Field matching of electron beams using plastic wedge penumbra generators

We describe the use of polystyrene wedges to match adjacent electron beams with improved dose uniformity. These wedges were designed to increase the penumbra width at the field junction from about 1.5 to about 3.5 cm, to achieve dose uniformity. Measurements using thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD) and therapy localization film showed that the use of polystyrene wedges (penumbra generators) produced only a small increase (less than 3%) in the surface dose and a small increase (less than 1%) in the x-ray contamination. Without wedges at the field junction, lateral mismatching of beam edges by 2 or 3 mm may introduce high dose variations (120% or more or 50% or less). Similar 2-3 mm set-up errors did not cause more than +/- 5% dose variations when plastic wedges were used to match the fields. These wedges are particularly useful when matching fields of different beam energies or matching fields on curved surfaces, such as the chest wall.