Gel dosimetry has a viable future for dosimetry in the radiation oncology clinic

Gel dosimeters are fabricated from radiation sensitive chemicals which have properties which change upon irradiation as a function of the absorbed radiation dose [1]. The use of radiation sensitive gels was first suggested in 1959 by Day and Stein when they utilised radiation to produce colour changes in gels containing dyes such as methylene blue [2, 3]. These dosimeters, which have the capacity to record the three-dimensional (3D) radiation dose distribution, have potential advantages when compared to one-dimensional dosimeters, such as ion chambers, and two-dimensional dosimeters, such as film.