Recombination correction factors for an ionization chamber exposed to discrete patterned pulsed swept beams.
An equation for a recombination correction factor for a pulsed swept beam of electrons was derived by Boag. This equation is based on an integration technique, which assumes that a large number of spot beams cover the radiation field, that the field size is much larger than the spot beam size, and that the spot beam size is much larger than the chamber size. However, for computer-controlled pulsed swept beams of electrons, the spot beam pattern can be altered, may not cover all of the field area, and the locations are reproducible. In this report, a summation method is proposed for this type of beam. Calculations for two such beams are demonstrated with the chamber located in the center of the field, and with the chamber half-way to and at the edge of the field for a linear accelerator. The results lie between the integration pulsed swept and pulsed beam curves. Moving the ionization chamber from the center toward the edge of the field produces curves closer to the pulsed swept beam curve. Increasing spot beam size produces curves closer to the pulsed beam curves. It is therefore concluded that the pulsed swept beam cannot be characterized by a single recombination correction factor curve. The actual curve will be bounded by the integration pulsed swept and pulsed beam curves.
Department of Radiation Oncology, Methodist Hospitals, Merrillville, Indiana 46410.
K S
KS
Chang
D004583:Electrons; D010315:Particle Accelerators; D011874:Radiometry / Q000295:instrumentation*