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Characterization of phenolic pellets for ESR dosimetry in photon beam radiotherapy

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Abstract

This work deals with the dosimetric features of a particular phenolic compound (IRGANOX 1076®) for dosimetry of clinical photon beams by using electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy. After the optimization of the ESR readout parameters (namely modulation amplitude and microwave power) to maximise the signal without excessive spectrum distortions, basic dosimetric properties of laboratory-made phenolic dosimeters in pellet form, such as reproducibility, dose–response, sensitivity, linearity and dose rate dependence were investigated. The dosimeters were tested by measuring the depth dose profile of a 6 MV photon beam. A satisfactory intra-batch reproducibility of the ESR signal of the manufactured dosimeters was obtained. The ESR signal proved to increase linearly with increasing dose in the investigated dose range 1–13 Gy. The presence of an intrinsic background signal limits the minimum detectable dose to a value of approximately 0.6 Gy. Reliable and accurate assessment of the dose was achieved, independently of the dose rate. Such characteristics, together with the fact that IRGANOX 1076® is almost tissue-equivalent, and the stability of the ESR signal, make these dosimeters promising materials for ESR dosimetric applications in radiotherapy.

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Acknowledgement

This research was partially supported by the Italian Ministry of Research and University (Project “Development and application of new materials for ionizing radiation dosimetry”, Grant PRIN 2010SNALEM) and by Grant 2012-ATE-0392 of the University di Palermo. The authors are grateful to Michele Quartararo, Marcello Mirabello and Simone Lazzaroni for technical support. The authors are also grateful to the Chiefs of the Radiotherapy Department of the Hospital ARNAS-Civico in Palermo and Radiotherapy Department of the Hospital Maggiore della Carità in Novara for permitting the use of the irradiation facilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Università degli Studi di Milano and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare–Sezione di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Salvatore Gallo & Ivan Veronese

  2. Medical Physics Department, Hospital ARNAS-Civico, Palermo, Italy

    Giuseppina Iacoviello

  3. Department of Physics and Chemistry, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Salvatore Panzeca, Antonio Bartolotta, Anna Longo & Maurizio Marrale

  4. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare–Sezione di Catania, Catania, Italy

    Salvatore Panzeca, Anna Maria Gueli & Maurizio Marrale

  5. Department of Chemistry, Università degli Studi di Pavia and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare–Sezione di Pavia, Pavia, Italy

    Daniele Dondi

  6. Department of Physics and Astronomy, PH3DRA Laboratories, Università degli Studi di Catania, Catania, Italy

    Anna Maria Gueli

  7. Medical Physics Department, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Maggiore della Carità, Novara, Italy

    Gianfranco Loi & Eleonora Mones

  8. Advanced Technologies Network Center (ATeN Center), Università degli Studi di Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Maurizio Marrale

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  1. Salvatore Gallo
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  2. Giuseppina Iacoviello
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  3. Salvatore Panzeca
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  4. Ivan Veronese
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  5. Antonio Bartolotta
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  6. Daniele Dondi
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  7. Anna Maria Gueli
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  8. Gianfranco Loi
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  9. Anna Longo
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  10. Eleonora Mones
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  11. Maurizio Marrale
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Correspondence to Salvatore Gallo.

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Gallo, S., Iacoviello, G., Panzeca, S. et al. Characterization of phenolic pellets for ESR dosimetry in photon beam radiotherapy. Radiat Environ Biophys 56, 471–480 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00411-017-0716-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00411-017-0716-3

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