Estimation of the three-dimensional (3D) dose distribution of electron beams from medical linear accelerator (LINAC) using plastic scintillator plate

Abstract Measurements of three-dimensional (3D) dose distribution of electron-beams in water are important for high-energy electron beams from medical linear accelerators (LINAC). Although ionization chambers are commonly used for this purpose, measurements take a long time for precise 3D dose distribution. To solve the problem, we tried the measurements of the 3D dose distributions using a scintillator plate combined with a mirror. After we placed a 1 mm thick plastic scintillator plate at the upper inside of a black box, a water phantom was set above the plastic scintillator plate outside the black box, and electron beam was irradiated to the water phantom from the upper side. The attenuated electron-beam by the water in the phantom was detected by the plastic scintillator plate and the scintillation image was formed in the plate. The image was reflected by a surface mirror set below the plastic scintillator plate and detected by a cooled charge coupled device (CCD) camera from the side. We changed the depths of the water in the phantom, obtained the scintillation images, and calculated a 3D scintillation image using the measured images. Measurements were made for 9 MeV and 12 MeV electron-beams using the imaging system. From the images, we could successfully form 3D scintillation images. The depth profiles measured from the 3D images showed almost identical distribution with those calculated by the planning system within the difference of 5%. The lateral profiles also showed almost identical within the difference of the widths less than 2.5 mm. We conclude that the proposed method is promising for 3D dose distribution measurements of electron-beams.