Comprehensive evaluation and new recommendations in the use of Gafchromic EBT3 film

Background: Gafchromic film's unique properties of tissue-equivalence, dose-rate independence, and high spatial resolution make it an attractive choice for many dosimetric applications. However, complicated calibration processes and film handling limits its routine use. Purpose: We evaluated the performance of Gafchromic EBT3 film after irradiation under a variety of measurement conditions to identify aspects of film handling and analysis for simplified but robust film dosimetry. Methods: The short- (from 5 min to 100 h) and long-term (months) film response was evaluated for clinically relevant doses of up to 50 Gy for accuracy in dose determination and relative dose distributions. The dependence of film response on film-read delay, film batch, scanner type, and beam energy was determined. Results: Scanning the film within a 4-h window and using a standard 24-h calibration curve introduced a maximum error of 2% over a dose range of 1–40 Gy, with lower doses showing higher uncertainty in dose determination. Relative dose measurements demonstrated <1 mm difference in electron beam parameters such as depth of 50% of the maximum dose value (R₅₀), independent of when the film was scanned after irradiation or the type of calibration curve used (batch-specific or time-specific calibration curve) if the same default scanner was used. Analysis of films exposed over a 5-year period showed that using the red channel led to the lowest variation in the measured net optical density values for different film batches, with doses >10 Gy having the lowest coefficient of variation (<1.7%). Using scanners of similar design produced netOD values within 3% after exposure to doses of 1–40 Gy. Conclusions: This is the first comprehensive evaluation of the temporal and batch dependence of Gafchromic EBT3 film evaluated on consolidated data over 8 years. The relative dosimetric measurements were insensitive to the type of calibration applied (batch- or time-specific) and in-depth time-dependent dosimetric signal behaviors can be established for film scanned outside of the recommended 16–24 h post-irradiation window. We generated guidelines based on our findings to simplify film handling and analysis and provide tabulated dose- and time-dependent correction factors to achieve this without reducing the accuracy of dose determination.