Dependence of radiochromic film response kinetics on fractionated doses

Abstract

Because the rate and magnitude of the post-exposure growth of the MD-55 radiochromic film (RCF) dosimeter response depends significantly on total dose, we have investigated the influence of fractionation and protracted dose delivery on optical density (OD) as a function of total dose and the exposure-to-densitometry time interval for a 633-nm scanning laser densitometer. Both measurements and models demonstrate that fractionation induces transient OD over responses, which can be as large as 20%, but rapidly dissipate within 24 h. However, the superposition model predicts 2-5% over responses that persist as long as 700 h.