Measurements of entrance surface dose using a fiber-optic dosimeter in diagnostic radiology

In this study, a fiber-optic dosimeter (FOD) was developed to measure entrance surface dose (ESD) in diagnostic radiology. We measured the scintillating lights in order to obtain ESDs, which changed with the various exposure parameters of a digital radiography (DR) system, such as tube potential, current-time product, focus-surface distance (FSD), and field size, using the fabricated FOD system. From the experimental results, the output light signals of the FOD were similar to the ESDs of the conventional semiconductor dosimeter. In conclusion, we characterized the measured ESDs as functions of exposure parameters by using two different types of dosimeters and demonstrated that the proposed FOD using a plastic scintillating fiber and a plastic optical fiber (POF) makes it possible to measure ESDs in the energy range of diagnostic radiology. From the results of this study, it is anticipated that the FOD will be a useful dosimeter in low-energy photon applications including diagnostic radiology.