Dosimetric Study of an Indigenous and Heterogeneous Pelvic Phantom for Radiotherapy Quality Assurance

Introduction: In vitro dosimetric verification prior to patient treatment plays a key role in accurate and precision radiotherapy treatment delivery. Since the human body is a heterogeneous medium, the aim of this study was to design a heterogeneous pelvic phantom for radiotherapy quality assurance. Material and Methods: A pelvic phantom was designed using wax, pelvic bone, borax powder, and water mimicking different biological tissues. Hounsfield units and relative electron densities were measured. Various intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) plans were imported to the pelvic phantom for verification and implemented on the Delta 4 phantom. The quantitative evaluation was performed in terms of dose deviation, distance to agreement, and gamma index passing rate. Results: According to the results of the CT images of an actual patient, relative electron densities for bone, fat, air cavity, bladder, and rectum were 1.335, 0.955, 0.158, 1.039, and 1.054, respectively. Moreover, the CT images of a heterogeneous pelvic phantom showed the relative electron densities for bone, fat (wax), air cavity, bladder (water), and rectum (borax powder) as 1.632, 0.896, 0.159, 1.037, and 1.051, respectively.The mean percentage variation between planned and measured doses was found to be 2.13% within the tolerance limit (< ±3%) .In all test cases, the gamma index passing rate was greater than 90%. Conclusion: The findings showed the suitability of the materials used in the design of the heterogeneous phantom. Therefore, it can be concluded that the designed phantom can be used for regular radiotherapy quality assurance