OPTICALLY STIMULATED

LUMINESCENCE(OSL) DOSIMETRY IN
RADIOTHERAPY

Sa’ed Al-Atawneh
Medical physics section
OUTLINE
Overview •
Principles of OSL dosimetry •
OSL readers and stimulation methods •
Optically Simulated Luminescence Dosimeters (OSLDs) •
Dosimetric characteristics of Al2O3:C OSLDs for •
radiotherapy applications
Environmental corrections –
Linearity of dose response –
Dose-rate dependence –
Energy dependence –
Directional dependence –
Fading –
Advantages and disadvantages •
Clinical dosimetry applications •
Summary •
OVERVIEW

Radiation detector
Gas filled ion chambers , e.g. whellhofer -
Parball plate ion chamber - 

Semiconductor detector , e.g. surface diode - 

TLD Detector OSLD Detector 

 OSL DOSIMETRY - INTRODUCTION

OSL known for more than 50 years •

Widely used in luminescence dating •
Highly sensitive Al2O3:C introduced in 90’s •
Developed for personal dosimetry at •
Oklahoma State University
 OSL DOSIMETRY - INTRODUCTION

Used in the InLightTM dosimetry systems •

).Landauer Inc(
million users (25% of world 1.5> •
)market
Used in space by NASA •
Starting to be adopted in •
radiotherapy and diagnostic
radiology
LuxelTM (Landauer Inc.)
INTRODUCTION TO LUMINESCENCE
DOSIMETRY
INTRODUCTION TO LUMINESCENCE
DOSIMETRY
INTRODUCTION TO LUMINESCENCE
DOSIMETRY
INTRODUCTION TO LUMINESCENCE
DOSIMETRY
INTRODUCTION TO LUMINESCENCE
DOSIMETRY
INTRODUCTION TO LUMINESCENCE
DOSIMETRY
OSL READOUT SYSTEM
 METHODS OF OSL STIMULATION

CW-OSL (continuous wave OSL) •

POSL (pulsed OSL) •

LM-OSL (linearly modulated OSL •

 COMMERCIAL OSL DOSIMETRY SYSTEMS
(LANDAUER INC.)

www.Landauer.com, www.osldosimetry.com
OSL DOSIMETERS
 CHARACTERISTICS OF AL2O3:C OSLDS
FOR RADIOTHERAPY APPLICATIONS

Ideal detector
Small size•
None or well defined environmental corrections •
Dose linearity•
Dose rate independence•
Energy independence•
No directional dependence -isotropic response to •
radiation
 ENVIRONMENTAL CORRECTIONS

Temperature dependence

During irradiation •

During readout •
OSL TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
DURING IRRADIATION

Jursinic, Med. Phys. 34(12), 4594-4604, 2007

OSLD DOSE LINEARITY, 6 MV

Viamonte et al Med. Phys. 35(4), 1261-6, 2008

 OSL DOSE SUPRALINEARITY AT
HIGHER DOSES

Schembri V and Heijmen BJM. Med. Phys. 2007; 34:2113-2118.

DOSE-RATE DEPENDENCE

Viamonte et al Med. Phys. 35(4), 1261-6, 2008

ABSORBED DOSE ENERGY DEPENDENCE
F(Q) FOR AL2O3:C AND LIF TLD

Mobit et al. Radiat Prot Dosim 119, 497-499, 2006).

 ABSORBED DOSE SENSITIVITY RELATIVE
TO 6 MV PHOTONS

Jursinic, Med. Phys. 34(12), 4594-4604, Yukihara et al, Phys Med Biol53,R351-
2007 R379, 2008
DIRECTIONAL DEPENDENCE

Jursinic, Med. Phys. 34(12), 4594-4604, 2007

FADING OF SIGNAL WITH TIME

Jursinic, Med. Phys. 34(12), 4594-4604, 2007

 CLINICAL DOSIMETRY APPLICATIONS

In phantom •
PDD −
ROF −
IMRT QA−
In vivo •
external beam (entrance, exit dose) −
brachytherapy−
60CO RELATIVE OUTPUT FACTOR

Viamonte et al Med. Phys. 35(4), 1261-6, 2008

IN VIVO DOSIMETRY

J Danzer* et al AAPM 2007

 THE SMALL AL2O3:C CRYSTALS

courtesy of C. Andersen, Risø M Aznar Phys Med Biol 49 1655–69 courtesy

of
 RISO OSL-OPTICAL FIBRE DOSIMETRY
SYSTEM

Both RL and OSL signals are seen courtesy of C. Andersen, Risø

on the computer screen

M. Aznar, Phys. Med. Biol. 49, 1655–69, 2004

 IN - VIVO MEASUREMENTS FOR
A BRACHYTHERAPY PATIENT

Cervix recurrence just above the vaginal wall •

Treated in 15 needles – OSL crystals in 2 needles •
Gy delivered in 50 pulses over 50 hours 30 •

courtesy of C. Andersen, Risø

 SUMMARY
OSLD have linear dose response and good •
reproducibility (screened) for standard clinical doses

Minimal energy dependence in megavoltage photon •

beams

Suitable for accurate dosimetric measurements •

individual calibration factors –

Can be used in variety of clinical applications •

surface dose detectors –
entrance and exit dose measurements –
brachytherapy –
dose mapping –
 REFERANCES

Claus Andersen, Risø National Laboratory .1

Joanna E.Cygler and Eduardo Yukihara, Optically Stimulated .2

Luminescence
dosimetry in radiotherapy )OSL(

Paul A.Jursinic, Characterization of optically stimulated luminescent .3

,dosimeters, OSLDs,for clinical dosimetric measurements, Med. Phys. 34 ,12
December 2007

.Cliff Yahnke, Landauer Inc .4