Dosimetric and spectroscopic study of table sugar irradiated by X-ray and accelerated protons for therapeutic applications

The aim of this work in the first part is to present a comparative study of the EPR spectrum measured on table sugar irradiated by X-rays photons and protons using energies of 6 MV and 74 MeV respectively. The second part consists in performing the deconvolution of the EPR signal of the irradiated sugar, in order to identify the most important peaks, which contribute to this signal. The irradiation of table sugar by X-rays or protons reveals quite similar EPR spectra. Both dosimetry curves are linear with a correlation factor higher than 99.9% in the studied area. Moreover, sugar seems to have the same sensitivity to X-ray photon irradiation as to protons. Deconvolution of the EPR signal of sugar irradiated by X-rays photons and protons using the Levenberg-Marquardt (M-L) algorithm shows that this spectrum consists mainly of four Gaussian contributions. Each of these contributions has a linear evolution versus the irradiation dose, as well as an acceptable degree of stability during the six-month storage period, approving the stability of all free radicals produced in the irradiated sugar. The obtained results reveal that table sugar is a material for dosimetric applications in radiotherapy and hadron-therapy. •The irradiation of table sugar by X-rays or protons reveals quite similar EPR spectra.•Dosimetric curves showed a perfect linearity with a correlation factor superior than 99.9%.•Spectral deconvolution of EPR of irradiated sugar revealed the contribution of four Gaussian lines.