Development and dosimetric characterization of novel amide substituted diacetylene based radiochromic films for medical radiation dosimetry

Radiochromic films are one of the most suitable dosimetry tools to perform two-dimensional dose measurement and dose verification in radiotherapy. In this work, a novel polymer based radiochromic film composed of amide substituted diacetylene was developed and its various dosimetric characteristics were investigated. The amide derivative of diacetylene was synthesized and its uniform, bubble-free films were coated on a polyester sheet. A comprehensive evaluation of general dosimetric properties like dose response, energy and dose rate dependence of the developed radiochromic films was carried out. The influence of dose fractionation and post irradiation stability was also examined. The commercially available Gafchromic EBT3 film was taken as the reference and the response of the novel radiochromic films with the change in various parameters was compared with it. The developed radiochromic films exhibited color change from white to blue in the dose range 0–10 Gy. These films showed a dependence of 2.5% on the energy variation and 2% on dose rate variation. A stable response with an average variation of 0.5% was observed between post irradiation times of 1 h and 3 h. The influence of change in environmental conditions like storage temperature and light intensity was found to be less than 2.5%. From this study, it can be elucidated that the newly developed radiochromic film renders promising accuracy and versatility which can make it suitable for medical radiation dosimetry. •Preparation of amide substituted diacetylene based radiochromic films.•General dosimetric characterization of the developed radiochromic films.•Comparison with the Gafchromic EBT3 films.•Environmental and post irradiation stability of the developed radiochromic films.