An alternative buildup material: combine dressing and liquid paraffin

A tissue substitute of combine dressing (gauze and cottonwool) soaked with liquid paraffin was found to be a practical, easily manufactured and inexpensive buildup material for use in treating radiation therapy patients with electron and photon beams. Tissue equivalence was measured for electron energies of 6, 9, 12, and 16 MeV and photon energies of 6 MV and 10 MV delivered by a Varian 2100C linear accelerator. The solid water equivalence of the combine dressing/liquid paraffin material was approximately 1.2 times the geometric thickness of tissue substitute material across all energies.