Sensors (Aug 2021)

Optical Filter-Embedded Fiber-Optic Radiation Sensor for Ultra-High Dose Rate Electron Beam Dosimetry

  • Dong-Hyeok Jeong,
  • Manwoo Lee,
  • Heuijin Lim,
  • Sang-Koo Kang,
  • Kyohyun Lee,
  • Sang-Jin Lee,
  • Hyun Kim,
  • Woo-Kyung Han,
  • Tae-Woo Kang,
  • Kyoung-Won Jang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/s21175840
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 21, no. 17
p. 5840

Abstract

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FLASH radiotherapy is an emerging radiotherapy technique used to spare normal tissues. It employs ultra-high dose rate radiation beams over 40 Gy/s, which is significantly higher than those of conventional radiotherapy. In this study, a fiber-optic radiation sensor (FORS) was fabricated using a plastic scintillator, an optical filter, and a plastic optical fiber to measure the ultra-high dose rate electron beams over 40 Gy/s used in FLASH radiotherapy. The radiation-induced emissions, such as Cherenkov radiation and fluorescence generated in a transmitting optical fiber, were spectrally discriminated from the light outputs of the FORS. To evaluate the linearity and dose rate dependence of the FORS, the outputs of the fiber-optic radiation sensor were measured according to distances from an electron scattering device, and the results were compared with those of an ionization chamber and radiochromic films. Finally, the percentage depth doses were obtained using the FORS as a function of depth in a water phantom. This study found that ultra-high dose rate electron beams over 40 Gy/s could be measured in real time using a FORS.

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