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The aim of this work is to present a ready to industrialize low-cost and easy-to-install bleeding detector for use in intraoperative electron radiation therapy (IOERT). The detector works in stand-alone mode and is embedded into a translucent polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) applicator avoiding any contact with the patient, which represent a novelty compared to previous designs. The use of this detector will prevent dose misadministration during irradiation in the event of accumulation of fluids in the applicator. Methods: The detector is based on capacitive sensor and wireless power-supply electronics. Both sensor and electronics have been embedded in the applicator, so that any contact with the patient would be avoided. Since access to the tumor can be done through different trajectories, the detector has been calibrated for different tilting angles. Results: The result of the calibration provides us with a fit curve that allows the interpolation of the results at any angle. Comparison of estimated fluid height vs real height gives an error of 1 mm for tilting angles less than 10 • and 2 mm for tilting angles greater than 15 • . This accuracy is better than the one required by clinic. Conclusions: The performance of the bleeding detector was evaluated in situ. No interference was observed between the detector and the beam. In addition, a user-friendly mobile application has been developed to help the surgical team making decisions before and during irradiation. The measurement provided by the mobile application was stable during the irradiation process.

Background Radiochromic films have many applications in radiology and radiation therapy. Generally, the dosimetry system for radiochromic film dosimetry is composed of radiochromic films, flatbed scanner, and film analysis software. The purpose of this work is to present the effectiveness of a protocol for accurate radiochromic film dosimetry using Radiochromic.com as software for film analysis. Materials and methods Procedures for image acquisition, lot calibration, and dose calculation are explained and analyzed. Radiochromic.com enables state-of-the-art models and corrections for radiochromic film dosimetry, such as the Multigaussian model for multichannel film dosimetry, and lateral, inter-scan, and re-calibration corrections of the response. Results The protocol presented here provides accurate dose results by mitigating the sources of uncertainty that affect radiochromic film dosimetry. Conclusions Appropriate procedures for film and scanner handling in combination with Radiochromic.com as software for film analysis make easy and accurate radiochromic film dosimetry feasible.

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En 2019 el Centro Nacional de Dosimetría organizó un estudio piloto de auditoría dosimétrica postal para centros de radioterapia. La auditoría consistió en una verificación de la calibración de haces de fotones de megavoltaje en condiciones de referencia, para lo cual se emplearon dosímetros de luminiscencia estimulada ópticamente (OSL) colocados en un maniquí de agua. Se auditaron 48 haces de energías: 6, 10 y 15 MV con filtro aplanador, y 6 y 10 MV sin filtro aplanador (FFF). Se consideraron aceptables las diferencias entre la dosis absorbida declarada por el centro auditado y la medida por el centro auditor inferiores al 5%. La media de las diferencias entre la dosis declarada y la medida fue del 0.8%, estando comprendidas entre el −0.9% y el +1.9%. La incertidumbre en la medida de la dosis fue del 1.6% (k = 1). No se obtuvieron resultados fuera del límite de aceptación. De este estudio se concluye que el método propuesto para auditar haces de fotones de uso en radioterapia es viable y los resultados obtenidos para los diferentes centros auditados son inferiores al limite de aceptación. La incertidumbre en la determinación de la dosis absorbida es similar a la de otras organizaciones que ofrecen este servicio.

Objectives: The main goal of this work is to design and characterize a user-friendly methodology to perform mailed dosimetric audits in high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy for systems using either Iridium-192 (192Ir) or Cobalt-60 (60Co) sources. Methods: A solid phantom was designed and manufactured with four catheters and a central slot to place one dosimeter. Irradiations with an Elekta MicroSelectron V2 for 192Ir, and with a BEBIG Multisource for 60Co were performed for its characterization. For the dose measurements, nanoDots, a type of optically stimulated luminescent dosimeters (OSLDs), were characterized. Monte Carlo (MC) simulations were performed to evaluate the scatter conditions of the irradiation set-up and to study differences in the photon spectra of different 192Ir sources (Microselectron V2, Flexisource, BEBIG Ir2.A85-2 and Varisource VS2000) reaching the dosimeter in the irradiation set-up. Results: MC simulations indicate that the surface material on which the phantom is supported during the irradiations does not affect the absorbed dose in the nanoDot. Generally, differences below 5% were found in the photon spectra reaching the detector when comparing the Microselectron V2, the Flexisource and the BEBIG models. However, differences up to 20% are observed between the V2 and the Varisource VS2000 models. The calibration coefficients and the uncertainty in the dose measurement were evaluated. Conclusions: The system described here is able to perform dosimetric audits in HDR brachytherapy for systems using either 192Ir or 60Co sources. No significant differences are observed between the photon spectra reaching the detector for the MicroSelectron V2, the Flexisource and the BEBIG 192Ir sources. For the Varisource VS2000, a higher uncertainty is considered in the dose measurement to allow for the nanoDot response.