Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to B Bjärngard.
Backscatter factors for orthovoltage x-ray beams are fitted with the expression BSF = 1 + ms/(s + n), where s is field size and m and n are adjustable parameters. The accuracy is better than 0.5%. Good results were also obtained for Cs-137 gamma rays at depth 0.12 cm and Co-60 gamma rays at depth 0.5 cm using the same expression, which failed, however, for peak scatter factors at high x-ray energies.
The behavior of the effective source position and the correction factor associated with the collimator opening (head-scatter factor) were investigated for the 6- and 25-MV x-ray beams of a linear accelerator. The primary photon fluence was measured in air for square field sizes from 5 x 5 cm to 40 x 40 cm at distances from the nominal source of 80 to 140 cm, for open and wedged fields (wedge angle 60 deg). An inverse-square analysis shows that, for open fields, the effective source position of the accelerator is about the same (approximately 1 cm downstream) at 6 and 25 MV, for all field sizes. For the wedged fields, the effective source position depends on field size and ranges from about 2 to 4 cm. The head-scatter correction factors for given collimator settings were found to be essentially independent of distance at both energies.
A simple formula is evaluated for calculating the equivalent square collimator setting that gives the same headscatter factor as a given rectangular field. The expression requires that one parameter is determined experimentally. It is found that one single value of this parameter can be used for the six x-ray beams studied (two accelerators, two energies, with and without wedge).