title: A novel simple phantom for verifying the dose of radiation therapy.
abstract: A standard protocol of dosimetric measurements is used by the organizations responsible for verifying that the doses delivered in radiation-therapy institutions are within authorized limits. This study evaluated a self-designed simple auditing phantom for use in verifying the dose of radiation therapy; the phantom design, dose audit system, and clinical tests are described. Thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) were used as postal dosimeters, and mailable phantoms were produced for use in postal audits. Correction factors are important for converting TLD readout values from phantoms into the absorbed dose in water. The phantom scatter correction factor was used to quantify the difference in the scattered dose between a solid water phantom and homemade phantoms; its value ranged from 1.084 to 1.031. The energy-dependence correction factor was used to compare the TLD readout of the unit dose irradiated by audit beam energies with (60)Co in the solid water phantom; its value was 0.99 to 1.01. The setup-condition factor was used to correct for differences in dose-output calibration conditions. Clinical tests of the device calibrating the dose output revealed that the dose deviation was within 3%. Therefore, our homemade phantoms and dosimetric system can be applied for accurately verifying the doses applied in radiation-therapy institutions.
authors.affiliation: Health Physics Division, Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, Longtan 325, Taiwan.
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Health Physics Division, Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, Longtan 325, Taiwan.
authors.forename: L T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Koo Foundation Sun Yat-Sen Cancer Center, Taipei 112, Taiwan ; Department of Biomedical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan.
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Shiau
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung 404, Taiwan ; Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Science, China Medical University, Taichung 404, Taiwan.
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Y J
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Science, China Medical University, Taichung 404, Taiwan.
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien 970, Taiwan.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan ; Biophotonics and Molecular Imaging Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hsu
mesh_terms: D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage