Alanine/EPR dosimetry for mailed intercomparison at ocular proton therapy facilities-preliminary results for three centres for irradaitions at CCB IFJ PAN eyeline

Quality control of therapeutic photon beams in the form of postal dose audits based on passive dosemeters is widely used in photon radiotherapy. On the other hand, no standardised dosimetry audit programme for proton centres has been established in Europe so far. We evaluated alanine/EPR dosimetry systems developed at the Istituto Superiore di Sanita (Italy), the Hasselt Universiteit (Belgium) and the Henryk Niewodniczanski Institute of Nuclear Physics Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland) for their applicability as a potential tool for routine mailed dose audits of passively scattered therapeutic proton beams. The evaluation was carried out in the form of an intercomparison. Dosemeters were irradiated in the 70 MeV proton beam at ocular proton therapy facility in the Cyclotron Centre Bronowice at the Henryk Niewodniczanski Institute of Nuclear Physics Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow. A very good agreement was found between the dose measured by three laboratories and the delivered dose determined with an ionisation chamber. This, together with the inherent properties of alanine, such as non-destructive readout, tissue equivalence, weak energy dependence, dose rate independence and insignificant fading, makes alanine a good candidate for a dosemeter used in postal auditing in proton ocular radiotherapy.

Automated summary

Quality control of therapeutic photon beams is widely used in photon radiotherapy, while there is no standardized dosimetry audit program for proton centers in Europe. This study evaluated the applicability of alanine/EPR dosimetry systems developed at different institutions for routine mailed dose audits of passively scattered therapeutic proton beams. The evaluation demonstrated good agreement between the measured dose by three laboratories and the delivered dose determined with an ionization chamber. The properties of alanine, such as non-destructive readout, tissue equivalence, weak energy dependence, dose rate independence, and insignificant fading, make it a suitable candidate for dosimetry in postal auditing in proton ocular radiotherapy.