Dosimetric characterization of beryllium oxide (BeO) in diagnostic radiography

Beryllium oxide (BeO) dosimeters are widely used in radiation dosimetry due to their near-tissue equivalence, chemical stability and high luminescence efficiency. However, their comprehensive dosimetric characterization under diagnostic radiography conditions, particularly regarding entrance surface dose (ESD) assessments, remains limited in the literature. In this study, the dosimetric characteristics of BeO dosimeters including reproducibility, energy dependence, and dose-response behavior were evaluated under diagnostic radiography conditions. Furthermore, ESD measurements were conducted using polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) phantoms of varying thicknesses and compared with those obtained via TLD-100H dosimeters. The results indicated that the OSL signal reproducibility of BeO was within ±5% across repeated irradiation-readout cycles. Regarding energy dependence, the dosimeters showed an under-response of approximately 40% at diagnostic X-ray energies (26.5 keV to 43.2 keV) relative to 137 Cs (661.6 keV). Nevertheless, the dose-response relationship exhibited excellent linearity across all investigated X-ray energies. The obtained ESD measurements were consistent with both the TLD-100H dosimeter measurements and existing literature. As a result, BeO dosimeters demonstrated favorable dosimetric characteristics for diagnostic radiography, offering significant potential for organ dose assessment in future clinical settings.