GafChromic Film Dosimetry for Stereotactic Radiosurgery with a Linear Accelerator

Han, Seung Hee; Cho, Byung Chul; Park, Suk Won; Oh, Do Hoon; Park, Hee Chul; Bae, Hoon Sik

Abstract

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether a GafChromic film applied to stereotactic radiosurgery with a linear accelerator could provide information on the value for acceptance testing and quality control on the absolute dose and relative dose measurements and/or calculation of treatment planning system.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A spherical acrylic phantom, simulating a patient's head, was constructed from three points. The absolute and relative dose distributions could be measured by inserting a GafChromic film into the phantom. We tested the use of a calibrated GafChromic film (MD-55-2, Nuclear Associate, USA) for measuring the optical density. These measurements were achieved by irradiating the films with a dose of 0-112 Gy employing 6 MV photon. To verify the accuracy of the prescribed dose delivery to a target isocenter using a five arc beams (irradiated in 3 Gy per one beam) setup, calculated by the Linapel planning system the absolute dose and relative dose distribution using a GafChromic film were measured. All the irradiated films were digitized with a Lumiscan 75 laser digitizer and processed with the RIT113 film dosimetry system.
RESULTS
We verified the linearity of the Optical Density of a MD-55-2 GafChromic film, and measured the depth dose profile of the beam. The absolute dose delivered to the target was close to the prescribed dose of Linapel within an accuracy for the GafChromic film dosimetry (of +/- 3%), with a measurement uncertainty of +/- 1 mm for the 50~90% isodose lines.
CONCLUSION
Our results have shown that the absolute dose and relative dose distribution curves obtained from a GafChromic film can provide information on the value for acceptance. To conclude the GafChromic film is a convenient and useful dosimetry tool for linac based radiosurgery.