Evaluation of brass alloy density as tissue equivalence bolus using electron density phantom and optical density method

Description : The brass mesh bolus alloy has been shown to be a promising substitute for tissue-equivalent bolus to increase the surface dose during breast cancer radiotherapy treatment. This study is aimed to evaluate the brass alloy density in order to better understand the brass qualities as a bolus in radiotherapy. The mass density of brass alloy determined in this work are using solid approaches, i) traditional density method, ii) Computed Tomography (CT) number using electron density phantom and CT scan and iii) mean pixel value via ImageJ software. According to ANOVA F (2,6) 2.982, p0.126, there was no statistically significant difference between the groups. As a result, all methods for calculating the density of brass alloy are valid. The X2 test of CT number of brass plug to breast substitute in electron density phantom indicates no association. Density analysis using computed tomography and an electron density phantom, as well as the traditional density method and Image J analysis, were all shown to be acceptable methods for estimating the density of the brass alloy. Considering this, brass alloy can be considered as a potential substitute for tissue-equivalent bolus with further extensive of research in conjunction to CT number.