Angular dependence of optical fibre thermoluminescent dosimeters irradiated using kilo- and megavoltage X-rays

- Irradiated free-in-air standard optical fibre dosimeters show significant angular dependence.
- The dependency varies for photon energies obtained at kVp and MV potentials.
- The irradiation medium influences the angular dependence.
- With MeV beam irradiations under CPE conditions the angular dependence decreases to 3%.

Prior investigation of the suitability of optical fibres as thermoluminescent dosimeters for diagnostic and therapeutic radiation beams has not included detailed study of the effect of beam angulation. Present study of such response has made use of optical fibre of cylindrical shape, exposed to 30 kVp photons from an X-ray tube and a 6 MV photon beam from a linear accelerator. The effect of the irradiation medium was also studied, comparing response free-in-air against on-surface and in-depth irradiations through use of solid-water™ phantom. Standard optical fibre (ø =125 µm) shows non-uniform response to beams delivered at different incident angles. Monte Carlo simulation provided support for the experimental results, also obtaining absorbed dose in the fibres. The results of free-in-air condition simulated with mono-energy beam show angle-independent response for photons within the energy range 100-500 keV, while dependency has been observed for beam energies of <100 keV and >500 keV. Experimentally, the angular dependency up to 35% is observed in 30 kVp free-in-air, while in 6 MeV beam, this is reduced to 20%, 10%, and 3% in free-in-air, on phantom surface, and in-depth conditions, respectively. The observations have been justified by considering the range of secondary electrons in the dosimeter and the effect of scattered radiation.