A benchtop UV irradiator for 3D dosimetry laboratories with dose considerations in a spinning NMR test tube

Abstract

Many different chemical radiation dosimeters have been fabricated over the last 20 years. In the search for new dosimeters, next to being sensitive to clinical radiation doses, several other physicochemical characteristics need to be satisfied, such as stability of the dose response, spatial integrity, temperature independence, dose rate independence and tissue equivalence. The development of new dosimeters is often hindered by a limited access to radiation facilities to irradiate hundreds of test tubes or cuvettes to study these physicochemical properties. To facilitate this basic experimental research, we propose the use of an inexpensive UVC irradiator. While care is required in extrapolating the results obtained with UV radiation to high energetic X-rays, for several studies, a UV irradiator is a handy tool for first line investigation of new dosimeters. In this study, we calculated the dose distribution in a cylindrical test tube when being rotated during UV exposure. A quantitative analysis allows the optimization of the set-up to obtain dose rates in the sample in similar order of magnitude that are delivered at a clinical Linac. Regardless the usefulness of a UVC irradiator in the laboratory for preliminary testing, it should not be a complete replacement for measurements with high energetic X-rays.