B. G. Urbonavičius “Development and characterization of plasmonic sensors with polymer gels for radiation dose measurements” doctoral dissertation defence

Author, Institution: Benas Gabrielis Urbonavičius, Kaunas University of Technology

Science area, field of science: Technological Sciences, Materials Engineering, T008

Summary of Doctoral Thesis: Summary

Scientific Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Diana Adlienė (Kaunas University of Technology, Technological
Sciences, Materials Engineering T008).

Dissertation Defence Board of Materials Engineering Science Field:
Prof. Dr. Habil. Juozas Vidas Gražulevičius (Kaunas University of Technology, Technological Sciences, Materials Engineering T008) – chairman;
Dr. Viktoras Grigaliūnas (Kaunas University of Technology, Technological Sciences, Materials Engineering T008);
Dr. Gunta Kizane (University of Latvia, Institute of Chemical Physics, Latvia, Natural Sciences, Chemistry N003);
Prof. Dr. Saulius Mickevičius (Vytautas Magnus University, Natural Sciences, Physics N002);
Prof. Dr. Tomas Tamulevičius (Kaunas University of Technology, Technological Sciences, Materials Engineering T 008).

The doctoral dissertation is available on the internet and at Kaunas University of Technology library (Donelaičio 20, Kaunas).

Annotation:

The essence of modern radiotherapy is the processes of energy transfer and absorption in biological tissue, which determine the use of ionizing radiation for the diagnosis of diseases and the treatment of oncological diseases. Theoretical modeling is most often used for theoretical assessment of interaction processes and planning of treatment procedures, but experimental evaluation is required for the control of effects, which is performed with the help of dosimeters.
Plasmonic sensors are considered to be highly sensitive, relative to other comparable measurement methods, and are commonly used in biotechnology, where the concentration and reaction rate of various organic compounds is assessed.
Taking into account the characteristics of known plasmonic sensors, the equivalence of dosimetric gels to biological tissue, and the prospects of creating specific high sensitivity dosimetric gels and the possibility of realizing a direct surface dose registration, the concept of gel plasmonic dosimeter was proposed and implemented in this work.
This thesis presents the formation of small energy (<250 keV) X-ray sensitive dosimetric gels of acrylamide (AAm) and N,N-methylene-bis-acrylamide (BIS) and vinylpyrrolidone and their application in the construction of plasmonic dosimeters for small dose (<10 Gy) registration. Diffraction grating method was chosen to form dosimetric sensors and the original dosimetry system was developed for the dose estimation using a plasmonic dosimeter.