Calibration of Pencil Type Ionization Chambers at Various Irradiation Lengths and Beam Qualities

Pencil type ionization chambers are being used in several diagnostic radiology applications, for the measurement of the air kerma length product, PKL. This work investigates several aspects of the pencil chamber calibration. The air kerma behind the apertures that are used for the partial irradiation of the pencil chambers depends on the irradiation set-up and equals to the air kerma free in air only under 'good geometry' irradiation conditions. Appropriate correction factors, kw, may be needed for this. The residual signal of four pencil chamber models was measured using various apertures widths. The residual signal should be subtracted from chamber signal in order to improve accuracy. Twenty-three commercial pencil type chambers were calibrated at RQT radiation qualities. The variation of performance between chambers of the same model and between different models is discussed, while the energy dependence of their response is presented. Finally, a comparison of the two calibration methods (total and partial irradiation of chamber) showed that both methods deduce similar calibration coefficients. The uncertainties of the measurements are assessed and discussed. (author)