title: Analysis of the EBT3 Gafchromic film irradiated with 6 MV photons and 6 MeV electrons using reflective mode scanners.
abstract: We explore in our study the effects of electrons and X-rays irradiations on the newest version of the Gafchromic EBT3 film. Experiments are performed using the Varian "TrueBeam 1.6" medical accelerator delivering 6 MV X-ray photons and 6 MeV electron beams as desired. The main interest is to compare the responses of EBT3 films exposed to two separate beams of electrons and photons, for radiation doses ranging up to 500 cGy. The analysis is done on a flatbed EPSON 10000 XL scanner and cross checked on a HP Scanjet 4850 scanner. Both scanners are used in reflection mode taking into account landscape and portrait scanning positions. After thorough verifications, the reflective scanning method can be used on EBT3 as an economic alternative to the transmission method which was also one of the goals of this study. A comparison is also done between single scan configuration including all samples in a single A4 (HP) or A3 (EPSON) format area and multiple scan procedure where each sample is scanned separately on its own. The images analyses are done using the ImageJ software. Results show significant influence of the scanning configuration but no significant differences between electron and photon irradiations for both single and multiple scan configurations. In conclusion, the film provides a reliable relative dose measurement method for electrons and photons irradiations in the medical field applications.
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Saint Joseph University, B.P. 11-514 Riad El Solh, Beirut 1107 2050, Lebanon; Department of Radiation-Oncology, Hôtel-Dieu de France Hospital, PO Box HDF 166830, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Farah
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Saint Joseph University, B.P. 11-514 Riad El Solh, Beirut 1107 2050, Lebanon; The Open University, Faculty of Science, Department of Physical Sciences, Walton Hall, MK7 6AA Milton Keynes, United Kingdom. Electronic address: ziad.francis@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ziad
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Francis
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Saint Joseph University, B.P. 11-514 Riad El Solh, Beirut 1107 2050, Lebanon. Electronic address: marie.abboud@usj.edu.lb.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abboud
mesh_terms: D004583:Electrons; D005373:Film Dosimetry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D017785:Photons; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
keywords: Film dosimetry; Gafchromic EBT3; Radiotherapy