Geometrical effects on luminescent dosimeter energy response

Abstract

Luminescent dosimeters are widely used in medical applications. For an optimal use of these dosimeters, comparative studies of their characteristics, under clinical radiations, are very useful. The purpose of this study is to establish the effect of dosimeter geometry on the luminescent dosimeter energy response for different clinical radiation beams. Monte Carlo simulations were used to calculate the energy response of three kinds of non-commercialized luminescent dosimeters. The dosimeters are: a) radiophotoluminescent glass dosimeter (RPLGD, typeFD-7 glass), b) thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD, type LiF:Mg,Ti) and c) optically stimulated dosimeter (OSLD, type Al2O3:C).The studied dosimeters have cylindrical geometry with a thickness of 2mm and diameters ranging from 1 to 13 mm. The radiation beams were 70 kV X-ray beam, clinical photon beam of 15 MV and clinical electron beam of 9 MeV. This study confirms a non-negligible effect on the dosimeter geometry on its energy response for these beams.