A metallic buildup cap for glass rod dosimeters in radiotherapeutic in vivo dosimetry

In vivo measurement of radiotherapeutic doses is an important procedure for ensuring the accuracy of radiation treatments. The glass rod dosimeter is a known dosimeter for in vivo dosimetry, which has high reproducibility and low dependencies with respect to major radiotherapeutic conditions. A hemispherical buildup cap made of brass was fabricated to avoid a large measurement error owing to the partial lack of buildup effect during the measurement on the patient's skin. The correction factors (CFs) were experimentally obtained and verified using a Monte Carlo simulation. A clinical trial was performed with 117 patients. As a result, the measured CF was consistent with the simulation by a 2.3% error, and the mean errors of each site were within 2%. The total mean error was 1.84%, with a standard deviation of 1.39%. To conclude, this methodology can provide high accuracy and convenience in radiotherapeutic in vivo measurements.