Investigation of the dose characteristics of an n-NIPAM gel dosimeter with computed tomography

Nowadays, radiotherapy attempts to deliver complex three-dimensional (3-D) dose distribution. The gel dosimeter, which can measure the 3-D dose output, is suitable for clinical use. This study developed an n-NIPAM gel dosimeter based on an N-isopropyl-acrylamide monomer, and used computed tomography (CT) to evaluate the characteristics of n-NIPAM gels. The n-NIPAM gel consisted of 6% gelatin, 5% monomer, and 2.5% cross-linker combined with 5 mM tetrakis (hydroxymethyl) phosphonium chloride (THPC) for deoxygenation. Dose responses of 2–15 Gy delivered by a linear accelerator were examined. Temporal instability, energy dependence, dose rate dependence, and spatial resolution were evaluated as well. Temporal instability appeared before 24 h post-irradiation. The maximum difference of sensitivity reached 33% for various dose rates from 100 to 500 cGy min−1, while it was within 10% for X-ray energies from 6 to 15 MV. The average sensitivity of n-NIPAM under 6 MV and 400 cGy min−1 was 0.5689 HU Gy−1, and the linearity (R2=0.998) was comparable to that of the conventional NIPAM gels. For the spatial resolution, the edge spread distances were generally shorter than 6.5 mm for adjacent quadrants with different dose gradients of 5/10, 5/15, 10/20, and 15/20 Gy. We conclude that n-NIPAM has high linearity and high sensitivity. Although the energy dependence is minor, there is a slight dose rate dependence. The proposed dosimeter with CT readout is suitable in clinical radiotherapy to increase the accuracy of dose verification.