Abstract
FLASH radiotherapy is an emerging radiotherapy technique used to spare normal tissues. It employs ultra-high dose rate radiation beams over 40 Gy/s, which is significantly higher than those of conventional radiotherapy. In this study, a fiber-optic radiation sensor (FORS) was fabricated using a plastic scintillator, an optical filter, and a plastic optical fiber to measure the ultra-high dose rate electron beams over 40 Gy/s used in FLASH radiotherapy. The radiation-induced emissions, such as Cherenkov radiation and fluorescence generated in a transmitting optical fiber, were spectrally discriminated from the light outputs of the FORS. To evaluate the linearity and dose rate dependence of the FORS, the outputs of the fiber-optic radiation sensor were measured according to distances from an electron scattering device, and the results were compared with those of an ionization chamber and radiochromic films. Finally, the percentage depth doses were obtained using the FORS as a function of depth in a water phantom. This study found that ultra-high dose rate electron beams over 40 Gy/s could be measured in real time using a FORS.
Highlights
Radiation therapy techniques such as intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)and image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) have been developed to eradicate tumors with minimal damage to normal tissues [1,2]
The light output spectrum of the BCF-60 scintillator has the peak at the wavelength of 530 nm, the wide wavelength range makes it difficult to distinguish the radiation-induced emissions (RIEs) in the light output of fiber-optic radiation sensor (FORS)
The dose-rate independence of FORSs is very advantageous in the ultra-high dose rate radiation dosimetry of FLASH-RT
Summary
Radiation therapy techniques such as intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)and image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) have been developed to eradicate tumors with minimal damage to normal tissues [1,2]. FLASH radiotherapy (FLASH-RT) is an emerging radiotherapy technique used to spare normal tissues [3,4,5,6]. It employs ultrahigh dose rate radiation beams over 40 Gy/s, which is significantly higher than those of conventional radiotherapy; for example, the dose rate of conventional radiation therapy using clinical linear accelerators (LINACs) is approximately 0.03 Gy/s [4]. FLASH-RT ultra-high dose rate radiation beams enhance the differential effect between the tumors and normal tissues and destroy tumors while sparing normal tissues from radiation damage [6]. From the perspective of radiation dosimetry, real-time measurement of ultra-high dose rate radiation beams is challenging. Radiochromic films can be used in FLASH-RT dosimetry; dosimeters of this type are intrinsically incapable of real-time measurements [9]
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