Abstract
Radiation dose outside the radiotherapy treatment field can be significant and therefore is of clinical interest estimating organ dose. We have made measurements of dose at distances up to 70 cm from the central axis of $5{\times}5$, $10{\times}10$, $15{\times}15$, and $25{\times}25$ cm radiation fields of Co-60 ${\gamma}-ray$, at 5 cm depth in water. Contributions to the total secondary radiation dose from water scatter, machine (collimator) scatter and leakage radiation have been seperated. We have found that the component of dose from water scatter can be described by simple exponential function of distance from the central axis of the radiation field for all field sizes. Machine scatter contributes 20 to 60% of the total secondary dose depending on field size and distance from the field. Leakage radiation contributes very little dose, but becomes the dominant componant at distance beyond 40 cm from the central axis. Then, wedges can cause a factor 2 to 3 increase in dose at any point outside the field compared with the dose when no wedge is used. Adding blocks to a treatment field can cause an increase in dose at points outside the field, but the effect is much smaller than the effect of a wedge. From the results of these measurements, doses to selected organs outside the field for specified treatment geometries were estimated, and the potential for reducing these organ doses by additional shielding was assessed.