title: Ultrasound evaluation of polymer gel dosimeters.
abstract: A new method for the evaluation of radiotherapy 3D polymer gel dosimeters has been developed using ultrasound to assess the significant structural changes that occur following irradiation of the dosimeters. The ultrasonic parameters of acoustic speed of propagation, attenuation and transmitted signal intensity were measured as a function of absorbed radiation dose. The dose sensitivities for each parameter were determined as 1.8 x 10(-4) s m(-1) Gy(-1), 3.9 dB m(-1) Gy(-1) and 3.2 V(-1) Gy(-1) respectively. All parameters displayed a strong variation with absorbed dose that continued beyond absorbed doses of 15 Gy. The ultrasonic measurements demonstrated a significantly larger dynamic range in dose response curves than that achieved with previously published magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) dose response data. It is concluded that ultrasound shows great potential as a technique for the evaluation of polymer gel dosimeters.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Medical, Health and Environmental Physics, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Melissa L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Mather
authors.forename: Andrew K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Whittaker
authors.forename: Clive
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Baldock
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011874:Radiometry; D014465:Ultrasonics
chemical_list: D005782:Gels; D011108:Polymers