Mouthpiece polymer-gel dosimeter for in vivo oral dosimetry during head and neck radiotherapy.

Abstract

In this study, we developed a mouthpiece-type gel dosimeter to prevent the oral mucositis caused by the perturbation effect of dental alloys in the radiotherapy of the head and neck regions and to enable in vivo dosimetry. Understanding the dose distribution in the oral cavity during radiotherapy helps identify the possible site for oral mucositis during treatment. Here agarose, which has a higher melting point than gelatin, was added as a coagulant to stabilize the shape of the dosimeter. The strength and dose response of the dosimeter were investigated. The strength was measured at room temperature, 20°C-40 °C, which is higher than the intraoral temperature. The dose-response curves were obtained by magnetic resonance imaging with R2 ranging from 0 to 25 Gy. The strength and dose response of the mouthpiece-type gel dosimeter were approximately 4 and 2.1 times higher than those of polyacrylamide gel and tetrakis hydroxymethyl phosphonium chloride dosimeters commonly used in the prescribed doses per fraction of treatment. The dosimeter is composed of 4 wt% MgCl2 and 1.5 wt% agarose; thus, it can retain the water equivalence. Through in vivo oral dosimetry in three dimensions for head and neck radiotherapy with dental alloys using the mouthpiece-type gel dosimeter, we obtained three-dimensional dose distributions in the dosimeter. The properties of the dosimeter show that it can be used in the clinic, depending on the prescribed dose.

• Authors: Hiraku Fuse, Satoshi Oyama, Tatsuya Fujisaki, Kenji Yasue, Koichi Hanada, Fumihiro Tomita, Shinji Abe
• Journal: Applied radiation and isotopes : including data, instrumentation and methods for use in agriculture, industry and medicine (Appl Radiat Isot) Vol. 186 Pg. 110301 (Aug 2022) ISSN: 1872-9800 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 35617893 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Dental Alloys
• Gels
• Polymers
• Sepharose

Topics

• Dental Alloys
• Gels
• Humans
• In Vivo Dosimetry
• Polymers
• Radiation Dosimeters
• Radiometry (methods)
• Sepharose
• Stomatitis