Fricke Gel dosimeter tissue-equivalence : a Monte Carlo study

Gel dosimetry has proved to be a valuable technique for absorbed dose distribution measurements in radiotherapy. FriXy-gel dosimeters consist of Fricke (ferrous sulphate) solution infused with xylenol orange. The solution is incorporated to a gel matrix in order to fix it to a solid structure allowing good spatial resolution and is imaged with a transportable optical system, measuring visible light transmittance before and after irradiation. This paper presents an evaluation of total photon mass attenuation coefficients at energies in the range of 50 keV-10MeV for the radiochromic FriXy gel dosimeter sensitive material. Mass attenuation coefficient estimations have been performed by means of Monte Carlo (PENELOPE) simulations. These calculations have been carried out for the FriXy gel sensitive material as well as for soft tissue (ICRU) and pure liquid water; a comparison of the obtained data shows good agreement between the different materials.