Fiber-coupled Luminescence Dosimetry in Therapeutic and Diagnostic Radiology

Journal Article · Thu May 05 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3576161· OSTI ID:21608094

Andersen, Claus E ^[1]

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1. Radiation Research Division, Risoe National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy, Technical University of Denmark, DK-4000 Roskilde (Denmark)

Fiber-coupled luminescence dosimetry is an emerging technology with several potentially attractive features of relevance for uses in therapeutic and diagnostic radiology: direct water equivalence (i.e. no significant perturbation of the radiation field in a water phantom or a patient), sub-mm detector size, high dynamic range (below a mGy to several Gy), microsecond time resolution, and absence of electrical wires or other electronics in the dosimeter probe head. Fiber-coupled luminescence dosimetry systems typically consist of one or more small samples of phosphor, e.g. a mg of plastic scintillator, attached to 10-20 m long optical fiber cables of plastic. During irradiation, each dosimeter probe spontaneously emits radioluminescence (RL) in proportion to the dose rate. The luminescence intensity can be detected with photomultiplier tubes, CCD cameras or other highly sensitive photodetectors. Some crystalline phosphors, such as carbon-doped aluminium oxide (Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}:C) have the ability to store charge produced in the crystal during irradiation. The stored charge may later be released by fiber-guided laser light under emission of so-called optically stimulated luminescence (OSL). The OSL signal therefore reflects the passively integrated dose. In contrast to thermoluminescence dosimetry, fiber-coupled OSL dosimetry may be performed in vivo while the dosimeter is still in the patient. Within the last few years, several improvements and new applications of these techniques have been published, and the objective of this review is to provide an introduction to this field and to outline some of these new results. Emphasis will be given to applications in medical dosimetry such as in vivo real-time dose verification in brachytherapy and methods aimed for improved quality assurance of linear accelerators.

• OSTI ID: 21608094
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1345, Issue 1; Conference: SSD summer school on concepts and trends in medical radiation dosimetry, Wollongong (Australia), 15-18 Sep 2010; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3576161; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY
ALUMINIUM OXIDES
BRACHYTHERAPY
CARBON
CHARGE-COUPLED DEVICES
CRYSTALS
DOPED MATERIALS
DOSE RATES
IONIZATION CHAMBERS
OPTICAL FIBERS
PATIENTS
PHANTOMS
PHOSPHORS
PHOTODETECTORS
QUALITY ASSURANCE
RADIOLUMINESCENCE
THERMOLUMINESCENT DOSEMETERS
THERMOLUMINESCENT DOSIMETRY
TIME RESOLUTION
WATER
ALUMINIUM COMPOUNDS
CHALCOGENIDES
DOSEMETERS
DOSIMETRY
ELEMENTS
EMISSION
FIBERS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
LUMINESCENCE
LUMINESCENT DOSEMETERS
MATERIALS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MEDICINE
MOCKUP
NONMETALS
NUCLEAR MEDICINE
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHOTON EMISSION
RADIATION DETECTORS
RADIOLOGY
RADIOTHERAPY
RESOLUTION
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
STRUCTURAL MODELS
THERAPY
TIMING PROPERTIES