New developments in radiochromic film dosimetry

NIST has been a pioneer in the use of radiochromic film for medical dosimetry applications. Beginning in 1988 with experiments with Sr-90/Y ophthalmic applicators, this work has continued into the present. A review of the latest applications is presented, which include high activity low-energy photon source dosimetry and ultra-high resolution film densitometry for dose enhancement near stents and microbeam radiation therapy dosimetry. An exciting recent development is the availability of a new radiochromic emulsion which has been developed for IMRT dosimetry. This emulsion is an order of magnitude more sensitive than was previously available. Measurements of the sensitivity and uniformity of samples of this new film are reported, using a spectrophotometer and two scanning laser densitometers. A unique feature of the new emulsion is that the peak of the absorbance spectrum falls at the wavelength of the HeNe lasers used in the densitometer, maximising sensitivity. When read at a wavelength of 633 nm, sensitivities on the order of 900 mAU Gy(-1) were determined for this new film type, compared with about 40 mAU Gy(-1) for type HS film, 20 mAU Gy(-1) for type MD-55-2 film, and 3 mAU Gy(-1) for type HD-810. Film uniformities were found to be good, on the order of 6% peak to peak. However, there is a strong polarisation effect in the samples examined, requiring care in film orientation during readout.