Scintillation-Based Optical Fiber Dosimeters for High Dose Rate and Low Dose Rate Brachytherapy

Scintillation-based fiber dosimeters are a powerful tool for minimally invasive localized real-time monitoring of the dose rate during Low Dose Rate (LDR) and High Dose Rate (HDR) brachytherapy (BT). This paper shows the design, fabrication and characterization of such dosimeters, consisting of scintillating sensor tips attached to polymer optical fiber (POF). The scintillating sensor tips consist of inorganic scintillators, dispersed in a polymer host. We present the design, fabrication and characterization of those sensor tips. The manufacturing is done by means of a custom compression and transfer moulding process implemented on a commercially available hot embossing machine. We show the manufacturing of 237 sensor tips, which are subsequently attached to the end of the POF using UV-curable adhesive. Finally, we perform dosimetry experiments in water phantoms which show a great potential for in-vivo dosimetry for brachytherapy.