Improved MAGIC gel for higher sensitivity and elemental tissue equivalent 3D dosimetry

Abstract

Purpose: Polymer-based gel dosimeter (MAGIC type) is a preferable phantom material for PET range verification of proton beam therapy. However, improvement in elemental tissue equivalency (specifically O/C ratio) is very desirable to ensure realistic time-activity measurements. Methods: Glucose and urea was added to the original MAGIC formulation to adjust the O/C ratio. The dose responses of the new formulations were tested with MRI transverse relaxation rate (R-2) measurements. Results: The new ingredients improved not only the elemental composition but also the sensitivity of the MAGIC gel. The O/C ratios of our new gels agree with that of soft tissue within 1%. The slopes of dose response curves were 1.6-2.7 times larger with glucose. The melting point also increased by 5 degrees C. Further addition of urea resulted in a similar slope but with an increased intercept and a decreased melting point. Conclusions: Our improved MAGIC gel formulations have higher sensitivity and better elemental tissue equivalency for 3D dosimetry applications involving nuclear reactions. (C) 2010 American Association of Physicists in Medicine. [DOI: 10.1118/1.3260844]