An in-phantom dosimetry system using pin silicon photodiode radiation sensors for measuring organ doses in x-ray CT and other diagnostic radiology

A dosimetry system using commercially available pin silicon photodiodes as the sensor is evaluated for in-phantom dose measurements in x-ray CT and other diagnostic radiology, System sensitivity measured as a function of the effective energy of x rays was between 0.37 and 0.49 V/mGy at an effective energy range between 23.5 and 72 keV. The minimum detectable organ dose with 25% uncertainty was estimated to be 0.02 mGy. The excellent output linearity was found over a dose range from 0.03 to more than 10 mGy with flat dose rate response of system sensitivity Lip to 35 mGy s(-1), though the sensitivity indicated some energy dependence across the diagnostic energy range with a maximum of about 10%/10 keV. Since angular dependence of the sensitivity of the sensor was found to be small enough it would induce negligible dose error. Dose profile measurement along the axis of a thoracic phantom undergoing CT chest examination indicated the reliability of dose values over a range of two orders of magnitude from less than 0.2 to 12 mGy. The present dosimetry system having advantages of high sensitivity with immediate readout Of dose values, low cost, and easy construction would widely be used as an alternative to TLD dosimeters for organ and skin dose measurements in CT and other diagnostic radiology. (C) 2002 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.