Thermoluminescence dosimetry using TL-readers equipped with CCD cameras

Abstract

A prototype laboratory-type 2-D TL reader equipped with a sensitive 640 × 480 pixel charge coupled device (CCD) camera and a heater planchet of 72 mm diameter was developed at the Institute of Nuclear Physics (IFJ PAN) in Krakow, Poland. ETFE (tetrafluoroethylene and ethylene copolymer) TL foils of sizes up to 200 × 200 mm 2 containing LiF:Mg,Cu,P (MCP-N) powder were manufactured. A clinical version of the 2-D TL reader, incorporating a 1024 × 1024 CCD camera and 200 × 200 mm 2 heater, is also being developed. The laboratory 2-D TL reader and 40 × 40 mm 2 ETFE foils were used to measure 2-D dose distributions from a well-collimated 6 MV radiotherapy beam, around small brachytherapy sources ( 106Ru, 226Ra, X-ray needle), for 62 MeV proton beam dosimetry in an eye phantom, to obtain TL images of a raster-scanned 12C radiotherapy beam and in X-ray microbeam dosimetry. This TL reader was also used to distinguish between static and dynamic exposures of personal dosemeters exposed to X-rays and for Quality Control of TLD detectors and of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond wafers. While the uniformity of our presently manufactured TL foils remains to be further improved, the novel CCD-reader and ETFE foil, the developed 2-D TL system is a promising tool for clinical and personal dosimetry.