RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Peripheral or scatter dose harms neighbouring normal tissues during administration of dose to cancerous tissues, therefore, knowledge of peripheral dose is an important consideration in radiotherapy. AIM: In present study, absorbed dose measurements in a water phantom were performed for three field sizes, 7 × 7 cm2, 10 × 10 cm2 and 15 × 15 cm2. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For each field size, dose was measured at six depths below the front surface of the water phantom; 2.5-15 cm with an interval of 2.5 cm. Measurements were made at equal transverse distances along the horizontal axis, from 1 cm to 6 cm, on both sides of the central beam axis and normalized with central axis dose of each field. All measurements were made at the source to surface distance of 100 cm. RESULTS: Variation of peripheral dose with lateral distance was analysed and an appropriate parametric equation for each field size and depth was constructed. CONCLUSIONS: The peripheral radiation dose showed a strong dependence on field size and distance from field boundary.
