Technical Note: Preliminary investigations into the use of a functionalised polymer to reduce diffusion in Fricke gel dosimeters

Optimizing the feasibility of polyvinyl alcohol-potassium iodine gel for medical dosimeter

This work aims to improve the post stabilty of reusable potassium iodide hydrogel dosimter. A reusable and low-cost radiochromic dosimeter containing a gel matrix of polyvinyl alcohol, potassium iodide dye, froctose as reducing agent and glutaraldehyde as cross-linking agent was developed for dose calibration in radiotherapy. The gel samples were exposed to different absorbed doses using a medical linear acceleration. UV-vis Spectrophotometry was utilized to investigate the changes in optical-properties of irradiated gels with regard to peak wavelength of 353 nm. The stability of the gel (one of the most limitation of using this dosimeter) was improved significantly by the addition of certain concentrations of dimethyl sulfoxide. The two-dimensional optical imaging system of charge-coupled-device (CCD) camera with a uniform RGB light-emitting-diode (LED) array source was used for diffusion coefficient purpose using two dimensional gel template. The value of diffusion coefficient reported is significant and highly reduced compared with other dosimeters reported in the literatures. Moreover, heating the improved gels to certain temperatures results in resetting their optical properties, which makes it possible to reuse for multiple times.

Microscopic and Macroscopic Characterization of Hydrogels Based on Poly(vinyl-alcohol)-Glutaraldehyde Mixtures for Fricke Gel Dosimetry

In recent decades, hydrogels have emerged as innovative soft materials with widespread applications in the medical and biomedical fields, including drug delivery, tissue engineering, and gel dosimetry. In this work, a comprehensive study of the macroscopic and microscopic properties of hydrogel matrices based on Poly(vinyl-alcohol) (PVA) chemically crosslinked with Glutaraldehyde (GTA) was reported. Five different kinds of PVAs differing in molecular weight and degree of hydrolysis were considered. The local microscopic organization of the hydrogels was studied through the use of the 1H nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry technique. Various macroscopic properties (gel fraction, water loss, contact angle, swelling degree, viscosity, and Young's Modulus) were investigated with the aim of finding a correlation between them and the features of the hydrogel matrix. Additionally, an optical characterization was performed on all the hydrogels loaded with Fricke solution to assess their dosimetric behavior. The results obtained indicate that the degree of PVA hydrolysis is a crucial parameter influencing the structure of the hydrogel matrix. This factor should be considered for ensuring stability over time, a vital property in the context of potential biomedical applications where hydrogels act as radiological tissue-equivalent materials.

A very low diffusion Fricke gel dosimeter with functionalised xylenol orange-PVA (XOPVA)

A gel dosimeter has been developed utilising a recently reported system for reducing Fe³⁺ diffusion in a Fricke gel dosimeter which chelates xylenol orange to the gelling agent poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). Formulations were investigated using both gelatin and PVA as the gelling agent, along with the inclusion of glyoxal. The resulting gel had an optical density dose response of 0.0031 Gy^-1, an auto-oxidation rate of 0.000 23 h^-1, and a diffusion rate of 0.132 mm² h^-1 which is a significant improvement over previously reported gelatin based Fricke gel dosimeters. The gel was also shown to be energy and dose-rate independent and could be reused after irradiation. Thus, this gel dosimeter has the potential to provide a safe and practical solution to three dimensional radiation dosimetry in the medical environment.

Nuclear magnetic resonance analysis of a chemically cross-linked ferrous-methylthymol blue-polyvinyl alcohol radiochromic gel dosimeter

A new formulation of hydrogel dosimeter consisting of ferrous-methylthymol blue (MTB)-polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) cross-linked chemically with glutaraldehyde (GTA) was studied and evaluated by nuclear magnetic resonance analysis by means of the R₂ spin-spin relaxation rate. Previous optical studies of this transparent solid chemically cross-linked gel showed important dosimetric features in terms of sensitivity, auto-oxidation rate, and diffusion. This study shows that the MTB-PVA-GTA dosimeter has a reproducible linear dose response up to 40 Gy. For the optimum formulation of 0.1 mM MTB, 2.5% PVA, and 26.6 mM GTA, the measured R₂ sensitivity was higher than that of traditional natural matrix-containing gels (MTB-gelatin) and all other reported PVA gel-based radiochromic dosimeters with MTB, xylenol orange (XO), or GTA (MTB-PVA, XO-PVA, XO-PVA-GTA). Additionally, the auto-oxidation rate was approximately ten times lower than that of the Fricke-MTB-gelatin system, which is consistent with the spectrophotometry results. The results of the independent experimental spectrophotometry and nuclear magnetic resonance analyses indicate that the transparent cross-linked dosimeter has good and consistent dosimetric features.

Polymer gel dosimeters with PVA-GA matrix

Properties of a new polymer gel with cross-linked polyvinyl alcohol as a gelatinous matrix were investigated. The new polymer gel dosimeter was named PVABAT. The irradiation was performed using a calibrated ⁶⁰Co beam. The dose responses of the PVABAT formulations were quantified with MRI transverse relaxation rate (R₂) measurements. The results show that the PVABAT gel responds linearly to the absorbed dose for doses from 30 up to 45 Gy. The maximal amount of [Formula: see text] of PVABAT polymer gel dosimeter was about 0.19 Gy which was indicated on a better resolution in comparison with previously reported acrylamide-based polymer gel dosimeters formulations. Furthermore, the gel response remains stable in the investigated time (192 h) after the irradiation. The effective atomic number and electron density of the new gel showed a maximum difference of 3.2 and 2% with soft tissue respectively. The melting point also increased significantly for new formulation. Furthermore, the new gel formulation has an elemental tissue equivalency for dosimetry applications involving nuclear reactions.

Three-dimensional radiation dosimetry using polymer gel and solid radiochromic polymer: From basics to clinical applications

Accurate dose measurement tools are needed to evaluate the radiation dose delivered to patients by using modern and sophisticated radiation therapy techniques. However, the adequate tools which enable us to directly measure the dose distributions in three-dimensional (3D) space are not commonly available. One such 3D dose measurement device is the polymer-based dosimeter, which changes the material property in response to radiation. These are available in the gel form as polymer gel dosimeter (PGD) and ferrous gel dosimeter (FGD) and in the solid form as solid plastic dosimeter (SPD). Those are made of a continuous uniform medium which polymerizes upon irradiation. Hence, the intrinsic spatial resolution of those dosimeters is very high, and it is only limited by the method by which one converts the dose information recorded by the medium to the absorbed dose. The current standard methods of the dose quantification are magnetic resonance imaging, optical computed tomography, and X-ray computed tomography. In particular, magnetic resonance imaging is well established as a method for obtaining clinically relevant dosimetric data by PGD and FGD. Despite the likely possibility of doing 3D dosimetry by PGD, FGD or SPD, the tools are still lacking wider usages for clinical applications. In this review article, we summarize the current status of PGD, FGD, and SPD and discuss the issue faced by these for wider acceptance in radiation oncology clinic and propose some directions for future development.