Grid patterns, spatial inter-scan variations and scanning reading repeatability in radiochromic film dosimetry

TL;DR

This study identifies and analyzes three key sources of uncertainty in radiochromic film dosimetry using flatbed scanners, proposing a correction method to improve measurement repeatability and accuracy.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel correction method to mitigate spatial inter-scan variations caused by autocalibration deviations in flatbed scanner-based dosimetry.

Findings

Grid patterns follow periodic noise variance in scanner images.

Inter-scan response variations can cause dose deviations over 1%.

Proposed correction reduces systematic deviations in measurements.

Abstract

Purpose: When comparing different scans of the same radiochromic film, several patterns can be observed. These patterns are caused by different sources of uncertainty, which affect the repeatability of the scanner. The purpose of this work was to study these uncertainties. Methods: The variance of the scanner noise, as a function of the pixel position, was studied for different resolutions. The inter-scan variability of the scanner response was analyzed taking into account spatial discrepancies. Finally, the distance between the position of the same point in different scans was examined. Results: The variance of noise follows periodical patterns in both axes, causing the grid patterns. These patterns were identified for resolutions of 50, 72 and 96 dpi, but not for 150 dpi. Specially recognizable is the sinusoidal shape with a period of 8.5 mm that is produced with 72 dpi. Inter-scan variations of the response caused systematic relative dose deviations larger than 1% in 5% of the red channel images, 9% of the green and 51% of the blue. No systematic deviation larger than 1% was found after applying response corrections. The initial positioning and the speed of the scanner lamp vary between scans. Conclusions: Three new sources of uncertainty, which influence radiochromic film dosimetry with flatbed scanners, have been identified and analyzed in this work: grid patterns, spatial inter-scan variations and scanning reading repeatability. A novel correction method is proposed, which mitigates spatial inter-scan variations caused by deviations in the autocalibration of the individual Charge Coupled Device detectors.