title: Monte Carlo evaluations of the absorbed dose and quality dependence of AL2O3 in radiotherapy photon beams.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this work was to evaluate the absorbed dose to AL2O3 dosimeter at various depths of water phantom in radiotherapy photon beams by Monte Carlo simulation and evaluate the beam quality dependence.
  
  
  METHODS
  The simulations were done using EGSnrc. The cylindrical Al2O3 dosimeter (Phi4 mm x 1 mm) was placed at the central axis of the water phantom (Phi16 cm x 16 cm) at depths between 0.5 and 8 cm. The incident beams included monoenergetic photon beams ranging from 1 to 18 MeV, 60Co gamma beams, Varian 6 MV beams using phase space files based on a full simulation of the linac, and Varian beams between 4 and 24 MV using Mohan's spectra. The absorbed dose to the dosimeter and the water at the corresponding position in the absence of the dosimeter, as well as absorbed dose ratio factor fmd, was calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results show that fmd depends obviously on the photon energy at the shallow depths. However, as the depth increases, the change in fmd becomes small, beyond the buildup region, the maximum discrepancy of fmd to the average value is not more than 1%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These simulation results confirm the use of Al2O3 dosimeter in radiotherapy photon beams and clearly indicate that more attention should be paid when using such a dosimeter in the buildup region of high-energy radiotherapy photon beams.
authors.affiliation: School of Physics Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Shao Wen
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Xue Tao
authors.initials: XT
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Li Xin
authors.initials: LX
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Xiao Wei
authors.initials: XW
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000537:Aluminum Oxide / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D002681:China; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D008422:Materials Testing; D008956:Models, Chemical; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D017785:Photons / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000379:methods; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D020266:Radiotherapy, Conformal / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013819:Thermoluminescent Dosimetry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000592:standards
chemical_list: D000537:Aluminum Oxide