Alternate calibration method of radiochromic EBT3 film for quality assurance verification of clinical radiotherapy treatments

EBT3 film is utilized as a dosimetry quality assurance tool for the verification of clinical radiotherapy treatments. In this work, we suggest a percentage-depth-dose (PDD) calibration method that can calibrate several EBT3 film pieces together at different dose levels because photon beams provide different dose levels at different depths along the axis of the beam. We investigated the feasibility of the film PDD calibration method based on PDD data and compared the results those from the traditional film calibration method. Photon beams at 6 MV were delivered to EBT3 film pieces for both calibration methods. For the PDD-based calibration, the film pieces were placed on solid phantoms at the depth of maximum dose (dmax) and at depths of 3, 5, 8, 12, 17, and 22 cm, and a photon beam was delivered twice, at 100 cGy and 400 cGy, to extend the calibration dose range under the same conditions. Fourteen film pieces, to maintain their consistency, were irradiated at doses ranging from approximately 30 to 400 cGy for both film calibrations. The film pieces were located at the center position on the scan bed of an Epson 1680 flatbed scanner in the parallel direction. Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) plans were created, and their dose distributions were delivered to the film. The dose distributions for the traditional method and those for the PDD-based calibration method were evaluated using a Gamma analysis. The PDD dose values using a CC13 ion chamber and those obtained by using a FC65-G Farmer chamber and measured at the depth of interest produced very similar results. With the objective test criterion of a 1% dosage agreement at 1 mm, the passing rates for the four cases of the three IMRT plans were essentially identical. The traditional and the PDD-based calibrations provided similar plan verification results. We also describe another alternative for calibrating EBT3 films, i.e., a PDD-based calibration method that provides an easy and time-saving approach to film calibration.