AbstractsBiology & Animal Science

Traditional dosimetric devices are inherently point dose dosimeters (PDDs) and can only measure the magnitude of the radiation exposure; hence, they are one-dimensional (1D). To measure the magnitude and spatial location of dose within a volume either several PDDs must be used at one time, or one PDD must be translated from point-to-point. Using PDDs for spatially distributed, two-dimensional (2D), dosimetry is laborious, time consuming, limited in spatial resolution, susceptible to positioning errors, and the currently accepted approach to measuring dose distribution in 2D. This work seeks to expand the current limits of indirectly ionizing radiation dosimetry by using radiochromic film (RCF) for a high-resolution, accurate dosimetry system. Using RCF will extend the current field of radiation dosimetry to spatially quantitative 2D and three-dimensional (3D) measurements. This work was generalized into two aims. The first aim was the development of the RCF dosimetry system; it was accomplished by characterizing the film and the readout devices and developing a method to calibrate film response for absolute dose measurements. The second aim was to apply the RCF dosimetry system to three areas of dosimetry that were inherently volumetric and could benefit from multiple dimensional (2D or 3D) dose analysis. These areas were representative of a broad range of radiation energy levels and were: low-mammography, intermediate-computed tomography (CT), and high-radiobiologcal small animal irradiation and cancer patient treatment verification. The application of a single dosimeter over a broad range of energy levels is currently unavailable for most traditional dosimeters, and thus, was used to demonstrate the robustness and flexibility of the RCF dosimetry system. Two types of RCF were characterized for this work: EBT and XRQA film. Both films were investigated for: radiation interaction with film structure; light interaction with film structure for optimal film readout (densitometry) sensitivity; range of absorbed dose measurements; dependence of film dose measurement response as a function of changing radiation energy; fractionation and dose rate effects on film measurement response; film response sensitivity to ambient factors; and stability of measured film response with time. EBT film was shown to have the following properties: near water equivalent atomic weight (Z_eff); dynamic dose range of (10<super>-1</super>-10<super>2</super>) Gy; 3% change in optical density (OD) response for a single exposure level when exposed to radiation energies from (75-18,000) kV; and best digitized using transmission densitometry. XRQA film was shown to have: a Zeff of ~25; a 12 fold increase in sensitivity at lower photon energies for a dynamic dose range of 10-3-100 Gy, a difference of 25% in OD response when comparing 120 kV to 320 kV, and best digitized using reflective densitometry. Both XRQA and EBT films were shown to have: a temporal stability (ΔOD) of ~1% for t > 24 hr…