Abstract
The objective of this work was to enhance the quality and safety of dose delivery in the practice of radiation oncology. To achieve this goal, the absorbed dose verification program was initiated by using the diode in vivo dosimetry (IVD) system (for entrance and exit). This practice was implemented at BINO, Bahawalpur, Pakistan. Diodes were calibrated for making absorbed dose measurements. Various correction factors (SSD, dose non-linearity, field size, angle of incidence, and wedge) were determined for diode IVD system. The measurements were performed in phantom in order to validate the IVD procedure. One hundred and nineteen patients were monitored and 995 measurements were performed. For phantom, the percentage difference between measured and calculated dose for entrance setting remained within ±2 % and for exit setting ±3 %. For patient measurements, the percentage difference between measured and calculated dose remained within ±5 % for entrance/open fields and ±7 % for exit/wedge/oblique fields. One hundred and nineteen patients and 995 fields have been monitored during the period of 6 months. The analysis of all available measurements gave a mean percent deviation of ±1.19 % and standard deviation of ±2.87 %. Larger variations have been noticed in oblique, wedge and exit measurements. This investigation revealed that clinical dosimetry using diodes is simple, provides immediate results and is a useful quality assurance tool for dose delivery. It has enhanced the quality of radiation dose delivery and increased/improved the reliability of the radiation therapy practice in BINO.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
World Health Organization (2012) International Agency for Research on Cancer, GLOBOCAN 2012: estimated cancer incidence, mortality and prevalence worldwide in 2012. http://globocan.iarc.fr/Pages/factsheetscancer.aspx. Accessed on 22 June 2015
Bray F, Jemal A, Grey N et al (2012) Global cancer transitions according to the Human Development Index (2008–2030): a population-based study. Lancet Oncol 13(8):790–801
Janaki MG, Kadam AR, Mukesh S et al (2010) Magnitude of fatigue in cancer patients receiving radiotherapy and its short term effect on quality of life. J Cancer Res Ther 6(1):22–26
Mayles WP (2007) The Glasgow incident: a physicist’s reflections. Clin Oncol 19:4–7
Williams MV (2007) Radiotherapy near misses, incidents and errors: radiotherapy incident in Glasgow. Clin Oncol 19:1–3
Derreumaux S, Etard C, Huet C et al (2008) Lessons from recent accidents in radiation therapy in France. Radiat Prot Dosim 131:130–135
International Commission on Radiological Protection (2009) Preventing accidental exposures from new external beam radiationtherapy technologies. ICRP Publication 112, vol 39(4), pp 1–86
Yorke E, Alecu R, Ding L et al (2005) Diode in vivo dosimetry for patients receiving external beam radiation therapy. AAPM Report No. 87, Medical Physics Publishing
Fiorino C, Corletto D, Mangili P et al (2000) Quality assurance by systematic in vivo dosimetry: results on a large cohort of patients. Radiother Oncol 56(1):85–95
Mans A, Wendling M, McDermott LN et al (2010) Catching errors with in vivo EPID dosimetry. Med Phys 37:2638–2644
Huyskens DP, Bogaerts R, Verstraete J et al (2001) Practical guidelines for the implementation of in vivo dosimetry with diodes in external radiotherapy with photon beams (entrance dose). Physics for Clinical Radiotherapy, Booklet No. 5, 1st edition, ESTRO, Brussels
World Health Organization (2008) Radiotherapy risk profile. WHO Press, Geneva
International Atomic Energy Agency (2013) Development of procedures for in vivo dosimetry in radiotherapy, IAEA Human Health Reports No.8, Viena
International Comission on Radiological Protection (2000) Prevention of accidents to patients under going radiation therapy. ICRP Publication 86
International Atomic Energy Agency (2001) Investigation of an accidental exposure of radiotherapy patients in Panama: report of a team of experts. IAEA, Viena
Van Dam J, Marinello G (2006) Methods for in vivo dosimetry in external radiotherapy, 2nd edn. ESTRO, Brussels
International Atomic Energy Agency (2000) Absorbed dose determination in external beam radiotherapy: an international code of practice for dosimetry based standards of absorbed dose to water, Technical Reports Series No. 398, IAEA,Vienna
Qasim M, Khan M A, Shamshad M et al (2011) Dose verification with p-type silicon diode detectors in electron and photon beams radiotherapy. In: Proceedings of the Pakistan Institute of Physics Conference 22–26
Tunio M, Rafi M, Ali S et al (2011) In vivo dosimetry with diodes in a radiotherapy department from Pakistan. Radiat Prot Dosim 147(4):1–6
Acknowledgments
The role of Higher Education Commission, Pakistan for providing the opportunity to conduct the study is greatly acknowledged.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The Authors declared that there is no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gadhi, M.A., Fatmi, S., Chughtai, G.M. et al. Verification of absorbed dose using diodes in cobalt-60 radiation therapy. Australas Phys Eng Sci Med 39, 211–219 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13246-016-0422-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13246-016-0422-5