Initial experience of MAGIC gels, their reproducibility and their practical application in the clinic

In this study we report on our initial experience with MAGIC gels as a dosimetric tool. In particular, we address the issue of the reproducibility of the gel's response to radiation by measuring the spin-spin relaxation times of gels irradiated to known doses using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a conventional multi-echo CPMG pulse sequence. As a practical implementation of MAGIC gels into the clinic is required, the time to acquire images using MRI must be short. For this reason, the effect of the echo train length used in determining the spin-spin relaxation times was assessed as an initial investigation into whether alternative pulse sequences could be used to accurately measure the gels relaxation properties