On the Use of the Fricke-Pluronic F-127 Gel Dosimeter for Radiation Isocenter Testing of a Medical Linear Accelerator

Abstract

This work presents a Fricke-XO-Pluronic F-127 2D radiochromic dosimeter with a flat-bed scanner for 2D reading and a dedicated data processing software package as a tool for performing coincidence testing of the radiation and mechanical isocenter of a medical accelerator. The optimal irradiation parameters were determined as follows: monitor units per beam and multi-leaf collimator gap, which are ≤750–≤2500 MU and 2–5 mm, respectively, for a cuboidal container with dimensions of 12 × 12 × 0.3 cm3. Despite the diffusion of Fe3+ ions occurring during irradiation, 2D reading can be performed at least 3 h after irradiation, without affecting the calculation performance of the coincidence test. The test was successfully performed for various irradiation settings. Overall, the Fricke-XO-Pluronic F-127 dosimeter has proven to be a potential tool for the coincidence testing of medical accelerators.