On the feasibility of water calorimetry with scanned proton radiation.

Water calorimetry is considered to be the most direct primary method to realize the physical quantity gray for absorbed dose to water. The Swiss Federal Office of Metrology and Accreditation (METAS) has routinely operated a water calorimeter as primary standard for photon radiation since 2001. Nowadays, cancer therapy with proton radiation has become increasingly important and is a well established method. In the framework of the ProScan project conducted by the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), the spot-scanning technique is prepared for the subsequent application in hospitals, and adjusted to the recent findings of clinical research. In the absence of primary standards for proton radiation, the metrological traceability is assured by calibrating secondary standards in 60Co radiation and correcting with calculated beam quality correction factors. It is internationally recognized that the development of primary standards for proton radiation is highly desirable. In a common project of PSI and METAS, it is investigated whether a modified version of the water calorimeter in operation at METAS is suitable as primary standard for scanned proton radiation. A feasibility study has been conducted to investigate the linear energy transfer (LET) dependence of the heat defect and the influence of the time and space structure of the scanned beam on the homogeneity and stability of the temperature field in the water calorimeter. Simulations are validated against experimental data of the existing calorimeter used with photon radiation and extended to scanned proton radiation.

SU-D-BRCD-04: Validation of Film Dosimetry in the Dose Build-Up Region.

PURPOSE: To establish a film dosimetric method for high-resolution measurement in the dose build-up region. METHODS: Percent depth dose (PDD) curves were measured in water for TomoTherapy using Gafchromic EBT2 films. Depth dose measurements were also performed using Standard Imaging A1SL and PTW PinPoint ionization chambers, as well as a PTW DiodeE detector. The film and detector measurements were then compared to Monte Carlo (MC) simulation data computed using PENELOPE. An in- house support apparatus was constructed to hold the films parallel to the beam central axis while being suspended in the water, simultaneously demarcating the water surface on the film. The films were converted to dose using a corrected net optical density method involving the red and blue color channels of an Epson Expression 10000XL scanner. Film analysis was performed using ImageJ software and MATLAB code developed in clinic. RESULTS: In our film method, a systematic shift of 1.2mm downstream is seen for the sample of five films, with good reproducibility within the sample (s=0.3mm). The film measurements showed a mean PDD difference of 0.3% (s=0.4%) with a maximum of 1.3% from that of MC between depths of 0.5mm to 20mm. The average film dose measured at the water surface (d=0mm) was 13.1% greater than that calculated by MC. EBT2 film shows much better agreement with MC in the dose build-up region than the ionization chamber and detector measurements. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the capability of EBT2 films for simple and accurate superficial dose measurements. A suspected reason for the systematic shift in film alignment is attributed to difficulty in determining water surface due to the meniscus that forms at the film. Funded by SSRMP Research Grant 2011.