Study on corrections of dose images obtained with gafchromic EBT3 films for measurements in phantoms irradiated with proton beams

The response of gafchromic EBT3 films depends on the LET of radiation. Some EBT3 films were exposed, in a solid-water phantom, to proton beams of various energies and the obtained depth-dose profiles were compared with the calculated profiles. As expected, a consistent reduction of the response in the Bragg peak region was observed. The ratio of measured and calculated values was evaluated, along dose profiles, for some energies of the incident proton beam. A method for correcting the dose images obtained with EBT3 films has been proposed and tested. The results confirm that the proposed method can be advantageous for achieving spatial distribution of the absorbed dose in proton therapy and deserves to be exhaustively developed.