External beam therapy (EBT) GAFCHROMIC film is evaluated for dosimetry and characterization of the CyberKnife radiation beams. Percentage depth doses, lateral beam profiles, and output factors are measured in solid water using EBT GAFCHROMIC film (International Specialty Products, Wayne, NJ) for the 6 MV radiation beams of diameter 5 to 60 mm produced by the CyberKnife (Accuray, Sunnyvale, CA). The data are compared to those measured with the PTW 60008 diode and the Wellhofer CC01 ion chamber in water. For the small radiation field sizes used in stereotactic radiosurgery, lateral electronic disequilibrium and steep dose gradients exist in a large portion of these fields, requiring the use of high-resolution measurement techniques. For small beams, the detector size approaches the dimensions of the beam and adversely affects measurement accuracy in regions where the gradient varies across the detector. When film is the detector, the scanning system is usually the resolution-limiting component. Radiographic films based upon silver halide (AgH) emulsions are widely used for relative dosimetry of external radiation treatment beams in the megavoltage energy range, because of their good spatial resolution and capability to provide integrated dosimetry over two dimensions. Film dosimetry, however, has drawbacks due to its steep energy dependence at low photon energies as well as film processor and densitometer artifacts. EBT radiochromic film, introduced in 2004 specifically for IMRT dosimetry, may be a detector of choice for the characterization of small radiosurgical beams, because of its near-tissue equivalence, radiation beam energy independence, high spatial resolution, and self developing properties. For radiation beam sizes greater than 10 mm, the film measurements were identical to those of the diode and ion chamber. For the smaller beam diameters of 7.5 and 5 mm, however, there were differences in the data measured with the different detectors, which are attributed to their different spatial resolution and non-water-equivalence.
For the small radiation field sizes used in stereotactic radiosurgery, lateral electronic disequilibrium and steep dose gradients exist in a large portion of these fields, requiring the use of high-resolution measurement techniques. These relatively large areas of electronic disequilibrium make accurate dosimetry as well as dose calculation more difficult, and this is exacerbated in regions of tissue heterogeneity. Tissue heterogeneity was considered insignificant in the brain where stereotactic radiosurgery was first used. However, as this technique is expanded to the head and neck and other body sites, dose calculations need to account for dose perturbations in and beyond air cavities, lung, and bone. In a previous study we have evaluated EBT Gafchromic film (International Specialty Products, Wayne, NJ) for dosimetry and characterization of the Cyberknife radiation beams and found that it was comparable to other common detectors used for small photon beams in solid water equivalent phantoms. In the present work EBT film is used to measure dose in heterogeneous slab phantoms containing lung and bone equivalent materials for the 6 MV radiation beams of diameter 7.5 to 40 mm produced by the Cyberknife (Accuray, Sunnyvale, CA). These measurements are compared to calculations done with both the clinically utilized Raytrace algorithm as well as the newly developed Monte Carlo based algorithm available on the Cyberknife treatment planning system. Within the low density material both the measurements and Monte Carlo calculations correctly model the decrease in dose produced by a loss of electronic equilibrium, whereas the Raytrace algorithm incorrectly predicts an enhancement of dose in this region. Beyond the low density material an enhancement of dose is correctly calculated by both algorithms. Within the high density bone heterogeneity the EBT film measurements represent dose to unit density tissue in bone and agree with the Monte Carlo results when corrected to dose to unit density tissue in bone. We conclude that EBT film is an appropriate dosimeter for measuring dose in heterogeneous materials and these measurements agree with Monte Carlo calculations of dose as implemented in the Cyberknife treatment planning system.
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