Determination of the absorbed dose rate to water for the 18-mm helmet of a gamma knife

Abstract

Purpose: To measure the absorbed dose rate to water of (60)Co gamma rays of a Gamma Knife Model C using water-filled phantoms (WFP).

Methods and materials: Spherical WFP with an equivalent water depth of 5, 7, 8, and 9 cm were constructed. The dose rates at the center of an 18-mm helmet were measured in an 8-cm WFP (WFP-3) and two plastic phantoms. Two independent measurement systems were used: one was calibrated to an air kerma (Set I) and the other was calibrated to the absorbed dose to water (Set II). The dose rates of WFP-3 and the plastic phantoms were converted to dose rates for an 8-cm water depth using the attenuation coefficient and the equivalent water depths.

Results: The dose rate measured at the center of WFP-3 using Set II was 2.2% and 1.0% higher than dose rates measured at the center of the two plastic phantoms. The measured effective attenuation coefficient of Gamma Knife photon beam in WFPs was 0.0621 cm(-1). After attenuation correction, the difference between the dose rate at an 8-cm water depth measured in WFP-3 and dose rates in the plastic phantoms was smaller than the uncertainty of the measurements.

Conclusions: Systematic errors related to the characteristics of the phantom materials in the dose rate measurement of a Gamma Knife need to be corrected for. Correction of the dose rate using an equivalent water depth and attenuation provided results that were more consistent.