An investigation of backscatter factors for kilovoltage x-rays: a comparison between Monte Carlo simulations and Gafchromic EBT film measurements
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Backscatter factors are important parameters in the determination of dose for kilovoltage x-ray beams. However, backscatter factors are difficult to measure experimentally, and tabulated values are based largely on Monte Carlo calculations. In this study we have determined new backscatter factors by both experimental and Monte Carlo methods, and compared them with existing backscatter factors published in the AAPM TG-61 protocol. The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to evaluate the overall effectiveness of using Gafchromic EBT film for backscatter factor measurements and (2) to determine whether existing Monte Carlo-calculated backscatter factors need to be updated. We measured backscatter factors using Gafchromic EBT film for three field sizes (2, 4 and 6 cm diameter cones) and three kilovoltage beam qualities, including 280 kVp for which similar measurements have not previously been reported. We also present new Monte Carlo-calculated backscatter factors obtained using the EGSnrc/BEAMnrc code system to simulate the Pantak kilovoltage x-ray unit used in our measurements. The results were compared with backscatter factors tabulated in the AAPM TG-61 protocol for kilovoltage x-ray dosimetry. The largest difference between our measured and calculated backscatter factors and the AAPM TG-61 values was found to be 2.5%. This agreement is remarkably good, considering that the AAPM TG-61 values consist of a combination of experimental and Monte Carlo calculations obtained over 20 years ago using different measurement techniques, as well as older Monte Carlo code and cross-section data. Furthermore, our Monte Carlo-calculated backscatter factors agree within 1% with the AAPM TG-61 values for all beam qualities and field sizes. Our Gafchromic film measurements had slightly larger differences with the AAPM TG-61 backscatter factors, up to approximately 2% for the 6 cm diameter cone at a beam quality of 50 kVp. The largest difference in backscatter factors, of 2.5%, was found between Monte Carlo-calculated and Gafchromic film-measured data for the 100 kVp x-ray beam with the 4 cm diameter cone. The differences in backscatter factors between the three data sets (measurements, calculations and published values) are all within the uncertainties from our Gafchromic film measurements and Monte Carlo calculations. Our results demonstrate the suitability of using Gafchromic EBT film to measure equipment-specific backscatter factors for kilovoltage x-ray beams over the entire energy range and also confirm that backscatter factors published in kilovoltage dosimetry protocols still remain valid.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.003 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".