Search results for "Fricke Gel"

Sviluppo e Applicazioni di nuovi materiali per la dosimetria delle radiazioni ionizzanti

The Research Activities carried out during the Three-year International PhD Course in Applied Physics of the candidate Salvatore Gallo had two main topics related to dosimetry of ionizing radiations (IR): the analysis of 3D gel dosimeters and the analysis of solid state dosimeters through electron spin resonance. Both these activities are focused on a careful study of new materials for the IR Dosimetry, both in terms of physical characterization of these new materials and of the optimization of readout methods for dosimetric measurements. The study performed through various techniques such as UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, NMR Relaxometry, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Electron Spin…

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance investigation of PVA-GTA FRicke gel dosimeters exposed to clinical photon beams

2016

Fricke Xylenol Gel (FXG) dosimetric system is based on the radiation induced oxidation of ferrous (Fe2+) to ferric (Fe3+) ions. The application of Fricke gels for ionizing radiation dosimetry is continuously increasing worldwide due to their many favorable properties. However, one of their shortcomings is that ferrous and ferric ions diffuse in the gel matrix. To maintain the spatial integrity of the dose distribution, Fricke gels must be undergoing measurement within a few hours of their irradiation, so that ferric ions remain close to their point of production. Thus, the spatial integrity of the dose distribution in the Fricke gel is maintained. The gel matrix also contributes to the oxid…

Gel dosimeters for radiotherapy applications

2014

Study of optical absorbance and MR relaxation of irradiated Fricke Xylenol Orange Gel Dosimeters

2016

Studies on the optical absorbance spectra of Fricke xylenol orange gel dosimeters were performed, in the wavelength range from 300 nm to 800 nm, in order to highlight some particular characteristics that can affect the achievable precision. The spectra are different mainly due to the different types of xylenol orange that was used and to a lower extent due to the different gelling agents (agarose or gelatine). The characteristic of variation of absorbance spectra versus dose, however, are similar in the various cases and can explain some peculiarities, as apparent effects of dose threshold. Changes of spectral shapes appear over the time after irradiation. Magnetic resonance measurements pe…

Gel dosimeters for medical physics applications

2015

Gel dosimeters for three-dimensional mapping of radiotherapy doses were introduced at Yale University in the mid-1980’s. Soon after, R&D in this field also started in Italy. Early work was done at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, and at the Universities of Pisa and Milan. Several institutes now collaborate on this topic with support from the Italian Ministry for University and Research (MIUR) through Grant PRIN SNALEM2010 “Development and application of new materials for ionizing radiation dosimetry”. This presentation describes this research, which aims at developing new formulations of hydrogel matrices with improved characteristics of stability, sensitivity and spatial resolution co…

Studio di assorbanza ottica e rilassometria RM in dosimetri a gel di Fricke

2016

I dosimetri a gel di Fricke con xylenol-orange, analizzati otticamente, presentano alcune limitazioni se impiegati per misure di basse dosi (pochi Gy o meno), per irraggiamenti di lunga durata o per individuare procedure di calibrazione che permettano l'utilizzo in radioterapia. Le difficoltà derivano da variazioni nello spettro di assorbanza verosimilmente dovute a variazioni dei legami degli ioni ferrici con lo xylenol-orange. Sono state effettuate misure: i) di assorbanza ottica, anche spettrometrica, per dosimetri irraggiati a diverse dosi e a diversi tempi rispetto all'irraggiamento; ii) di rilassometria RM per valutare le variazioni dovute al solo aumento del numero di ioni ferrici.

Investigation of relaxation times of irradiated Fricke gels by means of nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry

2016

Fricke gel dosimeters are ideal candidates to provide 3D maps of dose distributions and are particularly useful in the plann ing and verification phase of radiotherapy treatments. One of the most effective experimental techniques to reconstruct dose maps is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This measures th e nuclear relaxation times variations induced by irradiation. In this work, we analyzed Fricke gels with and without Xylenol Orange by means of a single side-NMR relaxometer (which is abl e to provide information on both relaxation relaxation times T1 and T2 and is mainly used in the field of diagnostics for Cultural Heritage [1-2] to perform porosimetry meaurements). Our goal was to per…

Study of optical absorbance and MR relaxation of Fricke xylenol orange gel dosimeters

2017

Abstract Studies on the optical absorbance spectra of Fricke xylenol orange gel dosimeters were performed, in the wavelength range from 300 nm to 800 nm, in order to highlight some particular characteristics that can affect the achievable precision. The spectra are different mainly due to the different types of xylenol orange that was used and to a lower extent due to the different gelling agents (agarose or gelatine). The characteristic of variation of absorbance spectra versus dose, however, are similar in the various cases and can explain some peculiarities, as apparent effects of dose threshold. Changes of spectral shapes appear over the time after irradiation. Magnetic resonance measur…

LOW DOSE CHARACTERIZATION OF FRICKE GEL DOSIMETERS BY OPTICAL ABSORBANCE AND MR RELAXATION METHODS

2016

Introduction Fricke gel dosimeters allow measurements of 3D dose distributions and can be an effective tool for dosimetry verifications in radiotherapy. Various authors have reported drawbacks of the gels affecting the accuracy in case of low dose measurements. Purpose This study aims at investigating such drawbacks and at establishing the conditions for an optimal use of the gels. Materials and methods Our dosimeters consist of gels infused with a Fricke ferrous sulphate solution combined with xylenol orange (XO). Two kinds of xylenol orange (XO) and two different gelling agents (gelatin from porcine skin and Agarose) were utilized. Gels are red out by light absorption techniques: images o…

Preliminary magnetic resonance relaxometric analysis of Fricke gel dosimeters produced with polyvinyl alcohol and glutaraldehyde

2017

This work describes the preliminary analysis of Fricke gels dosimeters characterized by a new formulation making use of a matrix of polyvinyl alcohol cross-linked by adding glutaraldehyde and analyzed by means of nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry. In previous optical studies, these gels have shown promising dosimetric features in terms of photon sensitivity and low diffusion of ferric ions produced after irradiation. In this work, we used a portable nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometer to measure the relaxation times (which are important for dosimetric applications) of these gel materials. For this purpose, we performed a study for optimizing the acquisition parameters with a nuclear…