Investigation of radiological properties and water equivalency of PRESAGE dosimeters.

PURPOSE: PRESAGE is a dosimeter made of polyurethane, which is suitable for 3D dosimetry in modern radiation treatment techniques. Since an ideal dosimeter is radiologically water equivalent, the authors investigated water equivalency and the radiological properties of three different PRESAGE formulations that differ primarily in their elemental compositions. Two of the formulations are new and have lower halogen content than the original formulation. METHODS: The radiological water equivalence was assessed by comparing the densities, interaction probabilities, and radiation dosimetry properties of the three different PRESAGE formulations to the corresponding values for water. The relative depth doses were calculated using Monte Carlo methods for 50, 100, 200, and 350 kVp and 6 MV x-ray beams. RESULTS: The mass densities of the three PRESAGE formulations varied from 5.3% higher than that of water to as much as 10% higher than that of water for the original formulation. The probability of photoelectric absorption in the three different PRESAGE formulations varied from 2.2 times greater than that of water for the new formulations to 3.5 times greater than that of water for the original formulation. The mass attenuation coefficient for the three formulations is 12%-50% higher than the value for water. These differences occur over an energy range (10-100 keV) in which the photoelectric effect is the dominant interaction. The collision mass stopping powers of the relatively lower halogen-containing PRESAGE formulations also exhibit marginally better water equivalency than the original higher halogen-containing PRESAGE formulation. Furthermore, the depth dose curves for the lower halogen-containing PRESAGE formulations are slightly closer to that of water for a 6 MV beam. In the kilovoltage energy range, the depth dose curves for the lower halogen-containing PRESAGE formulations are in better agreement with water than the original PRESAGE formulation. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of this study, the new PRESAGE formulations with lower halogen content are more radiologically water equivalent overall than the original formulation. This indicates that the new PRESAGE formulations are better suited to clinical applications and are more accurate dosimeters and phantoms than the original PRESAGE formulation. While correction factors are still needed to convert the dose measured by the dosimeter to an absorbed dose in water in the kilovoltage energy range, these correction factors are considerably smaller for the new PRESAGE formulations compared to the original PRESAGE and the existing polymer gel dosimeters.

Modelling optical scattering artefacts for varying pathlength in a gel dosimeter phantom.

A gelatin phantom containing an optically scattering funnel-shaped region of elevated optical density (OD) was used to examine light-scattering-induced artefacts in a cone-beam optical CT scanner used for gel dosimetry. To simulate polymer gel dosimeters, the opacity was introduced by adding a colloidal scatterer to the gelatin. Scatter results in an underestimate of OD (hence dose). In line profiles of OD taken from 3D reconstructions of the funnel, those profiles with a long pathlength through high OD regions exhibited a 'dishing' (or 'cupping') artefact, while those of short pathlength exhibited the opposite effect-'doming'. These phenomena are accounted for by a model that includes the effect of stray, scattered light.

Light-scattering-induced artifacts in a complex polymer gel dosimetry phantom.

Certain polymer gels become turbid on exposure to ionizing radiation, a property exploited in medical dosimetry to produce three-dimensional dose maps for radiotherapy. These maps can be read using optical computed tomography (CT). A test phantom of complex shape ("layered tube") was developed to investigate the optical properties of polymer gel dosimeters when read using optical CT. Extinction coefficient profiles from tomographically reconstructed slices of the phantom exhibited several artifacts. A simple model invoking scattered light in the gel was able to account for all artifacts, which in a real dosimeter may have been mistaken for other phenomena, resulting in incorrect readings of dose.

Color, iridescence, and thermoregulation in Lepidoptera.

This paper examines evidence for the hypothesized connection between solar thermal properties of butterfly and moth (Lepidoptera) wings, iridescence/structural color, and thermoregulation. Specimens of 64 species of Lepidoptera were measured spectrophotometrically, their solar absorptances calculated, and their habitat temperatures determined. No correlation was found between habitat temperature and the solar absorptance of the wings. It was found, however, that the iridescent specimens exhibited, on average, substantially higher solar absorptance than noniridescent ones.

Initial investigation of a novel light-scattering gel phantom for evaluation of optical CT scanners for radiotherapy gel dosimetry.

There is a need for stable gel materials for phantoms used to validate optical computerized tomography (CT) scanners used in conjunction with radiation-induced polymerizing gel dosimeters. Phantoms based on addition of light-absorbing dyes to gelatine to simulate gel dosimeters have been employed. However, to more accurately simulate polymerizing gels one requires phantoms that employ light-scattering colloidal suspensions added to the gel. In this paper, we present the initial results of using an optical CT scanner to evaluate a novel phantom in which radiation-exposed polymer gels are simulated by the addition of colloidal suspensions of varying turbidity. The phantom may be useful as a calibration transfer standard for polymer gel dosimeters. The tests reveal some phenomena peculiar to light-scattering gels that need to be taken into account when calibrating polymer gel dosimeters.

Radiological characterization and water equivalency of genipin gel for x-ray and electron beam dosimetry.

The genipin radiochromic gel offers enormous potential as a three-dimensional dosimeter in advanced radiotherapy techniques. We have used several methods (including Monte Carlo simulation), to investigate the water equivalency of genipin gel by characterizing its radiological properties, including mass and electron densities, photon interaction cross sections, mass energy absorption coefficient, effective atomic number, collisional, radiative and total mass stopping powers and electron mass scattering power. Depth doses were also calculated for clinical kilovoltage and megavoltage x-ray beams as well as megavoltage electron beams. The mass density, electron density and effective atomic number of genipin were found to differ from water by less than 2%. For energies below 150 keV, photoelectric absorption cross sections are more than 3% higher than water due to the strong dependence on atomic number. Compton scattering and pair production interaction cross sections for genipin gel differ from water by less than 1%. The mass energy absorption coefficient is approximately 3% higher than water for energies <60 keV due to the dominance of photoelectric absorption in this energy range. The electron mass stopping power and mass scattering power differ from water by approximately 0.3%. X-ray depth dose curves for genipin gel agree to within 1% with those for water. Our results demonstrate that genipin gel can be considered water equivalent for kilovoltage and megavoltage x-ray beam dosimetry. For megavoltage electron beam dosimetry, however, our results suggest that a correction factor may be needed to convert measured dose in genipin gel to that of water, since differences in some radiological properties of up to 3% compared to water are observed. Our results indicate that genipin gel exhibits greater water equivalency than polymer gels and PRESAGE formulations.