Dosimetric characterization of a Cesium-137 irradiator for irradiation of cell cultures

In the Instituto Nacional de Cancerología (INCan), new treatments involving the use of radiotherapy are investigated, evaluating their effects on cell cultures. For irradiation it is necessary to characterize a 137Cs BIOBEAM-GM 2000 irradiator. The characterization was carried out using a dosimetric system composed of a radiochromic dye film GAFCHROMIC R EBT3, a Scanmaker 8700 Microteck scanner and the Matlab R2016b program. As a result of the characterization, a dose rate of 4.8 ±0.4 Gy min−1 and a distribution with a radial dose gradient over three cell culture dishes are obtained. In conclusion, a protocol was established to irradiate three cell culture dishes at the same dose in a single exposure.