Kilovoltage X-ray beam quality effect on the relative response of alanine pellet dosemeters

Determination of beam quality correction factors is crucial for performing accurate alanine pellet dosimetry in non-reference fields. For some complex irradiation geometries, interpolation from literature data is more convenient than an experimental approach to establish these factors. Here we investigate the validity of extracting quality correction factors from literature data based on information on beam qualifiers such as half-value layer (HVL) or effective energy E_eff. A combination of Monte Carlo calculated dose ratios and a microdosimetric assessment of the relative efficiency allows for numerical evaluation of quality correction factors for a wide array of X-ray qualities. The computational analysis demonstrates that the average energy of the X-ray beam is optimal for characterizing the relative response. Special care should be taken when using the common X-ray beam qualifiers HVL or E_eff to determine quality correction factors from literature data.