Effect of bloom strength on radiochromic gel dosimeters

The Fricke gel dosimeter has been the widely used dosimeter among the gel dosimeters because of its dose response characteristics and easy preparation. The ferrous to ferric conversion that happens in this gel dosimeter on irradiation, corresponds to the absorbed dose of radiation. Gel dosimetry in India is not moving forward because of the import restrictions on the commercially available high bloom strength gelatin (imported 300 bloom). The feasibility of using Fricke gel dosimeter prepared with the locally available gelatin of 240 bloom and 200 bloom were compared with the 300 bloom gelatin taken as standard. The gel samples were prepared with 5% gelatin by weight and irradiated with 60Co gamma radiation for a dose range from 0-3 Gy used clinically. The optical absorption of gel samples were analyzed using spectrophotometer at 585 nm and dose response curves were generated. The results indicate that Fricke gels prepared with 240 bloom have linear dose response and comparable with those prepared with 300 bloom but the use of gels prepared with 200 bloom was found to be limited because of its poor optical transmittance.