Linear accelerator: A reproducible, efficacious and cost effective alternative for blood irradiation

Irradiation with x‐rays of the energy 18 MV induces radioactivity in transfusion blood: Proposal of a safe method using 6 MV

“…This conforms to previously published studies that introduced a blood irradiation procedure and specified the xray energy to 6 MV. [8][9][10] For more clarity about the safe energy range between 6 and 18 MV, further studies are needed.…”

“…In previous studies that introduced a blood irradiation procedure, [8][9][10] the main irradiation setup is similar to ours, and as they did, we used an acrylic box. Additionally, we scaled down the irradiation fields to a size of 27×38 cm 2 by using an irradiation planning system and adapting the fields to the box size.…”

“…Alternatively, the two field method we used has the advantage to reduce dose hotspots and is applicable to any radiotherapy linear accelerator. In our clinical procedure, we decided to use an ionization chamber for dose verification because the dose value is directly readable from the electrometer and no further analyzing tools are necessary as they are for dose measurements via thermoluminescence dosimetry (TLD) 8,10 or Gafchromic films. 9 In our dose verification measurements with an ionization chamber placed in the acrylic box between the blood bag phantoms at the isocenter, we found the dose to be of 30 ± 1.6 Gy (equals to ±5%, double standard deviation).…”

“…An alternative method of irradiation was introduced in the recent years. [8][9][10] Many hospitals worldwide use x-rays from the linear accelerator in the radiotherapy department because it is more cost and time efficient since the radiotherapy department is a part of the same hospital. Especially in urgent cases, the time saving through bypassing the traffic from the blood bank is a big issue.…”

“…Typical devicespecific energy levels in routine clinical settings are 6 and 18 MV (MV: Megavolt), and one might prefer to use the higher energy to provide a more uniform radiation of the blood packets and possibly save time. Yet, in previously published reports, the x-ray energy was either specified as 6 MV, [8][9][10]13 or it was not mentioned at all. 6,11,12,14 Studies on the correlation between the energy of x-rays and the induced radioactivity in irradiated blood are missing.…”