title: Intercomparison of calibration procedures for Ir-192 HDR sources in The Netherlands and Belgium.
abstract: Thirteen radiotherapy departments in The Netherlands and Belgium participated in an intercomparison of the calibration procedures in use for the quality control of iridium-192 high dose rate sources. A measuring device from 1 of the departments was taken to the 12 other participants, where 1-3 sources were measured by both the local and the visiting physicist's team. Also, 1 192Ir HDR reference source was taken to 7 other--Dutch--departments to serve as a stability check of the measuring device. The results of the local calibration were compared with the values obtained by the visiting team. A mean deviation of +1.3% was found in 19 observations, with values ranging from -0.4% to +3.0%. In total, 16 sources were checked. The measured reference air kerma rate of the available sources was compared with the value stated on the source calibration certificate: the values on the certificate were on the average +1.8% higher than the measured values, ranging from -4.2% to +6.8%. In 1 instance the reference source was also measured by The Netherlands Measurements Institute (NMI), the national standards laboratory in The Netherlands. A good agreement was found between the NMI calibration and the reference air kerma rate determined with the measuring device used in this project.
authors.affiliation: Dr. B. Verbeeten Institute, Department of Radiotherapy, Tilburg, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Venselaar
authors.forename: W F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Brouwer
authors.forename: B H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: van Straaten
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Aalbers
mesh_terms: D001530:Belgium; D002138:Calibration; D006801:Humans; D007496:Iridium Radioisotopes / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009426:Netherlands; D011786:Quality Control; D011882:Radiotherapy, High-Energy / Q000592:standards*
chemical_list: D007496:Iridium Radioisotopes