Scintillation Dosimetry in Radiation Therapy

Scintillation dosimetry utilises the conversion of ionising radiation into visible photons within scintillating materials to quantify the dose delivered during radiotherapy. These detectors range from plastic scintillators that offer water equivalence and high temporal resolution to inorganic crystals with enhanced X-ray absorption and light yield. Optical signals generated by the scintillator are conveyed via optical fibres or detected directly by photodetectors such as silicon photomultipliers, enabling real-time, in vivo measurements. Current research has focused on miniaturising probes for brachytherapy, extending dosimetric arrays for external beam quality assurance and developing three-dimensional mapping techniques. Advances in material science, coupled with robust correction algorithms for quenching, stem-effect removal and angular dependence, have improved accuracy across modalities including intensity-modulated radiotherapy, proton and boron neutron capture therapies. By integrating scintillation detectors with imaging systems, it is now possible to capture dose distributions with millimetre resolution and validate complex, time-varying treatments, thereby enhancing treatment conformity and patient safety.

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Scintillation Dosimetry in Radiation Therapy publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in scintillation dosimetry in radiation therapy across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Scintillation: Light emission by certain materials upon excitation by ionising radiation.

Plastic scintillator: Organic scintillating material with water-equivalent properties used for radiation detection.

Inorganic scintillator: Crystalline compound with high atomic number constituents, offering enhanced X-ray absorption and light yield.

Silicon photomultiplier (SiPM): Solid-state photodetector with high gain and photon counting capability, used to detect scintillation light.

Brachytherapy: Radiotherapy modality in which sealed radioactive sources are placed within or adjacent to target tissue for localized dose delivery.

Dosimetry: Quantitative assessment of radiation dose delivered to a medium or patient during treatment.

References

1. Characterisation of a Silicon Photomultiplier Based Oncological Brachytherapy Fibre Dosimeter. Sensors (2024).
2. Embedded structure fiber-optic radiation dosimeter for radiotherapy applications. Optics Express (2016).
3. Novel, full 3D scintillation dosimetry using a static plenoptic camera. Medical Physics (2014).
4. Current status of scintillation dosimetry for megavoltage beams. Journal of Physics Conference Series (2013).
5. Advances on inorganic scintillator-based optic fiber dosimeters. EJNMMI Physics (2020).