Reference dosimetry on TomoTherapy: an addendum to the 1990 UK MV dosimetry code of practice

The current UK code of practice for high-energy photon therapy dosimetry (Lillicrap et al 1990 Phys. Med. Biol. 35 1355-60) gives instructions for measuring absorbed dose to water under reference conditions for megavoltage photons. The reference conditions and the index used to specify beam quality require that a machine be able to set a 10 cm × 10 cm field at the point of measurement. TomoTherapy machines have a maximum collimator setting of 5 cm × 40 cm at a source to axis distance of 85 cm, making it impossible for users of these machines to follow the code. This addendum addresses the specification of reference irradiation geometries, the choice of ionization chambers and the determination of dosimetry corrections, the derivation of absorbed dose to water calibration factors and choice of appropriate chamber correction factors, for carrying out reference dosimetry measurements on TomoTherapy machines. The preferred secondary standard chamber remains the NE2611 chamber, which with its associated secondary standard electrometer, is calibrated at the NPL through the standard calibration service for MV photon beams produced on linear accelerators with conventional flattening filters. Procedures are given for the derivation of a beam quality index specific to the TomoTherapy beam that can be used in the determination of a calibration coefficient for the secondary standard chamber from its calibration certificate provided by the NPL. The recommended method of transfer from secondary standard to field instrument is in a static beam, at a depth of 5 cm, by sequential substitution or by simultaneous side by side irradiation in either a water phantom or a water-equivalent solid phantom. Guidance is given on the use of a field instrument in reference fields.