Quality audit of radiotherapy with EORTC mailed in water TL-dosimetry

A mailable TL-dosimetry (LiF) system has been designed and tested for the EORTC Radiotherapy Group for periodic monitoring of radiation therapy machines between and prior to on-site visits. Three TL-dosimeters were enclosed in a capsule which was placed in a holder and irradiated in photon beams in a water phantom. The institutes were instructed to irradiate the capsule to an absorbed dose of 2 Gy. After the irradiation, all capsules with dosimeter, the holder and completed data sheets were returned to Gothenburg for evaluation. The heating procedure used for reading the dosimeters was optimised regarding fading and reproducibility (less than 0.5%, 1. S.D.). The fading of the TL-signal was eliminated by adding an external annealing to the heating procedure. Both supralinearity and energy dependence were tested and routinely corrected for. The dosimeters were individually calibrated. During 1987, 1988 and the first part of 1989, dosimeters were mailed to 22 institutes, participating in clinical trials organised by the Radiotherapy Group. Of the 178 beams measured, 89% were within acceptable levels of variation for the absorbed dose states (less than or equal to 4%). The photon results gave a mean of 1.012 and a standard deviation of 0.025.