title: The performance of commercial photodiodes for dosimetry in mammography.
abstract: This paper reports the results of an investigation carried out to determine the suitability of using a commercially available photodiode for dosimetry in mammography thereby providing a low cost dosemeter with a direct reading of the radiation dose. A mammographic X-ray generator (Siemens Mammomat 1000) with tube potential in the 23-30 kV range and a constant potential X-ray generator (Pantak) with a W/Mo anode/filter combination were used in this study. The results showed that the photodiode response is highly linear within mammographic dose ranges and that the energy dependence was <3% at tube potentials of 25-30 kV. Good agreement was observed between the incident air kerma measured with both the photodiode and the ionization chamber. These results show the viability of using the photodiode as a dosemeter system in mammography.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Energia Nuclear, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Cidade Universitária, 50740-540 Recife, PE, Brazil.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Batista
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Khoury
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Melo
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Barros
authors.forename: E F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: da Silva
mesh_terms: D001822:Body Burden; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D011874:Radiometry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D012062:Relative Biological Effectiveness; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D012666:Semiconductors; D014159:Transducers