Over recent decades, modern protocols of external beam radiotherapy have been developed that involve very steep dose gradients and are thus extremely sensitive to errors in treatment delivery. A recent credentialling study by the Radiological Physics Center at the MD Anderson Cancer Center (Texas, USA) has noted potentially significant inaccuracies in test treatments at a variety of institutions. 3-D radiation dosimetry (often referred to as "gel dosimetry") may have an important role in commissioning new treatment protocols, to help prevent this type of error. This article discusses the various techniques of 3-D radiation dosimetry, with a focus on the types of radiosensitive samples used and on the optical computed tomography readout technique.