Robust External-Beam Calibration of Plastic Scintillation Detectors for In-Vivo Dosimetry in HDR Brachytherapy

TL;DR

This paper presents a robust calibration method for plastic scintillation detectors used in in-vivo dosimetry during HDR brachytherapy, effectively addressing dose gradient and positioning uncertainties to improve dose verification accuracy.

Contribution

It introduces a hyperspectral calibration approach for PSDs that bypasses traditional calibration issues in brachytherapy, validated with experimental results showing high accuracy.

Findings

Good agreement with dose rates within 2.5% at 1.2 cm

Uncertainties increase to about 5% at larger depths

Positional uncertainties are less than 0.15 mm

Abstract

Purpose: HDR brachytherapy is a widely adopted modality for cancer treatment. However, it is not free from error and uncertainty. In-vivo dosimetry (IVD) is the only technique that can confirm correct dose delivery. This study details and validates a calibration method for Plastic Scintillation Detector (PSD), bypassing dose gradient and positioning issues in brachytherapy calibration. Methods: The PRB-0057 PSD (Medscint, Canada) was calibrated, 1x1 mm scintillating fiber coupled to a 20 m Eska GH-4001 clear optical fiber (Mitsubishi Rayon, Japan). The fiber is connected to the Hyperscint-RP200 research platform for signal collection. Hyperspectral calibration was performed at a LINAC with a 6 MV beam, enabling removal of stem effects before brachytherapy measurements. For validation, an Iridium-192 Flexisource (Elekta Brachy, The Netherlands), Sk=29447U, was used in a motorized IBA-Blue-Phantom2 water tank (48x48x41cm3). Dose rates were measured at 10 Hz along the source z-axis at a fixed transverse distance of 1.2+/-0.05 cm in 0.2 cm steps. Relative difference (RD) between measured and TG-43U1 dose rates was assessed. A detailed uncertainty budget was associated with brachytherapy measurements. Results: Comparison shows good agreement with RD around 2.5 $\%$ at 1.2 cm, corresponding to positional uncertainties of <0.15 mm. At greater depths up to 8 cm, RDs increase to about 5 $\%$, mainly due to reduced light yield. Uncertainties depend on the source-detector distance, ranging from 3.81 to 6.39 $\%$ (k=1) over the explored range. Conclusions: Results confirm the PSD calibration effectiveness using a 6MV external beam with hyperspectral technique. Uncertainties close to the source align with positional errors and are dominated by reduced PSD sensitivity at larger distances. The study underlined the intrinsic limitation of IVD in the face of known uncertainties.