Independence of calibration curves for EBT Gafchromic films of the size of high-energy X-ray fields

Abstract

The EBT Gafchromic radiochromic film is a relatively new product designed specifically for dosimetry in radiation therapy. Due to the weak dependence of its response on the photon energy (variations are below 10% in the 50 kVp–10 MVp range), the film is ideal for dosimetry when the photon energy spectrum may be changing or unknown. In order to convert a map of optical densities into a map of absorbed radiation doses, a calibration curve constructed on the basis of standard calibration films is necessary. Our results have shown that, with the EBT Gafchromic film, one can use the same calibration curve for 6-MV X-ray fields of any size in the range from 5×5 cm 2 up to 40×40 cm 2. This is not the case for radiographic films, such as Kodak X-Omat V, whose response to the same dose varies approximately by 10% depending on the field size in this range. This insensitivity of the EBT Gafchromic film to size of the radiation field makes it possible to assess doses delivered by small radiation fields. With the help of this film, it was shown that the output factor for a 0.5×0.5 cm 2 field is 0.60±0.03 (2SD) relative to the 10×10 cm 2 field.