The potential of Ge-doped optical fibre TL dosimetry for 3D verification of high energy IMRT photon beams

Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) is a technique widely used in the treatment of patients with prostate cancer, the most commonly occurring male cancer in the United States and Western Europe. The technique has many attractive features, promising improved radiotherapy over that provided by conventional techniques, including enabling the tumour to be treated with a uniform high dose, capability for shaping the radiation beams to match the shape of the tumour and potentially improving patient outcome. However, there are a number of concerns involving high photon energy IMRT (>10 MV), including greater radiation leakage and the possibility of photo-neutron production. The aim of the present study is to investigate the potential of Ge-doped optical fibre thermoluminescent (TL) dosimetry in determining typical out-of-field doses for high energy IMRT. Commercial Ge-doped optical fibres have been employed as the TL dosimeters, offering features such as high sensitivity, cost-effectiveness and small size. Extensive measurements have been made, examining reproducibility, sensitivity, energy response and linearity with dose. Screening for sensitivity to dose of the individual fibres and subsequent selection has led to an overall coefficient of variation (CV) of better than 4 %. Use has been made of an anthropomorphic phantom (RANDO) for photon irradiation measurements delivered over the range of nominal energies 6–15 MV as typically used in IMRT treatment of prostate cancer. Comparison has been made with TLD-100 measurements, the latter being corrected at 15 MV for their response to thermal neutrons. The study has demonstrated the Ge-doped optical fibre TL dosimeters to offer good potential for use in IMRT radiotherapy when using 6 MV photons, also indicating a need to correct their response to neutrons when conducting 15 MV irradiations.