title: Radiochromic dye film studies for brachytherapy applications.
abstract: Commercial radiochromic dye films have been used in recent years to quantify absorbed dose in several medical applications. In this study we present the characterisation of the GafChromic MD-55-2 dye film, a double sensitive layer film suitable for photon irradiation in brachytherapy applications. Dose measurements were carried out with a low dose rate 137Cs brachytherapy source, which produces very steep dose gradients in its vicinity, and therefore requires the capability of producing high spatial resolution isodose curves. Quantification of the dose rate in water per unit air kerma strength was obtained using a high-resolution transmission commercial scanner (Agfa DuoScan T1200 with the capability of digitising up to 600 x 1200 pixels per inch using 36 bits per pixel, together with optical density measurements. The Monte Carlo calculations and experimental measurements compared well in the 0-50 Gy dose interval used in this study.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Física, UNAM, México DF, Mexico.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martínez-Dávalos
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Villafuerte
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Díaz-Perches
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arzamendi-Pérez
mesh_terms: D001918:Brachytherapy / Q000379:methods*; D002138:Calibration; D004396:Coloring Agents; D006801:Humans; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate; D011868:Radioisotopes; D011874:Radiometry / Q000379:methods; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D011868:Radioisotopes; D014867:Water; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate