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Electron scattering filter design for a single field rotational total skin irradiation

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Abstract

The aim of radiotherapy treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma is to irradiate the skin with an appropriately homogeneous dose distribution up to a few millimetres in depth. This can be achieved by applying one of the total skin electron irradiation techniques. An aluminium/polystyrene foam electron scattering filter was designed so that the incident beam is broadened and degraded sufficiently to achieve a mean dose uniformity in a rectangular field of 180 cm height and 40 cm width. This paper reports on the development and construction of the electron scattering filter for use with a Varian 2100C accelerator, without MLCs, with a dose uniformity, over a useful field dimension of 180 cm height and 40 cm width, of ±7% about the mean, and an x-ray contamination of less than 2.4% beyond a depth of 3 cm.

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Correspondence to Y. T. Pham.

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Pham, Y.T., Bubb, I.F. & Cramb, J.A. Electron scattering filter design for a single field rotational total skin irradiation. Australas. Phys. Eng. Sci. Med. 28, 145 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03178707

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03178707

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