ISP Dosimetry

Testimonials

U.T.M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Houston, TX USA

We have been using GAFCHROMIC

MD-55 films with our stereotactic head phantom since 1996. Its ability to absorb high dose, minimal angular dependency, minimum energy dependency and the ease at which this film can be handled has been very useful in our application. We are looking forward to using EBT because of its larger size, energy independence and near-tissue like characteristics. Its high sensitivity will certainly reduce exposure time which is good for the machine. For our application we also find EBT to be very stable and uniform and competitively priced.

From: Dr. David Followill, Ms. Nadia Hernandez and Ms Paola E. Alvarez

North Kansas City Hospital, Kansas, USA

We have a busy IMRT program. The instant results I get with EBT film saves me hours per week in not having to deal with chemical processors. It used to be a long walk to the radiology department where the only remaining chemical processor was left. With no one else using this processor the chemistry was often so bad that I had to call in service just to have the processor cleaned for every IMRT session. With fast dependable EBT film those days are over forever.

From: Marty Richman

Department of Radiotherapy and Radio-Oncology
Center of Diagnostic Imaging and Intervention
University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf
University Hamburg

We have been using GAFCHROMIC films since 1999. We realized its benefit immediately. The conventional method of using a processor introduces additional errors and to compensate for these errors required more work.

We started with HD-810 and MD-55-2 for the quality assurance of beta-sources used in endovascular brachytherapy. But these films were not sensitive enough for dose used in normal fractionation so we chose to use these GAFCHROMIC films in radiosurgery. GAFCHROMIC EBT on the other hand has a big advantage because of its sensitive range so we use this film for IMRT verification and for verification of a fractionated stereotactic irradiation. In addition because it is energy independent it allows the use for multi segmented small files, as typically used in IMRT without having to worry about scatter contributions from various field sizes.

We always get inquiries from colleagues about the use of EBT film, and we always recommend the use of it. There are of course other devices that can be used for 2D dosimetry, like matrix ionization chambers or electronic portal imaging devices but I doubt that these devices can cover all areas,

We also use the RTQA films for radiation field alignments and for stereotactic QA by means of a modified Winston-Lutz-test.

From: Dr. Rainer Schmidt

VU Medical Center, Amsterdam Netherlands

Maintaining good quality in your processing equipment is a matter of concern. First of all, the throughputs of the processor influence your optical density (i.e. the stability of the processor) hence the replenishing rate of the chemicals must be optimized. Since we don't have a processor, it implies high cost to buy one. Besides, don't forget the chemical wastes, costs of maintaining a darkroom and processor, time for processing radiographic film and the over response from low energy photons (<100 keV). EBT film in all respects is a very useful and reliable tool. It can be used not only for QA of IMRT patients, but also for dosimetry purposes such as for electron beams. For fast QA (installation of equipment, e.g. starshots, QA for stereotactic radiosurgery) we also recommend EBT. It saves time. We have been using EBT film beginning mid 2005 together with Epson 1680 flatbed scanner.

From: L. J. van Battum

McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada

measure dose within 2% uncertainty for doses above 0.3 Gy with the latest EBT model GAFCHROMIC

film. The applications of the EBT film model are numerous: in-vitro clinical measurements, clinical QA measurements and in-vivo clinical measurements In addition to the fact that GAFCHROMIC

films do not need a wet processor system for the post-exposure development, their energy independence and tissue equivalence, make the reference dosimetry in both clinical and experimental environment quite a pleasant task.

From: Dr. Slobodan Devic

Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences, Seoul, Korea

I have been using GAFCHROMIC

films for about two years for IMRT plan verification, machine QA and electron dose verification. Its negligible energy dependency which I have validated, self developing and water immersible characteristics have proven to be a very valuable tool. Recently I have started using FilmQA™ from 3COGNITION. I like the simplicity of the software and the ease in which the calibrations can be done. Also I think doing a calibration dose curve using pixel value is a better way. I would recommend the use of EBT film with the FilmQA™ software to my colleagues.

From: Dr. YoungHoon Ji