• For pulsed beams : At normal operating voltage
V1

• For ks < 1.03 the correction can be approximated

to within 0.1% using the relation
ks-1 = M1/M2 -1
V1/V2 -1
Corrections for radiation quality, kQ,Q0
 For high energy electron beams
• TRS 398 provides a code of practice for
reference dosimetry and recommendations
for relative dosimetry in clinical electron
beams with energies 3-50 Mev.
• Based on calibration factors in terms of
absorbed dose to water.
• Beam qualities and all its dependent factors
are expressed in terms of half value depth R50
 Dosimetric equipments
• Ionization chambers :
for beam qualities R50 < 4g/cm2 i.e E0 <=
10Mev PPC are recommended .
for beam qualities R50 > 4g/cm2 i.e E0 >=
10mev cylinderical or PP chambers both may
be used .
 Effective Point of Measurement

Effective point of 
measurement
r point of
measurement
rcav

cylindrical parallel plate

Electron: r = 0.5 rcav

 Beam quality specifications
 The beam quality index is the half-value depth
in water R50.This is the depth in water (in
g/cm2) at which the absorbed dose is 50% of
its value at the absorbed dose maximum,
measured with a constant SSD of 100 cm
atfieldsize at the phantom surface of at least
10 cm × 10 cm for R50 ≤ 7 g/cm2 (Eo 16
MeV)and at least 20 cm × 20 cm for R50 > 7
g/cm2 (Eo 16 MeV).
• The choice of R50 as the beam quality index is
a change from the current practice of
specifying beam quality in terms of the mean
energy at the phantom surface Eo. As Eo is
normally derived from R50, this change in
beam quality index is merely a simplification
which avoids the need for a conversion to
energy