MEASUREMENTS OF DOSE DISTRIBUTION OUTSIDE THE TREATMENT AREA IN CASE OF RADIOTHERAPY TREATMENT USING POLYSTYRENE PHANTOM

Dose distribution (depthwise and laterally) to organs outside the radiotherapy treatment field can be significant and therefore is of clinical interest from the radiation protection point of view. In the present work, measurements were performed in a locally fabricated polystyrene phantom using TLD chips (LiF-100) for different teletherapy units (Cobalt-60 gamma ray, 120 kVp X-ray and 250 kVp X-ray) to estimate the dose distribution at distances up to 40 cm from the field edge along the central axes of the field size. Finally, the dose distribution for Cobalt-60 beam energy is parameterized as a function of depth, distance from field edge, and field size and shape.