Depth dose characteristics of electron beams released from a scanning type racetrack microtron treatment machine

The Racetrack Microtron MM50 capable of taking out x-rays and electron beams having a high energy of up to 50 MeV was evaluated by a dosimetry of electron beams in comparison with Microtron MM22. The MM50 flattens the intensity of electron beams by using the beam scanning method while the MM22 utilizes the flattening-filter method. A percentage depth dose (PDD) curve was obtained through the dosimetry of electron beams using a water phantom. As compared with the MM22, the MM50 emits an electron beam that has an energy much closer to the nominal one, that is less contaminated by x-rays, and whose intensity decreases steeply down to near zero on the PDD curve. The MM50 has an electron beam dose distribution that is practically useful since the dose tends to be concentrated on the target volume. (author)