Determination of radiotherapy X-ray spectra using a screen-film system.

A method to determine the X-ray spectrum delivered by a medical linear accelerator is presented. This method consists of an analytical calculation of the primary spectrum using the Schiff bremsstrahlung cross-section formula. A correction factor that accounts for the scatter component of the spectrum is estimated by comparing the signal in two screen-film systems to a theoretical prediction using a model of energy deposition in such detectors. The model makes use of the quantum absorption efficiency and the average energy deposited per interacting photon concepts. These two quantities are calculated by means of Monte Carlo simulations of the screen-film systems used. This method is capable of determining the spectrum as a function of the spatial position across a plane perpendicular to the beam central axis. It does not, however, render information about the direction cosines of the X-ray fluence crossing such a plane, a requirement in order to produce a full phase-space file that can be used in conjunction with a Monte Carlo dose calculation engine.