Comparison of theoretical and experimental values of TRS 398 absorbed dose to water

OBJECTIVES: In this study, experimentally and theoretically determined absorbed dose to water calibration factors were compared. We used 6 MV photon and 12 MeV electron energies to compare experimentally and theoretically determined beam quality dependence factors. METHODS:Measurements were made at SSD=100 cm distance (LINAC), 10x10 cm standard field size and reference depth. Five different cylindrical and three parallel plate chambers were used. RESULTS: For absorbed dose to water calibration factor, the max difference between theoretical and experimental values was 2.8% for Marcus chamber. Beam quality dependence factors for 6 MV theoretical values of PTW 30001 (a) (-0.816%), NE 2571 (-0.1107%) were greater than their experimental values. For 12 MeV, the difference was 1.2371% for PTW 30001 (a), 1.6774% for PTW 30001 (b), 0.8758% for NE 2571, 0.8363% for NE 2581, 0.6071% for PTW 30002, and 0.6245% for Marcus ion chamber. CONCLUSION: As the protocol suggests, obtaining absorbed dose to water calibration factor directly from SSDL produces more accurate results.