Medical applications of optically stimulated luminescence dosimeters (OSLDs)

This work presents an overview of the advances in the application of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) to dosimetry in diagnostic radiology and radiation therapy achieved by the Oklahoma State University group in collaboration with the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. This overview discusses: (a) the development and demonstration of readout protocols for high-precision dosimetry in radiation therapy using high-energy photons and electrons; (b) the determination of dose profiles inside acrylic phantom in computed tomography; and (c) the performance of OSL dosimeters for dosimetry of proton therapeutic beams, including point measurements in air and along pristine and spread-out Bragg peaks. Our results demonstrate the capability of performing high-precision measurements (experimental standard deviation of 0.7%) in radiotherapy and show the possibility of performing one-dimensional dose mapping in X-ray computed tomography and proton beams. In the case of protons, our results show that OSL dosimeters are energy independent for protons with energies above 100 MeV, but a reduction in efficiency is observed at the end of the proton range. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.