Polymer gel dosimetry. The dose response for X-ray irradiation

Polymer gel dosimetry has been considered a promising technique for clinical use, but this potential has not yet been fully realized in Japan. One reason may be because the commercialized gel detector, BANGTM gel, is expensive and it is only produced abroad. A second reason is the difficulty of controlling dose sensitivity of the gel so that it is stable under ordinary clinical conditions. In this work we introduce two types of gel detectors (MAG and PAG) which we produced in-house. First the method of fabrication of gel is presented in detail, then the dose responses of MAG and PAG for X-ray irradiation are evaluating for MRI and X-ray CT scanning. The MAG-type gel is useful in low contrast dosimetry because of the high sensitivity in its dose response (R2). The PAG-type gel is effective for dosimetry in multiple field irradiations because its dose response (CT value) has reproducibility independent of the different irradiation conditions. Finally, we summarize the potential for clinical use of polymer gel dosimetry with these gel detectors. (author)