COMMISSIONING AND EVALUATION OF W2 PLASTIC SCINTILLATION DETECTORS FOR CLINICAL APPLICATIONS

Abstract

Stereotactic radiosurgery is a non-surgical radiation procedure, utilizing small field dosimetry to treat for functional abnormalities and small tumours of the brain. Characterization of stereotactic beams demands high accuracy and precision to ensure the patient receives the correct dose. Plastic scintillation detectors were introduced to address the shortcomings of older detectors for small field dosimetry. This study aims to determine the effects of varying dose rates on CLR values, commission the W2 PSD for clinical application, and investigate the feasibility of vertical geometry measurements through comparison with other detectors. An alternate method of irradiating less scintillator fibre for the conducting the CLR correction procedure was validated and used to successfully commission the W2 PSD for clinical application for general field sizes. A custom holder was designed to explore vertical geometry measurements, achieving good agreement between results obtained by the W2 PSD and the microdiamond detector for small field dosimetry.