Evaluation of the basic properties of the BANGkit™ gel dosimeter

• Published in: Physics in medicine & biology Vol. 52; no. 8; pp. 2301 - 2311
• Main Authors: Murakami, Y, Nakashima, T, Watanabe, Y, Akimitsu, T, Matsuura, K, Kenjo, M, Kaneyasu, Y, Wadasaki, K, Hirokawa, Y, Ito, K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England IOP Publishing 21.04.2007
• Subjects: Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; Equipment Design; Equipment Failure Analysis; Gels - radiation effects; Radiation Dosage; Radiometry - instrumentation; Radiometry - methods; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity
• ISSN: 0031-9155; 1361-6560
• DOI: 10.1088/0031-9155/52/8/017

We evaluated the basic properties of a commercially available BANGkit gel dosimeter, which is a normoxic type of BANG gel. This gel-kit has the same composition as the BANG 3 gel, but is fully oxygenated. To exclude oxygen, oxygen scavenging ascorbic acid and copper sulfate as a catalyst are used. The properties that we examined are the effects of the concentrations of copper sulfate and ascorbic acid on the response, the reproducibility, the long-term stability, the temperature effect at irradiation and the dose-rate effect. In our results, the excellent linear fit of the R2-dose response in a dose range for clinical use and its reproducibility were observed. The precision of a linear fit was preserved for about 3 weeks. The temperature at irradiation showed a significant effect on the dose response. Although the dose-rate dependence in the high-dose range was observed, it was negligible for the clinical dose range up to 270 cGy. In conclusion, this gel dosimeter is thought to be utilizable in clinical practice, while we have to pay attention to the temperature during the entire measurement processes, and additionally there is room for improvement in the linearity and the dose-rate dependence in the high-dose range.