A Comparison of the Basic Photon and Electron Dosimetry Data for Neptun 10Pc Linear Accelerators



Shokrani P¹ ; Monadi S¹ Show Affiliations
Source: Nukleonika Published:2008

Abstract

In recent years the similarity of dosimetric characteristics of modern linear accelerators with the same make, model and nominal energy, has become more common. The goal of this study was to quantitatively investigate the reproducibility of the basic photon and electron dosimetry data from Neptun 10PC accelerators across the institutions. In the current study, the photon and electron dosimetry data collected during acceptance and initial commissioning of six Neptun 10PC linear accelerators are analyzed. The dates of original installations of these six machines were evenly spread out over a 5 year period and the series of measurements were conducted during an average of 1-2 months after original installations. All units had identical energies and beam modifiers. For photon beams, the collected data include depth dose data, output factors and beam profile data in water. For electron beams, in addition to depth dose data and output factors, the effective source skin distance for 10 × 10 cm field size is also presented. For most beam parameters the variation (one standard deviation), was less than 1.0% (less than 2% for 2 parameters). A variation of this magnitude is expected to be observed during annual calibration of well-maintained accelerators. In conclusion, this study is presenting a consistent set of data for Neptun 10PC linear accelerators. This consistency implies that for this model, a standard data set of basic photon and electron dosimetry could be established, as a guide for future commissioning, beam modeling and quality assurance purposes.