Ultraviolet ray irradiation duration for the pre-exposure of Gafchromic EBT2

Abstract

Abstract The strength and density change of the ultraviolet (UV) ray of Gafchromic EBT2 were investigated. Previous studies suggested that UV-A rays can be substituted for the x-ray double-exposure technique to correct Gafchromic EBT2’s non-uniformity error. In this study, we aimed to determine the appropriate strength of UV-A rays for irradiating an active layer that would correct the non-uniformity error of Gafchromic EBT2. UV-A rays with a wavelength of 375 nm were used to irradiate Gafchromic EBT2 in various durations, and the resulting density change was investigated. To correct Gafchromic EBT2’s non-uniformity error, a pre-irradiation with a UV-A lamp was conducted at a distance of 72 cm for 30 min. To determine the most appropriate irradiation duration, a UV light-emitting diode generating UV-A of 375 nm was used to irradiate the Gafchromic EBT2 film with varying durations of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 min at a distance of 5.3 cm. A 12.7 diameter region of interest was set by the irradiation area, and a histogram of pixel values was created. The condition options were decided based on two important requirements: 1) no zero values of the mode and seconds exist, and 2) the 1/10 value of the mode intersects both histogram sleeves. In the case of Gafchromic EBT2, the irradiation strength was 85.43 mJ/cm2 for one minute in which the pixel value of mean ± SD was 255.34 ± 213.29. The irradiation duration of 4 min was the border duration of the above two conditions. When a UV ray of 375 nm wavelength is used to irradiate Gafchromic EBT2 as a substitute for x-ray exposure, the 4-min pre-irradiation duration (341.74 mJ/cm2) is demonstrably sufficient.