Customising PRESAGE(®) for diverse applications

PRESAGE(®) is a solid radiochromic dosimeter consisting of a polyurethane matrix, a triarylmethane leuco dye, and a trihalomethane initiator. Varying the composition and/or relative amounts of these constituents can affect the dose sensitivity, post-irradiation stability, and physical properties of the dosimeter. This allows customisation of PRESAGE(®) to meet application-specific requirements, such as low sensitivity for high dose applications, stability for remote dosimetry, optical clearing for reusability, and tissue-like elasticity for deformable dosimetry. This study evaluates five hard, non-deformable PRESAGE(®) formulations and six deformable PRESAGE(®) formulations and characterizes them for dose sensitivity and stability. Results demonstrated sensitivities in the range of 0.0029 – 0.0467 ΔOD/(Gy·cm) for hard formulations and 0.0003 – 0.0056 ΔOD/(Gy·cm) for deformable formulations. Exceptional stability was seen in both standard and low sensitivity non-deformable formulations, with promising applications for remote dosimetry. Deformable formulations exhibited potential for reusability with strong post-irradiation optical clearing. Tensile compression testing of the deformable formulations showed elastic response consistent with soft tissues, with further testing required for direct comparison. These results demonstrate that PRESAGE(®) dosimeters have the flexibility to be adapted for a wide spectrum of clinical applications.