Evaluation of neutron doses received at different organs in radiotherapy treatments using the UAB PADC based dosemeters in an anthropomorphic phantom

The NEUTOR project was set up to study radiotherapy patient exposures to the neutrons produced around the LINAC accelerator head by photon radiation above ∼8 MeV. These neutrons may reach the patient directly, or they may interact with the surrounding materials until they become thermalised, scattering all over the treatment room and affecting the patient as well. A miniaturised version of the UAB PADC based neutron dosemeter is used, together with thermoluminescence Li-6/Li-7 pairs, in several positions inside an anthropomorphic female phantom to determine doses received by the patient at several organs or tissues. Irradiations were made at a 15 MV LINAC (Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Macarena, Sevilla, Spain), an 18 MV LINAC (Hospital General Universitario de Valencia, Spain) and a 23 MV LINAC (Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg, Germany). Preliminary patient dose maps obtained from the UAB PADC dosemeter measurements (considering an average calibration factor for all neutron energies) are reported in this work.