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Review

Radiation Dosimetry by Use of Radiosensitive Hydrogels and Polymers: Mechanisms, State-of-the-Art and Perspective from 3D to 4D

1
Liverpool & Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centres, Liverpool, NSW 1871, Australia
2
Ingham Institute, Liverpool, NSW 2170, Australia
3
School of Science, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
Gels 2022, 8(9), 599; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels8090599
Submission received: 19 August 2022 / Revised: 7 September 2022 / Accepted: 10 September 2022 / Published: 19 September 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gel Dosimetry)

Abstract

Gel dosimetry was developed in the 1990s in response to a growing need for methods to validate the radiation dose distribution delivered to cancer patients receiving high-precision radiotherapy. Three different classes of gel dosimeters were developed and extensively studied. The first class of gel dosimeters is the Fricke gel dosimeters, which consist of a hydrogel with dissolved ferrous ions that oxidize upon exposure to ionizing radiation. The oxidation results in a change in the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxation, which makes it possible to read out Fricke gel dosimeters by use of quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The radiation-induced oxidation in Fricke gel dosimeters can also be visualized by adding an indicator such as xylenol orange. The second class of gel dosimeters is the radiochromic gel dosimeters, which also exhibit a color change upon irradiation but do not use a metal ion. These radiochromic gel dosimeters do not demonstrate a significant radiation-induced change in NMR properties. The third class is the polymer gel dosimeters, which contain vinyl monomers that polymerize upon irradiation. Polymer gel dosimeters are predominantly read out by quantitative MRI or X-ray CT. The accuracy of the dosimeters depends on both the physico-chemical properties of the gel dosimeters and on the readout technique. Many different gel formulations have been proposed and discussed in the scientific literature in the last three decades, and scanning methods have been optimized to achieve an acceptable accuracy for clinical dosimetry. More recently, with the introduction of the MR-Linac, which combines an MRI-scanner and a clinical linear accelerator in one, it was shown possible to acquire dose maps during radiation, but new challenges arise.
Keywords: radiation dosimetry; gel dosimetry; hydrogels; Fricke gel dosimetry; radiochromic dosimetry; polymer gel dosimetry; MR-Linac radiation dosimetry; gel dosimetry; hydrogels; Fricke gel dosimetry; radiochromic dosimetry; polymer gel dosimetry; MR-Linac

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MDPI and ACS Style

De Deene, Y. Radiation Dosimetry by Use of Radiosensitive Hydrogels and Polymers: Mechanisms, State-of-the-Art and Perspective from 3D to 4D. Gels 2022, 8, 599. https://doi.org/10.3390/gels8090599

AMA Style

De Deene Y. Radiation Dosimetry by Use of Radiosensitive Hydrogels and Polymers: Mechanisms, State-of-the-Art and Perspective from 3D to 4D. Gels. 2022; 8(9):599. https://doi.org/10.3390/gels8090599

Chicago/Turabian Style

De Deene, Yves. 2022. "Radiation Dosimetry by Use of Radiosensitive Hydrogels and Polymers: Mechanisms, State-of-the-Art and Perspective from 3D to 4D" Gels 8, no. 9: 599. https://doi.org/10.3390/gels8090599

APA Style

De Deene, Y. (2022). Radiation Dosimetry by Use of Radiosensitive Hydrogels and Polymers: Mechanisms, State-of-the-Art and Perspective from 3D to 4D. Gels, 8(9), 599. https://doi.org/10.3390/gels8090599

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