The Italian National Institute of Ionizing Radiation Metrology (ENEA-INMRI) has designed and built a graphite calorimeter that, in a water phantom, has allowed the determination of the absorbed dose to water in medium-energy x-rays with generating voltages from 180 to 250 kV. The new standard is a miniaturized three-bodies calorimeter, with a disc-shaped core of 21 mm diameter and 2 mm thickness weighing 1.134 g, sealed in a PMMA waterproof envelope with air-evacuated gaps. The measured absorbed dose to graphite is converted into absorbed dose to water by means of an energy-dependent conversion factor obtained from Monte Carlo simulations. Heat-transfer correction factors were determined by FEM calculations. At a source-to-detector distance of 100 cm, a depth in water of 2 g cm(-2), and at a dose rate of about 0.15 Gy min(-1), results of calorimetric measurements of absorbed dose to water, D(w), were compared to experimental determinations, D wK, obtained via an ionization chamber calibrated in terms of air kerma, according to established dosimetry protocols. The combined standard uncertainty of D(w) and D(wK) were estimated as 1.9% and 1.7%, respectively. The two absorbed dose to water determinations were in agreement within 1%, well below the stated measurement uncertainties. Advancements are in progress to extend the measurement capability of the new in-water-phantom graphite calorimeter to other filtered medium-energy x-ray qualities and to reduce the D(w) uncertainty to around 1%. The new calorimeter represents the first implementation of in-water-phantom graphite calorimetry in the kilovoltage range and, allowing independent determinations of D(w), it will contribute to establish a robust system of absorbed dose to water primary standards for medium-energy x-ray beams.

Within the framework of the JRP06 European project ‘Increasing Cancer Treatment Efficacy Using 3D Brachytherapy’, a prototype of a graphite standard calorimeter for the measurement of the absorbed dose rate to water, , for 192Ir sources used in high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy has been developed at the Italian National Institute of Ionizing Radiation Metrology (ENEA-INMRI). The calorimeter was tested at the Sant'Andrea Hospital in Rome, where measurements were performed in the quasi-adiabatic mode of operation using an 192Ir MicroSelectron® HDR V2 source. The measurements showed a reproducibility of about 1%, while the combined standard uncertainty on the value at the distance of 1 cm from the source was estimated as 1.4%, lower than the uncertainty of determined from the reference air-kerma rate.

Low-intensity radioactive sources emitting low-energy photons are used in the clinic for low dose-rate brachytherapy treatments of tumours. The dosimetry of these sources is based on reference air kerma rate measurements. The absorbed dose rate to water at the reference depth d0 = 1 cm, , is then obtained by a conversion procedure with a large relative standard uncertainty of about 5%. This paper describes a primary standard developed at ENEA-INMRI to directly measure due to LDR sources. The standard is based on a large-angle and variable-volume ionization chamber, embedded in a graphite phantom and operating under ‘wall-less air chamber’ conditions. A set of correction and conversion factors, based on experiments and Monte Carlo simulations, are determined to obtain the value of Dw,1 cm from measurements of increment of ionization current with increasing chamber volume. The relative standard uncertainty on is 2.6%, which is appreciably lower than the current uncertainty. Characteristics of the standard, its associated uncertainty budget, and some experimental results are given for 125I BEBIG I25.S16.C brachytherapy seeds. Finally, results of the experimental determination of the dose-rate constant Λ1 cm, traceable to the Dw,1 cm and the low-energy air kerma ENEA-INMRI standards, are given. The relative standard uncertainty on Λ1 cm is 2.9%, appreciably lower than the typical uncertainty (4.8%) of the values available in the literature.

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