Variations in backscatter observed in PMMA whole-body dosimetry slab phantoms

Scott O. Schwahn; Thomas F. Gesell

doi:10.1093/rpd/ncm391

Variations in backscatter observed in PMMA whole-body dosimetry slab phantoms

Scott O. Schwahn, Thomas F. Gesell

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is a useful material for dosimetry phantoms in many ways including approximate tissue equivalence, stability, accessibility and ease of use. However, recent studies indicate that PMMA may have some unanticipated variation in backscatter from one phantom to another. While the reasons behind the variations have not been identified, it has been demonstrated that the backscatter from one phantom to another may vary by as much as 15%, resulting in a dosemeter response variation of as much as 5%. This unexpected contribution to uncertainty in delivered dose to a dosemeter may be quite large compared to the normally estimated uncertainty, potentially causing problems with calibration and performance testing. This paper includes data supporting the differences in backscatter among phantoms, and results from tests on the phantoms performed in an effort to identify possible causes.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	375-381
Number of pages	7
Journal	Radiation Protection Dosimetry
Volume	128
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/rpd/ncm391
State	Published - Feb 2008
Externally published	Yes

Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge the contributions of the following persons: Kim Piper (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) for his assistance with identifying causes of calibration errors and for allowing the authors access to his laboratory for measurements; Brian Anderson (Idaho Cleanup Project), Laird Bean (U.S. Department of Energy) and Bruce Rathbone (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) for their assistance in obtaining dosimetry results; René Rodriguez (Idaho State University Chemistry Department) for assistance in obtaining FTIR results; Karl Hemmerich (Isomedix Corporation) for assistance in obtaining high-dose irradiations; and Neill Stanford (Stanford Dosimetry, LLC) for his assistance in identifying the overall issue. The authors would also like to acknowledge the support of the U.S. Department of Energy.

Funders	Funder number
U.S. Department of Energy

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10.1093/rpd/ncm391

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Variations in backscatter observed in PMMA whole-body dosimetry slab phantoms

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