GafChromic (R) RTQA film for routine quality assurance of high-energy photon beams

Abstract

Self-developing film offers many advantages over conventional radiographic verification film for routine radiotherapy quality assurance (QA). This paper presents results from an initial evaluation of a beam measurement system using GafChromic (R) RTQA film and a flatbed scanner. Variability and energy dependence of the film calibration and accuracy of scanner readout are investigated in the context of QA measurements. For exposures of film between 2 and 4 Gy, the system is adequate for measurement of beam dimensions, as in multi-leaf collimator (MLC) offsets and secondary jaw calibrations, where agreement with conventional film measurements is within 0.5 mm. However, the measurement of absolute dose is subject to errors of about 25 cGy.