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Purpose: Gafchromic film and ionometric calibration procedures for HDR 192Ir brachytherapy sources in terms of dose rate to water are presented and the experimental results are compared to the TG-43 protocol as well as with the absolute dose measurement results from a water calorimetry-based primary standard. Methods: EBT-1 Gafchromic films, an A1SL Exradin miniature Shonka thimble type chamber, and an SI HDR 1000 Plus well-type chamber (Standard Imaging, Inc., Middleton, WI) with an ADCL traceable Sk calibration coefficient (following the AAPM TG-43 protocol) were used. The Farmer chamber and Gafchromic film measurements were performed directly in water. All results were compared to direct and absolute absorbed dose to water measurements from a 4 °C stagnant water calorimeter. Results: Based on water calorimetry, the authors measured the dose rate to water to be 361±7 μGy/(h U) at a 55 mm source-to-detector separation. The dose rate normalized to air-kerma strength for all the techniques agree with the water calorimetry results to within 0.83%. The overall 1-sigma uncertainty on water calorimetry, ionization chamber, Gafchromic film, and TG-43 dose rate measurement amounts to 1.90%, 1.44%, 1.78%, and 2.50%, respectively. Conclusions: This work allows us to build a more realistic uncertainty estimate for absorbed dose to water determination using the TG-43 protocol. Furthermore, it provides the framework necessary for a shift from indirect HDR 192Ir brachytherapy dosimetry to a more accurate, direct, and absolute measurement of absorbed dose to water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water calorimetry is an established technique for absorbed dose to water measurements in external beams. In this paper, the feasibility of direct absorbed dose measurements for high dose rate (HDR) iridium-192 (192Ir) sources using water calorimetry is established. Feasibility is determined primarily by a balance between the need to obtain sufficient signal to perform a reproducible measurement, the effect of heat loss on the measured signal, and the positioning uncertainty affecting the source-detector distance. The heat conduction pattern generated in water by the Nucletron microSelectron-HDR 192Ir brachytherapy source was simulated using COMSOL MULTIPHYSICSTM software. Source heating due to radiation self-absorption was calculated using EGSnrcMP. A heat-loss correction kc was calculated as the ratio of the temperature rise under ideal conditions to temperature rise under realistic conditions. The calorimeter setup used a parallel-plate calorimeter vessel of 79 mm diameter and 1.12 mm thick front and rear glass windows located 24 mm apart. Absorbed dose was measured with two sources with nominal air kerma strengths of 38 000 and 21 000 U, at source-detector separations ranging from 24.7 to 27.6 mm and irradiation times of 36.0 to 80.0 s. The preliminary measured dose rate per unit air kerma strength of (0.502±0.007) μGy/(s U) compares well with the TG-43 derived 0.505 μGy/(s U). This work shows that combined dose uncertainties of significantly less than 5% can be achieved with only modest modifications of current water calorimetry techniques and instruments. This work forms the basis of a potential future absolute dose to water standard for HDR 192Ir brachytherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]