Search

Three types of films, Kodak EDR2, Gafchromic EBT, and Gafchromic MD-V2-55, were used to measure relative output factors of 4 and 8 mm collimators of the Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion. The optical density to dose calibration curve for each of the film types was obtained by exposing the films to a range of known doses. Ten data points were acquired for each of the calibration curves in the dose ranges from 0 to 4 Gy, 0 to 8 Gy, and 0 to 80 Gy for Kodak EDR2, Gafchromic EBT, and Gafchromic MD-V2-55 films, respectively. For the measurement of relative output factors, five films of each film type were exposed to a known dose. All films were scanned using EPSON EXPRESSION 10000 XL scanner with 200 dpi resolution in 16 bit gray scale for EDR2 film and 48 bit color scale for Gafchromic films. The scanned images were imported in the red channel for both Gafchromic films. The background corrections from an unexposed film were applied to all films. The output factors obtained from film measurements were in a close agreement both with the Monte Carlo calculated values of 0.924 and 0.805 for 8 and 4 mm collimators, respectively. These values are provided by the vendor and used as default values in the vendor's treatment planning system. The largest differences were noted for the Kodak EDR 2 films (-2.1% and -4.5% for 8 and 4 mm collimators, respectively). The best agreement observed was for EBT Gafchromic film (-0.8% and +0.6% differences for 8 and 4 mm collimators, respectively). Based on the present values, no changes in the default relative output factor values were made in the treatment planning system.

The calibration of Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion (LGK PFX) is performed using a spherical polystyrene phantom 160 mm in diameter, which is provided by the manufacturer. This is the same phantom that has been used with LGK models U, B, C, and 4C. The polystyrene phantom is held in irradiation position by an aluminum adaptor, which has stainless steel side-fixation screws. The phantom adaptor partially attenuates the beams from sectors 3 and 7 by 3.2% and 4.6%, respectively. This unintended attenuation introduces a systematic error in dose calibration. The overall effect of phantom-adaptor attenuation on output calibration of the LGK PFX unit is to underestimate output by about 1.0%.