Characteristics of photopolymerized tissue equivalent plastic scintillator in high dose rate radiotherapy”

Abstract

Recently, as the biological effects of ultrahigh-dose-rate radiation therapy (flash RT) have been verified, many kinds of research on the clinical application of high-dose-rate radiation therapy have been performed. Moreover, various studies are being performed to determine the absorbed dose in the volume of cancers. In this study, to evaluate the absorbed dose of the human body during high-dose-rate radiation therapy, a dosimeter system was developed using a tissue equivalent plastic scintillator having the same geometric structure as the Farmer-type ionization chamber, and its characteristics were evaluated. The plastic scintillator was based on PMMA, and PPO was used as the primary scintillator and POPOP as the wavelength shifter. An Irgacure 819 photo-initiator and a Hg lamp were used to polymerize of PMMA plastic scintillator. The fabricated plastic scintillator was characterized for conventional LINAC X-ray and 45 MeV proton beams. The results of this study combined with 3D printing technology are planned to be used as dosimeters for volumetric dosimetry of normal and cancerous tissues during radiation therapy.