Comparison of absorbed dose in bone substitute material and water using ionization measurements.

Absorbed dose in a liquid substitute for bone has been compared with absorbed dose in water for 9-, 12-, and 15-MeV electron beams using ionization chamber measurements. The ionization readings were converted to dose using collisional mass stopping power ratios. The collisional mass stopping powers for the liquid substitute of bone were calculated using the Monte Carlo Code PEGS4. The results of our study show that there is an increase in dose in the liquid bone substitute compared to water at shallow depths. The maximum increase in dose was 5%, 4%, and 2% at depths of 1.2, 1.5, and 2.0 cm, respectively, for 9-, 12-, and 15-MeV electrons. The density of the liquid bone substitute was 1360 kg/m3 and the effective atomic number was 11.