Ion recombination and polarity effect of ionization chambers in kilovoltage x-ray exposure measurements

A study of polarity effect for various ionization chambers in kilovoltage x-ray beams

BACKGROUND

Ionization chambers play an essential role in dosimetry measurements for kilovoltage (kV) x-ray beams. Despite their widespread use, there is limited data on the absolute values for the polarity correction factors across a range of commonly employed ionization chambers.

PURPOSE

This study aimed to investigate the polarity effects for five different ionization chambers in kV x-ray beams.

METHODS

Two plane-parallel chambers being the Advanced Markus and Roos and three cylindrical chambers; 3D PinPoint, Semiflex and Farmer chamber (PTW, Freiburg, Germany), were employed to measure the polarity correction factors. The kV x-ray beams were produced from an Xstrahl 300 unit (Xstrahl Ltd., UK). All measurements were acquired at 2 cm depth in a PTW-MP1 water tank for beams between 60 kVp (HVL 1.29 mm Al) and 300 kVp (HVL 3.08 mm Cu), and field sizes of 2-10 cm diameter for 30 cm focus-source distance (FSD) and 4 × 4 cm2 - 20 × 20 cm2 for 50 cm FSD. The ionization chambers were connected to a PTW-UNIDOS electrometer, and the polarity effect was determined using the AAPM TG-61 code of practice methodology.

RESULTS

The study revealed significant polarity effects in ionization chambers, especially in those with smaller volumes. For the plane-parallel chambers, the Advanced Markus chamber exhibited a maximum polarity effect of 2.5%, whereas the Roos chamber showed 0.3% at 150 KVp with the 10 cm circular diameter open-ended applicator. Among the cylindrical chambers at the same beam energy and applicator, the Pinpoint chamber exhibited a 3% polarity effect, followed by Semiflex with 1.7%, and Farmer with 0.4%. However, as the beam energy increased to 300 kVp, the polarity effect significantly increased reaching 8.5% for the Advanced Markus chamber and 13.5% for the PinPoint chamber at a 20 × 20 cm2 field size. Notably, the magnitude of the polarity effect increased with both the field size and beam energy, and was significantly influenced by the size of the chamber's sensitive volume.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings demonstrate that ionization chambers can exhibit substantial polarity effects in kV x-ray beams, particularly for those chambers with smaller volumes. Therefore, it is important to account for polarity corrections when conducting relative dose measurements in kV x-ray beams to enhance the dosimetry accuracy and improve patient dose calculations.

Percent depth-dose distribution discrepancies from very small volume ion chambers

As very small ion chambers become commercially available, medical physicists may be inclined to use them during the linear accelerator commissioning process to better characterize the beam in steep dose gradient areas. For this work, a total of eight different ion chambers (volumes from 0.007 cc to 0.6 cc) and four different scanning systems were used to scan PDDs at both +300V and −300V biases. We observed a reproducible, significant difference (overresponse with depth) in PDDs acquired when using very small ion chambers, with specific bias/water tank combinations — up to 5% at a depth of 25 cm in water. This difference was not observed when the PDDs were sampled using the ion chamber in static positions in conjunction with an external electrometer. This suggests noise/signal interference produced by the controller box and cable system assemblies, which can become relatively significant for the very small current signals collected by very small ion chambers, especially at depth as the signal level is even further reduced. Based on the results observed here, the use of very small active volume chambers under specific scanning conditions may lead to collection of erroneous data, introducing systematic errors into the treatment planning system. In case the use of such a chamber is required, we recommend determining whether such erroneous effect exists by comparing the scans with those obtained with a larger chamber.

PACS numbers: 87.56.bd, 87.56.Fc, 87.56.Da

Partial volume characteristics of ionization chambers in kilovoltage x-ray exposure measurements

The partial volume (spatial) response of four ionization chambers (Keithley) in kilovoltage X-ray beams, generated by the Philips Super 80CP X-ray unit, was assessed. The volume of the ionization chambers were of 10 cm3, 15 cm3, 150 cm3, and 600 cm3 used with Keithley electrometer Model 35040. The beam output was measured using a monitor chamber (Radcal 6.0 cm3) placed close to the collimator. The source to chamber distance was kept constant at 1 m. For the measurement of the response of ionization chambers of 15 cm3, 150 cm3, and 600 cm3, a slit of 2.0 mm width was made in a lead sheet of 3.2 mm thick and size of 30 × 30 cm2 and was placed on the ionization chamber. The measurements were made for 81 kVp, 400 mA, and 0.25 s and the slit was moved at an increment of 2.0 mm over the entire length of the chamber. For the measurements of the ionization chamber of 10 cm3 (CT chamber), the beams of 120 kVp, 200 mA and 0.2 s were generated, and a slit of 5 mm width was made in a similar lead sheet that was moved at an increment of 5.0 mm. From the result it appears that the sensitive volumes of the ionization chambers affect the response of the ionization chamber to incident radiation.

Determination of the diagnostic x-ray tube practical peak voltage (PPV) from average or average peak voltage measurements

The practical peak voltage (PPV) has been adopted as the reference measuring quantity for the x-ray tube voltage. However, the majority of commercial kV-meter models measure the average peak, Ū(P), the average, Ū, the effective, U(eff) or the maximum peak, U(P) tube voltage. This work proposed a method for determination of the PPV from measurements with a kV-meter that measures the average Ū or the average peak, Ū(p) voltage. The kV-meter reading can be converted to the PPV by applying appropriate calibration coefficients and conversion factors. The average peak k(PPV,kVp) and the average k(PPV,Uav) conversion factors were calculated from virtual voltage waveforms for conventional diagnostic radiology (50-150 kV) and mammography (22-35 kV) tube voltages and for voltage ripples from 0% to 100%. Regression equation and coefficients provide the appropriate conversion factors at any given tube voltage and ripple. The influence of voltage waveform irregularities, like 'spikes' and pulse amplitude variations, on the conversion factors was investigated and discussed. The proposed method and the conversion factors were tested using six commercial kV-meters at several x-ray units. The deviations between the reference and the calculated-according to the proposed method-PPV values were less than 2%. Practical aspects on the voltage ripple measurement were addressed and discussed. The proposed method provides a rigorous base to determine the PPV with kV-meters from Ū(p) and Ū measurement. Users can benefit, since all kV-meters, irrespective of their measuring quantity, can be used to determine the PPV, complying with the IEC standard requirements.

Performance evaluation of diagnostic radiology dosimeters in clinical and calibration x-ray beams

Diagnostic radiology dosimeters should comply with International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61674 standard in order to perform measurements with sufficient accuracy and reliability. The calibration of a dosimeter is performed under, and pertains to, reference conditions. However, in most cases, dosimeters are used for clinical measurements under non-reference conditions. The performance, in terms of accuracy of dose measurements, of six commercial diagnostic radiology dosimeters was tested at reference calibration and at clinical non-reference conditions. The results showed that all dosimeters being tested exhibited limits of variation within the +/-5% IEC limits. Depending on the detector's physical and operational properties, the dosimeters' energy dependence of response values varied from -4.7% to +4.2%. To address this variation of response, calibration at three radiation qualities (RQR 3, RQR 5, and RQR 9), at least, is recommended. Different irradiation conditions such as air kerma rate, x-ray tube design, x-ray system, and dosimeter operational modes affect the dosimeters' response by less than 3%. A dosimeter that complies with IEC standards and operates according to its specifications could be used at typical clinical irradiation conditions taking into account only corrections for the energy dependence of response. In this case, the error in dose accuracy is expected to be less than 3%.

Broad beam attenuation measurements in lead in kilovoltage X-ray beams

Broad beam attenuation is dependent on several parameters, such as the beam energy, thickness of attenuator, distance between the detector and attenuating material, atomic number of the attenuator, and the size and the volume of the ionization chamber. Lead is a common shielding material and hence the lead attenuation was studied in the context of the distance between detector and attenuating material and the chamber volume. Lead sheets of size 30 x 30 cm2 and high purity and precise thickness of 0.1 mm to 4.5 mm were used for the broad beam attenuation measurements of X-ray beams from a Philips Super 80CP unit with the range of 50 kVp-125 kVp. Six different chambers of 6 cm3, 15 cm3, 60 cm3, 150 cm3, 180 cm3 and 600 cm3 volume from two manufacturers were used. The source to the attenuator distance was kept constant at 1 m and the distance between ionization chamber and attenuating material (Pb) was varied in the range of 0-20 cm. The results show that the broad beam attenuation depends on the distance between chamber and attenuating material for each kV and ionization chamber volume. Shorter distances between chamber and attenuating material provide higher transmission. The attenuation differences were more pronounced at lower transmission values (< 10(-3)). The choice of the detector was shown not to be a critical factor except for the large volume of the 600 cm3 ionization chamber. In conclusions, broad beam attenuation measurements used for shielding calculation is relatively independent on the measuring devices except for a very large ion chamber. However, the distance between the attenuator and the detector is critical for the accuracy of attenuation measurements especially for smaller transmission values, which are most critical for public exposure.

Câmara de ionização de placas paralelas para radiação-X de radiografia convencional e mamografia

OBJETIVO: Desenvolver uma câmara de ionização de placas paralelas de dupla face para determinação de kerma no ar e taxa de kerma no ar em campos de radiação-X utilizados em radiografia convencional e mamografia. MATERIAIS E MÉTODOS: A câmara desenvolvida tem janelas de entrada de poliéster aluminizado, elétrodos internos e anéis de guarda de alumínio em uma face (face A) e de grafite na outra (face G). Neste trabalho foram testadas as características operacionais de linearidade, dependência angular e energética de resposta. RESULTADOS: A linearidade de resposta foi de 0,86% para a face A e de 0,92% para a face G. Para ângulos de incidência da radiação de 0° a ± 5°, a variação da resposta relativa foi menor que 0,8% para ambas as faces da câmara. A dependência energética de resposta foi de 0,8% para a face A nas qualidades de raios-X para diagnóstico convencional e de 2,4% para a face G da câmara nas qualidades de raios-X para mamografia. CONCLUSÃO: Esta câmara pode ser utilizada rotineiramente na determinação de kerma no ar e taxa de kerma no ar em feixes de raios-X utilizados em radiografia convencional e mamografia.