Dosimetric aspects of film/screen mammography: in-phantom dosimetry with thimble-type ionisation chambers.

The characteristics of 0.6 cm3 thimble-type Baldwin-Farmer (BF 2571) ionisation chambers for absorbed dose determinations in-phantom at mammography installations are investigated. The most important aspects for in-phantom dosimetry in mammography concern the conversion from air kerma to absorbed dose in mammary gland tissue, the energy dependence of the sensitivity of the ionisation chamber and the displacement correction factor for measurements in-phantom. Due to the considerable uncertainties in the elemental composition of the mammary glands the conversion from air kerma to absorbed dose in the mammary gland tissue has an uncertainty of the order of +/- 20%. The air kerma calibration factor of the BF-ionisation chamber is about 10% larger at mammography radiation qualities than at 300 kV x-rays or 137Cs gamma rays. For depths in excess of about 15 mm a displacement correction factor of 0.69 +/- 0.06 is derived for measurements with the BF 2571 chamber inside polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) phantoms irradiated with 30 kV x-rays (first HVL:0.29 mm Al). The previously reported discrepancy between dose measurements with TLD and ionisation chambers at the entrance surface of a phantom for mammography radiation qualities is resolved and could be attributed to attenuation in the TLD encapsulation material.