Evaluation of Multiple-Sampling Function used with a Microtek flatbed scanner for Radiation Dosimetry Calibration of EBT2 Film

Abstract The radiochromic EBT2 film is a widely used quality assurance device for radiation therapy. This study evaluated the film calibration performance of the multiple-sampling function, a function of the ScanWizard Pro scanning software provided by the manufacturer, when used with Microtek 9800XL plus (9800XL + ) flatbed scanner. By using the PDD method, each one of the eight EBT2 films, four delivered by 290 monitor unit (MU) and four by 88 MU via 6-MV photon beams, was tightly sandwiched in a 30 3 -cm 3 water equivalent polystyrene phantom prior to irradiation. Before and after irradiation, all films were scanned using the Microtek 9800XL + scanner with five different modes of the multiple-sampling function, which could generate the image with the averaged result of multiple-sampling. The net optical densities (netOD) on the beam central axis of film were assigned to corresponding depth doses for calibration. For each sampling mode with either delivered MU, the depth-dose uncertainty of a single film from repeated scans and that of a single scan of the four films were analyzed. Finally, the calibration error and the combined calibration uncertainty between film determined depth-doses and delivered depth-doses were calculated and evaluated for each sampling mode. All standard deviations and the calibration error were demonstrated to be unrelated to the number of sampling lines. The calibration error of the 2-line and 16-line mode was within 3 cGy and better than that of the other modes. The combined uncertainty of the 2-line mode was the lowest, which was generally less than 6 cGy except for the delivered dose around 100 cGy. The evaluation described herein revealed that the EBT2 film calibrated with the 2-line mode has relatively lower error, scanning time and combined uncertianty. Therefore, it is recommended for routine EBT2 film calibration and verification of treatment plans.