What are water phantoms?

Water phantoms are the primary tool used for absolute dosimetry. The consist of a transparent plastic tub (about 60cm in all dimensions) filled with water. An waterproof ionisation chamber can be placed on a movable arm within the phantom.

What is a phantom in radiation therapy?

Mosby’s Medical Dictionary defines a phantom as “a mass of material similar to human tissue used to investigate the effect of radiation beams on human beings. Phantom materials can range from water to complex chemical mixtures that faithfully mimic the human body as it would interact with radiation” [1].

What is dosimetry in radiation therapy?

”Dosimetry” refers to the science by which radiation dose is determined by measurement, calculation, or a combination of measurement and calculation. The technical name for radiation dose is “absorbed dose”; it is the amount of radiation energy that is deposited in tissue divided by the mass of the tissue.

What are phantoms used for?

A phantom is a specially designed object that is utilized as a “stand-in” for human tissue and can be scanned or imaged to evaluate, analyze, and fine-tune the performance of an imaging device.

What is a CT phantom?

NIST developed phantoms to improve CT scans, which use computer processing to combine multiple X-ray images into three-dimensional (3D) slices of the body that may reveal cancers or disease.

What is tissue equivalent phantom?

Model 011A is a tissue-equivalent, anthropomorphic phantoms designed to test performance of any mammographic system. Simulated calcifications, fibrous ducts, and tumor masses are embedded into the phantom as test objects. CIRS resin material mimics the photon attenuation coefficients of a range of breast tissues.

What is a dosimetry phantom?

CIRS ATOM ® phantoms are a full line of anthropomorphic, cross sectional dosimetry phantoms designed to investigate organ dose, whole body effective dose as well as verification of delivery of therapeutic radiation doses. ATOM is the only line of dosimetry phantoms to range in sizes from newborn to adult.

What is the difference between a radiation therapist and a Dosimetrist?

When a radiation oncologist prescribes radiation to treat a patient’s cancer cells or tumor, a dosimetrist develops a plan to deliver the prescribed dose of radiation.

What are two types of personal dosimetry?

There are three types of personal dosimeters: film “badges,” the new Luxel technology, and TLDs (thermoluminescent dosimeters). Each can be useful for different needs. These are used and analyzed on a monthly or quarterly basis (quarterly tends to be cheaper).

What do Phantoms do in real life?

NIST phantoms are often commercialized and used to calibrate—or compare to standard scales—imaging systems used in real-world settings, including major clinical trials.

What is picker thyroid phantom?

[ click the picture ] Simulates a 30 to 40 gram thyroid. The Thyroid Phantom permits the precise duplication of clinical conditions by simulating thyroid scans in the 30 to 40 gram range. The phantom is constructed of lucite.

What are CT phantoms made of?

The phantom consists of a set of nesting 15 cm thick solid PMMA disks measuring 16 cm (head) and 32 cm (body) in diameter. The adult head disk is also suitable for pediatric body measurements. Our Model 007A additionally includes a third nesting disk measuring 10 cm in diameter for pediatric head measurements.