The IAEA/WHO TL Dosimetry Service for Radiotherapy Centres 1969–1987

Abstract

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) started a postal dosimetry service in 1966 using lithium fluoride (LiF) thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD). The World Health Organization (WHO) joined the programme in 1968. Dosimeters were sent on 29 occasions to primary standards laboratories or to the 'Bureau International des Poids et Measures' to guarantee the traceability to primary standards of absorbed dose. The mean deviation was -0.26 +/- 0.18% (1% SD of the mean). One SD for a single result was about 1%. The number of intercomparisons made during the whole period is about 2,000 from about 700 radiotherapy centres in 89 countries. To date only 60Co machines have been included. The mean deviation of all the results from the centres was -0.25, and 1% SD for a single result 6.7%. About 5% of the centres had deviations larger than 30%, at least on one occasion. It is shown that the accuracy in dosimetry improves considerably for those departments participating more than once in the TL dosimetry service.

Radiotherapy dosimetry audit: three decades of improving standards and accuracy in UK clinical practice and trials

“…31 Various methodologies have been used worldwide, ranging from postal TLD audits of reference beam calibration to on-site visits aiming to investigate advanced radiotherapy techniques. 9,30,36,37 The audits have either been run from a single-centre or as a "round-robin" approach with different centres taking it in turns to audit each other. Different treatment modalities have been investigated, including photons (MV and kV) electrons, protons, brachytherapy, as well as audits of systems such as planning systems, imaging systems and image registration algorithms.…”

“…[6][7][8][9][10] The World Health Organization joined this programme in 1968. In the same year, the Radiological Physics Centre (RPC), MD Anderson, Houston (now called the IROC-H, the Imaging and Radiation Oncology Core-Houston) first received funding to carry out dosimetry audits within the USA, with their first on-site review being carried out in 1969.…”

Quality Assurance Network in Central Europe: External audit on output calibration for photon beams

“…The methodology of the T L D irradiations by the EROPAQ was similar to that developed by the IAEA and the EC network ( 1 1, 12 and Derreumaux et al, unpublished study). The T L D capsules and the plastic holders were identical to those used by the IAEA, and lithium fluoride powder and TLD reader were chosen based on the experience of the EC network (6, and Derreumaux et al, unpublished study).…”

Postal dose audits for radiotherapy centers in Latin America and the Caribbean: trends in 1969-2003

“…Since 1969 the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in conjunction with the World Health Organization (WHO) (and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), working with countries in Latin America and the Caribbean), has operated a program to validate the calibration of radiotherapy beams used for the treatment of cancer patients with radiation therapy (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6). Using thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLDs), this IAEA/ WHO program provides an independent verification or a quality assurance (QA) audit of the dose delivered by radiotherapy treatment machines.…”