Proton dosimetry comparison involving ionometry and calorimetry.

A comparison of the absorbed dose to tissue determined by various ionization chambers, Faraday cups, and an A-150 plastic calorimeter was performed in the 200 MeV proton beam of Orsay, France. Four European proton-therapy centers (Clatterbridge, UK, Louvain la Neuve, Belgium, and Nice and Orsay, France) participated in the comparison. An agreement of better than 1% was observed in the absorbed dose to A-150 measured with the different chambers of the participating groups. The mean ratio of the absorbed dose to A-150 determined with the calorimeter to that determined by the different ionization chambers in the different irradiation conditions was found to be 0.952 +/- 0.007 [1 standard deviation (SD)] according to the code of practice used by all the participating centers, based on Janni's tables of stopping powers and a value of 35.2 J/Coulomb for (W(air)/e)p. A better agreement in the mean ratio calorimeter/chamber, 0.985 +/- 0.007 (1 SD) is observed when using the proton stopping power ratio values recently published by the International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements in Report no. 49. The mean ratio of these doses determined in accordance with the American Association of Physicists in Medicine protocol and using the new recommended stopping power tables becomes 1.002 +/- 0.007 (1 SD). Two Faraday cups agree in measured charge to within 0.8%; however, the calculation of dose is underestimated by up to 17%; compared with ion chamber measurements and seems to be very sensitive to measurement conditions, particularly to the distance to the collimator.