Radiation dosimetry in radiotherapy: A model for an extrinsic optical fiber sensor

The success of radiotherapy relies on the on-line monitoring of the dose of radiation to which the tumor and its adjacent tissues are exposed. Conventional thermoluminescence dosimeters provide only off-line monitoring, since they determine the radiation dosage after completion of the exposure. In order to overcome this limitation, optical fiber sensors have been proposed, which allow for a minimally invasive, real time and continuous monitoring of the delivered which allow for a minimally invasive, real time and continuous monitoring of the delivered dosage. These sensors make use of radio-transducers which are coupled at the end of a radiation-resistant fiber link, so as to obtain a radiation-induced intensity modulation. Typical radio-transducers are: (1) phosphors, which are stimulated to produce a visible luminescence linearly related to the radiation exposure; (2) heavy-metal-doped fiber sections, which undergo an intensity attenuation in the presence of radiation; (3) radiochromic dyes, which exhibit radiation-modulated optical absorption spectra. This paper presents preliminary test of radiation dosimetry performed by means of an extrinsic optical fiber sensor which makes use of a radiochromic film as radio-transducer. The spectral behavior of the transducer allows for two- wavelength differential measurements, so as to obtain a reference intensity-based sensor output.