Dosimetric study of total skin irradiation with a scanning beam electron accelerator

The Therac 20 6-MeV scanned electron beam may be used for partial or total skin therapy. The maximum field size at 1 m is 30 X 30 cm defined by a set of primary photon collimators in conjunction with secondary trimmers. We have studied electron beam profiles with and without trimmers at the nominal source-skin distance of 1 m versus extended distances of 3-5 m. We find that the trimmers limit the field size and add little to the beam uniformity at extended distances. Beam energy, dose distributions, and output factors at extended distances were measured for single and multiple field arrangements with and without trimmers. Beam parameters were measured after introducing a degrader that lowered the energy to 3.7 MeV.