Médecine Nucléaire et Radiothérapie

Investigation and Performance Tests of a Designed and Constructed Cylindrical Ionization Chamber(0.6cc)in Iran

Abstract

Mahdi Seifi Moradi and Mostafa Ghafoori

There are a number of codes, reports and protocols by national and international organizations, including IAEA, which provide physicists with a systematic approach to dosimetry of photon beams. Most of these dosimetry recommendations have explicitly recognized the advantages of using cylindrical ionization chambers for dosimetry of therapeutic beams, especially for photon beams with energies from kilo voltage (kV) to megavoltage (MV) x-ray. A commercial cylindrical ionization chamber (W-30001) was used as the reference chamber for compare measurements. The homemade 0.6cc ionization chamber (CC1) have been designed, fabricated, tested and calibrated. Measurements were made using a Farmer type 2670 electrometer together with these chambers. Leakage current, short-term stability, cable effect, repeatability and angular dependence of the CC1 and W-30001 were all tested and found to be in consistence with the international standard IEC 60731. Ion collection efficiency and polarity effect were determined during calibration of the chambers in Co-60. According to the preliminary test results the CC1 homemade chamber is found to be in consistence with the international standard IEC 60731. An advantage of CC1 chamber is a very low leakage current i.e. its specific insulation design and material.