The dose enhancement of MAGAT gel dosimeter doped with zinc oxide at 6 MV photon beam

Publication date: Available online 1 February 2020Source: Radiation Physics and ChemistryAuthor(s): A.S. Mustaqim, N.Z. Yahaya, N.N.A. Razak, H. ZinAbstractThe cancer treatment modalities have been developed rapidly with the aim to maximize the absorbed dose toward the cancer cells while sparing the healthy tissues. The use of high atomic number, Z nanomaterials has become interest as it offers the possibilities such as destroying cancer tumor with minimal damage to the healthy tissues. The study aimed to evaluate the role of methylene blue as it reduced the self-polymerization as well as to measure the dose enhancement effect of Zinc Oxide in MAGAT gel dosimeter. The MAGAT gel formulation is composed of 5% gelatin, 6% methacrylic acid, 10 mM THPC, 5 mg/ml of zinc oxide at different sizes of 20 nm, 40 nm and 60 nm, 0.01% of methylene blue and 89% of de-ionised water. The gel samples are irradiated at 1 Gy, 3 Gy, 5 Gy, 7 Gy, 9 Gy and 10 Gy by using 6 MV photon beam. The dose response and sensitivity of MAGAT gel doped with MB and zinc oxide is obtained from the UV-Vis absorbance. The results show that the presence of methylene blue inhibit the self-polymerization problem and the addition of zinc oxide NPs increased the dose response of MAGAT gel dosimeter. This new gel formulation showing a promising polymer gel dosimeter with an increase in radiation effectiveness.
Source: Radiation Physics and Chemistry - Category: Physics Source Type: research