Analysis of induced error by susceptibility effect in low-density gel dosimeters.

Abstract

In low-density (LD) gel dosimeter, diffusive spin-spin relaxation rate (R2)-dispersion caused by susceptibility-induced internal gradient leads to a significant deviation in the measured R2 from the real value. In this study, the effect of induced internal gradient on R2 was visualized and quantified algebraically as an important cause of inaccuracy in LD gel dosimeters. In this method, two sets of LD and unit-density (UD) gel dosimeters were prepared. The LD gel was made by mixing the UD gel with expanded polystyrene spheres. The R2 was used to determine the spatially resolved decay rates due to diffusion in internal magnetic field. The internal gradient was calculated for a multiple spin-echo sequence. It is shown that in a LD gel, the internal gradient leads to overestimation of mean R2 value (R2mean). Pixel-by-pixel R2 measurements inside a LD gel showed significant deviation from R2 mapping in UD gel. It appears that significant differences between R2mean in a selected region of interest and pixel-by-pixel R2 values are the main source of inaccuracy in dose mapping of a LD gel.