Development of radiation dosimetric phantoms made from SPC/NaOH/IA-PAE/Rhizophora spp. particleboards

The present study aims to investigate and characterize radiation dosimetric phantom that is made from Rhizophora spp. particleboards using SPC/NaOH/IA-PAE adhesive.

Modification of soy protein concentrate (SPC) bonded Rhizophora spp. particleboard phantoms were carried out using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) with different amount of bio-based cross-linking agent (IA-PAE) with three different categories of particle size. The radiation attenuation parameters were evaluated with photons energies between 16.59 and 25.26 keV derived from X-ray fluorescence. SPC-based plug phantoms were scanned together with the CT density phantom 062M at 80, 120, and 135 kVp, and 250 mAs.

The physical and mechanical properties were found to be improved, while the dimensional stability was decreased through the addition of 15 wt% IA-PAE with decreasing particle size. The lowest HVL and MFP, and the highest μm with their corresponding values of Zeƒƒ  (p-values of 0.054, 0.055, 0.060, and 0.075), and the relatively low X2 values are the characteristics of samples labeled as A15, B15, C10, and C15. Sample C15 gave the closest values of CT number, ED, and DDPs to water for all tested tube voltages.

The results point to the possibility of employing C15 as a promising TEPM.