Characterization of the exradin W1 plastic scintillation detector for small field applications in proton therapy.

This study examines the dosimetric performance of the W1 in a 74 MeV proton therapy beam with particular focus on detector response characteristics relevant to relative dose measurement in small fields suitable for ocular therapy. Quenching of the scintillation signal is characterized and demonstrated not to impede relative dose measurements at a fixed depth. The background cable-only (Čerenkov and radio-fluorescence) signal is 4 orders of magnitude less than the scintillation signal, greatly simplifying relative dose measurements. Comparison with other detectors and Monte Carlo simulations indicate that the W1 is useful for measuring relative dose factors for field sizes down to 5 mm diameter and shallow spread out Bragg peaks down to 6 mm in depth. PMID: 29634488 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Physics in Medicine and Biology - Category: Physics Authors: Tags: Phys Med Biol Source Type: research